Gov. Phil Murphy told an African-American audience Thursday he has no regrets about hiring a former elected official who served prison time for taking bribes despite the negative backlash over his decision.

Murphy, speaking in Newark at the Annual New Jersey Black Issues Leadership Conference, continued to express his dismay over the rebuke of his hiring Marcellus Jackson for a position in the state Department of Education.

Jackson, a former Passaic City councilman, served time in prison for a 2007 public corruption charge. Murphy's administration hired Jackson in July for a $70,000-a-year position.

But Jackson was forced out of the job late last week because state law required he be disqualified from any public office in New Jersey.

"I've taken a lot of heat on this in the past couple of weeks and I'm glad to take that heat because this is a teaching moment," Murphy said at the conference. "Folks are gonna have to understand that New Jersey will be the state that gives second chances."

The governor delivered the line -- without mentioning Jackson, who is black -- as he talked about helping ex-offenders find work in New Jersey.

"We are blessed with a deep, rich and diverse talent pool in New Jersey. In every corner of our state are people who want to work but just need the opportunity for an education for skilled training," Murphy said.

"And let me say as clearly as I as I can, on that list of folks who just want a little but of a push, who just want a little bit of wind in their sails are ex-offenders, let there be no doubt about that," he said.

The comments came two days after Murphy said his "breath was taken away" by the negative reaction to the issue.

At the time, he also noted that "it is invariably a person of color we're talking about."

The governor has insisted people deserve a second chance.

Murphy has said his administration conducted a legal review that cleared Jackson's hiring. But on Friday, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal disagreed and pointed to state law that should have barred Jackson's hiring.

Jackson subsequently stepped down from the post.

Also last week, more than half of the state Assembly -- including 15 of Murphy's fellow Democrats -- signed onto legislation inspired by the controversial hiring. The measure would ban public officials in New Jersey convicted of corruption from ever holding another job within state and local governments, elected or otherwise.

Jackson was one of 11 officials arrested in a 2007 corruption sweep called Operation Broken Boards, which was overseen by then-U.S. Attorney Chris Christie.

NJ Advance Media Staff Writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.