Background Checks

[JRutledge]

I will give another quick example.

There was an official in my area that worked a major conference in college. The league started doing background checks. They found out that this individual had a charge of domestic violence or some kind of charge towards his wife. This apparently happened during a time when they were getting divorced and we all know how messy those things can be. There were no convictions and much of the information was found out to be bogus, but it took time to prove that information. Now this person was also in law enforcement and had the resources to likely take care of this information. But soon after this information was revealed, he was released from that conference even thought he had been suspended and brought back for a short time. We must keep in mind that certain charges carry stigmas to them as well and even if there is no conviction, people think you have done something wrong and this could obviously affect someone just trying to officiate.

I do agree with Mark that someone convicted of Manslaughter might not be a good person to officiate, but I would personally think the circumstances might also be a factor as well. People serve time for defending themselves or harming someone that did something against them. And they do not always spend massive amounts of years in jail either, but they are still convicted of a felony.

Peace