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ST. LOUIS (KTVI) – Starting today the city of St. Louis is ‘banning the box’ when it comes to making people complete a small but significant part of a city job application.

Mayor Francis Slay with State Senator Jamilah Nasheed announced that the city will no longer require job candidates to check a box on their application if they have a felony conviction.

Nasheed lobbied for the move.

The Mayor says while the city does not automatically disqualify candidates, who have felony convictions, some may think that is the case if they see the box on the application.

Slay believes banning the box removes an employment barrier for people convicted of crimes.

The Mayor says criminal background checks will still be used for certain jobs.

‘We`re really not changing our approach to who we hire, it`s just how we do it. We`re banning the box and we`re going to make sure we get the best possible employees for the positions we have,’ said Mayor Slay.

State Senator Nasheed added, ‘This is how you fight crime. You fight crime by creating jobs and I am a firm believer that banning the box will create jobs for many St. Louisans.’

Nasheed says she will introduce ‘ban the box’ legislation on the state level.