San Francisco Administrative Code § 16.500 Findings

The health, safety, and well-being of San Francisco's communities depend on ensuring that people with arrest or conviction records have opportunities to effectively reintegrate into the community. The findings in Police Code Section 4902 provide many of the reasons why it is critical for the City to take steps to facilitate that reintegration. One dimension of this reintegration process is to remove arbitrary roadblocks to participation in City government. To that end, this Article XII provides that the City and County of San Francisco cannot, except in appropriate circumstances, remove people from certain City boards, commissions, and other bodies or reject applicants seeking appointment to such boards, commissions, and other bodies, based on the members' or applicants' criminal history. In this way, the policies that the City applies to its appointment process for these boards, commissions, and other bodies will substantially mirror the policies that apply to private employers and housing providers under Police Code Article 49.

(Added by Ord. 34-16, File No. 150902, App. 3/25/2016, Eff. 4/24/2016)