Kasich signs bill to curb ex-inmates' hardships

COLUMBUS (AP) — Gov. John Kasich signed 13 bills, including one to ease ex-inmates back into the workforce as cosmetologists, salvage-yard dealers and construction workers.

The measure aims to reduce employment or professional hardships brought about by a person’s conviction or decision to plead guilty to a crime. Ex-offenders could get a state certificate of employment or professional licensure lifting certain bars on employment.

Kasich signed the bills in private today.

One bill would bar people from altering a vehicle to create or add a hidden compartment. Another measure would require scrap-metal dealers to take a photograph of anyone who sells them scrap. A separate bill also renames the Department of Development as the Development Services Agency.