Offered by Councillors CHUCK TURNER, STEPHEN J. MURPHY, FELIX
D. ARROYO, CHARLES C. YANCEY, MAURA A. HENNIGAN,
MICHAEL F. FLAHERTY, and MICHAEL P. ROSS

CITY OF BOSTON
_______________
IN THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND FIVE
_______________

AN ORDINANCE REGARDING CORI

WHEREAS,

The City of Boston has focused on developing a system of screening for those
with criminal backgrounds that is fair to all concerned; and

WHEREAS,

The cornerstone of the system developed by the Human Resources Department is
screening for the criminal background of applicants for positions which bring the
prospective employee into unsupervised contact with youth or the elderly; and

WHEREAS,

The City contracts for goods and services with thousands of vendors; and

WHEREAS,

These vendors employ hundreds of thousands employees; and

WHEREAS,

The City has a responsibility to ensure that its vendors have fair policies relating
to the screening and identification of persons with criminal backgrounds. NOW
THEREFORE,

Be it ordained by the City Council of Boston, as follows:
CBC Chapter IV is hereby amended by appending CBC 4-7 as follows:

4-7

CORI Screening by Vendors of the City of Boston

4-7.1 Purpose.
These sections are intended to ensure that the persons and businesses supplying goods and/or
services to the City of Boston deploy fair policies relating to the screening and identification of
persons with criminal backgrounds through the CORI system.

4-7.2 Definitions.
Unless specifically indicated otherwise, these definitions shall apply and control in CBC 4-7.

(a) Applicant means any current or prospective employee, licensee, or volunteer and
includes all persons included in 803 CMR 2.03.
(b) Awarding Authority means any department, agency, or office of the City of
Boston that purchases goods and/or services from a Vendor.
(c) CHSB means the Criminal History Systems Board defined in M.G.L. c. 6 and 803
CMR 2.00.
(d) City means the City of Boston or department, agency, or office thereof.
(e) Otherwise Qualified means any Applicant that meets all other criteria for a
position or consideration for a position.
(f) Vendor means any vendor, contractor, or supplier of goods and/or services to the
City of Boston.

4-7.3 CORI-Related Standards of the City of Boston.
The City of Boston will do business only with Vendors that have adopted and employ CORIrelated policies, practices, and standards that are consistent with City standards.
The City of Boston employs CORI-related policies and practices that are fair to all persons
involved and seeks to do business with Vendors that have substantially similar policies and
practices. The Awarding Authority shall review all Vendors' CORI policies for consistency with
City standards. The Awarding Authority shall consider all Vendors' CORI standards as part of
the criteria to be evaluated in the awarding of a contract and will consider a Vendor's execution
of the CORI standards to be evaluated among the performance criteria of a contract. The
Awarding Authority shall consider any Vendor's deviation from the CORI standards as grounds
for rejection, rescission, revocation, or any other termination of the contract.
The CORI-related policies and practices of the City include, but are not limited to:
(a) The City does not conduct a CORI check on an Applicant unless a CORI check is
required by law or the City has made a good faith determination that the relevant position is of
such sensitivity that a CORI report is warranted.
(b) The City reviews the qualifications of an Applicant and determines that an
Applicant is Otherwise Qualified for the relevant position before the City conducts a CORI
check. The City does not conduct a CORI check for an Applicant that is not Otherwise Qualified
for a relevant position.
(c) If the City has been authorized by the CHSB to receive CORI reports consisting
solely of conviction and case-pending information and the CORI report received by the City
contains other information (i.e. cases disposed favorably for the Applicant such as Not Guilty,
Dismissal) then the City informs the Applicant and provides the Applicant with a copy of
CHSB's information for the Applicant to pursue correction.
(d) When the City receives a proper CORI report of an Applicant that contains only

the CORI information that the City is authorized to receive and the City is inclined to refuse,
rescind, or revoke the offer of a position to an Applicant then the City fully complies with 803
CMR 6.11 by, including, but not limited to, notifying the Applicant of the potential adverse
employment action, providing the Applicant with a photocopy of the CORI report received by
the City, informing the Applicant of the specific parts of the CORI report that concern the City,
providing an opportunity for the Applicant to discuss the CORI report with the City including an
opportunity for the Applicant to present information rebutting the accuracy and/or relevance of
the CORI report, reviewing any information and documentation received from the Applicant, and
documenting all steps taken to comply with 803 CMR 6.11.
(e) The City makes final employment-related decisions based on all of the
information available to the City, including the seriousness of the crime(s), the relevance of the
crime(s), the number of crime(s), the age of the crime(s), and the occurrences in the life of the
Applicant since the crime(s). If the final decision of the City is adverse to the Applicant and
results in the refusal, rescission, or revocation of a position with the City then the City promptly
notifies the Applicant of the decision and the specific reason(s) therefor.

4-7.4 Waiver.
Under exigent circumstances, an Awarding Authority, by its highest ranking member, may grant
a waiver of CBC 4-7.3 on a contract-by-contract basis and shall submit a written record of the
waiver to the Office of Civil Rights and to the Boston City Council's Staff Director who shall
provide a copy to each and every City Councillor. The written record shall include, but not be
limited to, (a) a summary of the terms of the contract, (b) the details of the Vendor's failure or
refusal to conform with the City's CORI-related standards, and (c) a brief analysis of the
exigency causing the grant of waiver.
No waiver may be considered perfected unless the Awarding Authority fully complies with the
provisions of this sub-section.

4-7.5 Data Collection and Report.
Any Awarding Authority, Vendor, Applicant, or other interested party may contact the Office of
Civil Rights to report any problems, concerns, or suggestions regarding the implementation,
compliance, and impacts of these sections, and the Office of Civil Rights shall log every
comment received with a summary of the comment and shall keep on file any written comments.
Subsequent to logging any comment, the Office of Civil Rights may refer a complaint to the
CHSB and shall notify the relevant Awarding Authority. The Office of Civil Rights shall
prepare a written report including, but not limited to, a summary of the granted waivers, a
summary of any feedback regarding CORI-related policies and/or practices, and any other
information or analysis deemed noteworthy by the Director of the Office of Civil Rights. The
Office of Civil Rights shall file the report with the Boston City Council via the Boston City
Clerk every six (6) months from the implementation date of these sections.

4-7.6 Applicability.
If any provision of these sections imposes greater restrictions or obligations than those imposed
by any other general law, special law, regulation, rule, ordinance, order, or policy then the
provisions of these sections shall control.

4-7.7 Regulatory Authority.
The Office of Civil Rights shall have the authority to promulgate rules and regulations necessary
to implement and enforce these sections and may promulgate a form of the Affidavit.

4-7.8 Severability.
If any provision of these sections shall be held to be invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction,
then such provision shall be considered separately and apart from the remaining provisions,
which shall remain in full force and effect.

4-7.9 Implementation.
The provisions of these sections shall be effective on July 1, 2006.