The effort, known as ban the box, which is intended to exclude criminal history when applying for jobs, has not been effective due to the old ordinance, city officials say. That is because while questions about criminal history are not on applications, a city ordinance still in effect means these candidates are still flagged during background checks.

"It's just delayed punishment in my mind," Commissioner Ben Hasan says of the ordinance. "We want this to be gone. That was our intent."

Read the full article from the Augusta Chronicle.