title
Ordinance Amending Wilmington City Code Section 8-5 on Criminal History Background Checks and/or Credit History Checks Required of Applicants and Employees
body
Department:
City Attorney's Office
Meeting Date:
6/2/2026
Contact Name:
Meredith T. Everhart
Public Hearing:
No
Contact Phone:
910-341-7820
Advertising Date/Advertised By:
N/A
Attachments:
Attachment #1: Ordinance; Attachment #2: Current City Code Sec. 8-5; Attachment #3: Redline of Sec. 8-5; Attachment #4: Council Presentation from 5-19-2026
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this ordinance is to bring Chapter 8, Section 8-5 of the Wilmington City Code ("Code") into alignment with the City's goals for safety and security of both employees and citizens. The primary changes include requiring criminal background checks of all final applicants for employment, not just for those in specific positions, and providing for periodic random criminal background checks for all employees during the course of employment. Additionally, current employees applying for internal positions or promotions will be required to submit to new criminal background and credit history checks, just as external candidates for those positions are required to do.
BACKGROUND:
Periodic review of the Code is necessary to ensure the information it contains is accurate and up to date. The City Attorney's Office is presently engaged in a systematic revision of the entire current Code. This review is primarily designed to ensure the current Code is in line with actual City practices and procedures; to identify, amend, and/or repeal obsolete or unlawful provisions; to harmonize the Code with prevailing state and federal mandates and best practices; and to rectify any identified scrivener's errors.
This section of the Code, Sec. 8-5, relating to criminal background checks and credit history checks, has been advanced in the review process in order to bring current City practices for criminal background checks and credit checks of prosp...
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