Chaffetz wants Census Bureau to hire no criminals as enumerators

WASHINGTON — Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, introduced a bill Thursday to ban anyone with a criminal background from working as a Census Bureau enumerator.

Chaffetz said the bureau has been fingerprinting applicants and doing background checks on them, but officials have told him and his staff that having an arrest or conviction does not necessarily mean someone will not be hired.

He said his staff has been told verbally — but has not been provided with any written documentation — that those with arrests for minor marijuana use, prostitution, being a "peeping Tom," drunken driving and some property crimes could be hired.

Chaffetz said his staff was told that more serious crimes would disqualify applicants, including murder, rape, armed robbery, heavy marijuana use, drug dealing, identity theft, child molestation or being a registered sex offender.

"Allowing individuals with criminal records to be enumerators, who go out into the public and walk up to people's homes and knock on doors, can have serious detrimental effects on the American people's confidence in the census," Chaffetz said.

He added that his bill says, "If you have a criminal background, you should not be hired as an enumerator."

"The safety and security of Americans in their homes are at stake," Chaffetz said. "Moreover, integrity in the process is vital to successful completion of the census."

Chaffetz has been battling with the Census Bureau for months over such issues. It started when a Government Accountability Office report in October said the census may have accidentally hired 200 criminals.

The GAO said the problem happened because those people had "unclassifiable fingerprints" that led to incomplete background checks. The agency said the people had been used in early work to check on addresses in preparation for mailing out census forms this year.

Chaffetz and other Republicans wrote to the Census Bureau seeking a commitment in writing that the bureau would not hire anyone with any criminal background to be an enumerator, and also asked for bureau policy on what types of crimes could disqualify potential employees.

"I'm still not satisfied with their answers," Chaffetz said, adding that is why he introduced his bill.

This story was reported from Salt Lake City.

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