Missouri, don’t let criminal records keep good workers from open jobs | Opinion

I’m a lifelong Missourian, and have been a proud business owner for more than a decade. Thanks in no small part to our community, my business, SugarBot Sweet Shop, has grown from a tiny storefront in St. Louis suburb Webster Groves to two locations in historic St. Charles, our permanent home base for the bakery. It’s also SugarBot Creamery’s home — an 8,000-square-foot facility where we create delicious and joyful moments for our community, and make our scratch-made ice cream and many baked goods behind the scenes.

SugarBot exists as a place for families, for celebrations and for sharing. We’re fueled by a deep belief in empowering folks through kindness, respect and opportunity. Community is so much more than our customers. They’re the people who make our city vibrant, diverse and welcoming. We believe that welcoming spirit should not stop at our door, and that leading with these values makes business better for all. As part of those values, we are committed to hiring inclusively, focusing on providing meaningful employment with living wages to folks facing at least one systemic barrier to employment — including those affected by the justice system.

Yet, for 1.9 million Missourians who have some form of an old criminal record, that kind of opportunity is often unfairly out of reach. Even a minor record can follow someone for years, blocking access to employment, occupational licensing, housing and other foundations of everyday life. For job-seekers, it reduces the likelihood of getting a call back by nearly 50%. This harsh reality is not only bad for our neighbors and team members — it’s bad for all Missourians.

Missouri, and the nation as a whole, needs a solution that ensures everyone who completed their sentences can rejoin and contribute positively to their communities, and in doing so, expand our state’s talent pool and bolster our economy.

Passing “Clean Slate” legislation, such as House Bill 2747 and Senate Bill 854 now in Jefferson City, would offer exactly that.

Clean Slate laws, which are already passed in 13 other states, would automate the sealing of eligible old criminal records after a person remains crime-free for a sustained period of time. It would streamline the existing process, which is so complex and costly that fewer than 1% of eligible Missourians ever receive the fresh start they’ve earned. The benefits of this commonsense reform are immediate and far-reaching.

Just as it’s done for my business, getting justice-impacted talent back to work would strengthen our state’s workforce with valuable, dedicated job seekers. As many businesses struggle to fill open roles, with only 87 available workers for every 100 openings in the state, Clean Slate would help open a new pool of untapped talent. I’m not alone in recognizing their value: More than 80% of business leaders believe that employees with old criminal records perform the same or better than those without.

Our state’s economy stands to benefit tremendously. The Missouri Budget Project found that Clean Slate would generate $2.9 billion in economic activity annually. Research shows that individuals who have their records sealed are 11% more likely to be employed and earn 22% higher wages within one year of having their records sealed.

Boosting employment through Clean Slate is also an effective tool to reduce recidivism and promote public safety. Meaningful employment is one of the most important factors in preventing re-offending. Individuals who have old records sealed are also less likely to commit a crime than those without, and are even less likely than the general public. This saves valuable state resources for other priorities, and helps break cycles of poverty and punishment that hold families back across generations.

People are more than their past. Record sealing is not a gift: It has been earned by folks who meet eligibility requirements, and are doing the work in their daily lives to move forward and make a positive impact on their futures and the futures of the ones they love.

As a Missouri business owner, I’ve witnessed the immense value that my team members who are also justice-impacted bring to the table. I know the transformative power of leading with fairness and expanding opportunity. Missouri lawmakers have the chance to do the same. It’s time to pass Clean Slate.

Jackie Huebbe is the owner of SugarBot Sweet Shop and SugarBot Creamery in St. Charles, Missouri. SugarBot is a member of the Workforce & Justice Alliance, a coalition of businesses working to deliver criminal justice reform across the country, convened by the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice, a fiscally sponsored project of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit NEO Philanthropy.

This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 5:09 AM.