East Texas

By ROY MAYNARD
Staff Writer

Although two Smith County Road and Bridge workers now accused of stealing road materials and fixing private driveways on the county clock both had criminal records, officials say county policy is that jail time is no bar to employment.

On Monday, Roderick Kentrell Edwards, 32, and Ronald Gene Williams, 38, both of Tyler, were arrested on charges of theft of property and abuse of official capacity.

Monday was not the first time the two workers were in trouble with law enforcement. Records show Edwards has been arrested four times since 2000 on charges including aggravated assault and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Williams has also served time in jail, according to Smith County records, for filing false reports to police officers and driving while intoxicated.

Smith County Commissioner JoAnn Fleming said she went to Personnel Director Denise Rebolini and asked how the two were hired.

“She said that it is not a matter of policy, but a matter of federal law that one cannot be denied employment solely on the basis of having served jail time,” Mrs. Fleming reports. “The only applicants who have criminal background checks run are those who are applying for employment with the sheriff’s department.”

But applicants who lie about their criminal record can be denied employment or fired (if the falsehood is discovered later), she adds.

Smith County’s online job application form includes two questions about criminal history:

“Have you been convicted of a crime, including misdemeanors and summary offenses, which have not been annulled, expunged or sealed by a court?” and “Have you ever been arrested or detained by any law enforcement agency?”

The application does not ask for details. And, currently, the county doesn’t check to see whether the applicant is telling the truth.

“So if an applicant lies on the application and checks ‘no’ on the question of incarceration, that individual might just get hired,” Mrs. Fleming acknowledges. “Later, if they are found to have been untruthful on the application, they can be terminated because they lied. But not because they had once done jail time.”

That could change, she adds. She has asked for an agenda item for Monday’s meeting of the Smith County Commissioners Court to look into the matter.

“We will assess our job applications and hiring processes to see if there are any ways we can legally tighten the process,” Mrs. Fleming said. “We should go as far as the non-discrimination laws will allow in order to tighten the screening process, but our policies must not violate federal and state laws.”

According to county officials, the two county workers approached a homeowner last Friday near a site where they had been repairing a road, and said they had materials left over. They offered to repair the homeowner’s driveway for a fee.

The homeowner became concerned and called the Smith County Commissioners Court to find out if the offer and the practice were legitimate.

Commissioners immediately began looking into the matter. The investigation is being conducted by the Sheriff’s Department.

Theft of property and abuse of official capacity are both class B misdemeanors and punishable by a fine not to exceed $2,000 or confinement in jail up to 180 days or both.

In case the practice is more widespread, commissioners say, the public is asked to call Det. Travis Breazeale at 903-590-2678 with information about the misuse of county equipment, road materials or labor.