County officials want new rules when screening job applicants

Webb County, Texas, county commissioners will debate whether or not to change the rules regarding background screening and prospective employees, KGNS-TV reports. According to the station, current regulations require screening of all those who are offered a job. The county commissioners want to change the rule so every applicant - regardless of city of origin - will be screened. The decision comes after the hiring of the director of the Community Action Agency, who was found to have negative hits on his personal record during routine screening. To avoid any recurrence, county commissioner Jaime Canales wants to make the measures more stringent, including a second round of screening for those in higher positions. "I think this could have been handled a little better probably internally, but it's more an issue of the process works and we need to fine tune it so it can be even better," Canales told the news station. Screening during the application process is not limited to Webb County. The Amherst, Massachusetts, town council will conduct background screening of six candidates for the city's police chief opening before bringing them in for a second interview, the New Era Progress reports.