Spokane fair chance hiring ordinance for employers (2026): when you can ask and the housing status rule

Spokane's fair chance hiring ordinance, Spokane Municipal Code chapter 09.02, bars employers in the city, including temporary staffing and placement agencies, from "no felons" ads and from asking about or checking an applicant's arrest or conviction record before an in-person, phone or video interview or a conditional offer. Since May 25, 2025 it also bars questions related to housing status and rejecting an applicant solely because they are unhoused or have no fixed address. Violations are civil infractions handled in Spokane Municipal Court, and as of November 2026 Washington's Fair Chance Act moves the criminal history line later, to a conditional offer, so Spokane employers follow the state's timing plus Spokane's housing status rule.

What is SMC chapter 09.02?

Chapter 09.02, "Fair Chance Hiring", sits in Title 09 (Employment Standards) of the Spokane Municipal Code. The code's own section notes give its history:

• Ordinance C35564, passed November 27, 2017 and effective June 14, 2018, created the chapter. Sections 09.02.060 (more protective employer policies), 09.02.080 (severability) and 09.02.090 (effect on other laws) still carry that history.
• Ordinance C36666, passed April 21, 2025 and effective May 25, 2025, rewrote sections 09.02.010 to 09.02.050 to add housing status. The City Council's April 22, 2025 announcement calls it the "Ban the Address" ordinance, passed 6 to 1.
• Ordinance C36702, passed July 14, 2025 and effective August 24, 2025, rewrote the penalty section, 09.02.070, and placed the chapter in the citywide civil infraction penalty schedule, SMC 01.05.151.

The City of Spokane's own hiring is covered separately by chapter 09.03, "Fair Chance Hiring Practices of the City of Spokane."

Who is covered?

SMC 09.02.030 defines an employer as "any individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, contractor, temporary staffing agency, training and apprenticeship program, job placement, referral and employment agency, or any person or group of persons acting directly or indirectly and within the city limits of Spokane, in the interest of an employer." There is no minimum number of employees. Excluded: the City (covered by chapter 09.03), the United States, the State of Washington, Spokane County and federally recognized Indian tribes. "Employment" includes temporary and seasonal work and "work through the services of a temporary or other employment agency." Unlike Seattle, the chapter sets no percentage-of-time test for where the job is done; it speaks of employers acting within the city limits.

Exceptions

SMC 09.02.040 says the chapter does not apply:

• to an employer hiring someone who will have unsupervised access to children under 18, a vulnerable adult as defined in RCW 74.34.020(21), or a vulnerable person as defined in RCW 9.96A.060;
• to employers expressly permitted or required by federal or Washington law to inquire into, consider or rely on arrest or conviction records;
• to a general authority Washington law enforcement agency; or
• where criminal background checks are specifically permitted or required under state or federal law.

The same section says the chapter does not stop an employer "from declining to hire an applicant with a criminal record," and does not require accommodations for applicants with records or for people experiencing homelessness.

When can a Spokane employer ask about criminal history?

SMC 09.02.050 says no employer shall:

1. advertise openings in a way that excludes people with arrest or conviction records, such as "no felons" or "no criminal background," though an ad may say that a criminal history inquiry or background check happens during or after the interview process, as long as it does not say a record automatically disqualifies;
2. ask on an application, orally or in writing, run a background check, or "otherwise obtain information about an applicant's arrest or conviction record" before an in-person, telephonic or video interview or a conditional offer;
3. use, distribute or disseminate an applicant's or employee's record "except as required or otherwise allowed by law";
4. disqualify an applicant before an interview solely because of a prior arrest or conviction, unless the conviction relates to significant duties of the job or the chapter otherwise allows it; or
5. reject an applicant for failing to disclose a record before the employer has determined they are otherwise qualified.

Subsection B then allows the employer to ask about and consider a record during or after an in-person, phone or video interview, or after a conditional offer. "Arrest or conviction record" is broad: any record of a citation or arrest, including probable cause records, and any criminal or juvenile case filed with a court, whether or not it ended in a finding of guilt, was vacated or was overturned.

The interview-stage permission is where state law now overrides. RCW 49.94.010(1) bars any inquiry or check until the employer finds the applicant otherwise qualified and makes a conditional offer, for employers with 15 or more employees since July 1, 2026 and for smaller employers from January 1, 2027, and RCW 49.94.020(5) says local laws giving applicants "lesser protections ... may not be enforced." The state Act's notice, two business day hold and written decision are covered on our Washington ban-the-box page.

What does the 2025 housing status rule require?

Ordinance C36666 added two prohibitions to 09.02.050. No employer shall:

• Discriminate based on address. No discrimination "based on the address provided during any portion of the application process," and no rejection or disqualification "solely because the individual does not have a fixed or regular residence, or because the individual is homeless or unhoused, or because the individual lives on the street, in a shelter, or in a temporary residence," unless housing status "has a bona fide and legitimate relation to the primary duties of the job and such rejection or disqualification would also violate state or federal employment laws or regulations." The exception's wording is unusual; read it with counsel before relying on it.
• Ask about housing status. No application question or oral or written inquiry "related to housing status," though an employer may "include an opportunity for an applicant to provide a mailing address or other means of contacting an applicant."

"Housing status" means whether a person is experiencing homelessness, which the code defines as "not having a fixed or regular residence," including living on the streets, in a shelter or in a temporary residence. The Council's announcement describes the aim as discouraging questions about "an applicant's address or residency history until after a provisional offer of employment." SMC 09.02.040 confirms an employer may still decline to hire or end the employment of someone experiencing homelessness if the decision "is not solely based on housing status."

Does Spokane require a notice or an assessment before rejecting someone?

No. Chapter 09.02 has no individualized assessment, notice or waiting period of its own. Those steps now come from the state Act for covered employers, and from the federal FCRA when a consumer reporting agency prepares the report: a stand-alone disclosure and authorization, a pre-adverse action notice with the report and summary of rights, then a final notice (see the FCRA background check process). Spokane does add a confidentiality rule, item 3 above: do not share a record beyond what the law requires or allows.

What are the penalties, and who enforces them?

SMC 09.02.070 reads, in full: "Violation of this chapter is a civil infraction." SMC 01.05.151 lists chapter 09.02 among the code sections that are civil infractions "subject to the monetary penalties and restitution prescribed by state law," treats each violation as a separate offense and each day of a continuing violation as a separate violation, and states the city's policy "to educate and seek voluntary compliance" before issuing infractions. Under the civil infraction chapter, a code enforcement officer first seeks voluntary correction, then may issue a notice of infraction that can be contested in municipal court. Spokane's code does not assign the chapter a class; state law, RCW 7.80.120, caps a class 1 civil infraction at $250, not counting statutory assessments.

SMC 09.02.020 says the chapter creates no private right of action under state law and that "all causes of action for violations of the chapter shall lie with the City of Spokane municipal court," while not limiting a person's other civil rights remedies. We did not find a complaint form specific to chapter 09.02 on the city's site. The state Act is enforced separately by the Washington Attorney General, with much larger penalties.

Staffing agencies and recruiters: who does what?

Because agencies are named employers and "employment" includes work through an agency, an agency's intake form, job board posting and recruiter screen are covered in their own right, not only the client's process.

• Postings: the agency owns the ad. Remove "no felons," "clean background" and "must have a permanent address" lines before posting a Spokane role.
• Intake forms: ask for a mailing address, phone or email only. Drop questions about residence type, how long the candidate has lived at an address, or whether they live in a shelter.
• Screens: no criminal history or housing questions on the recruiter call. Under the state Act the record comes after a conditional offer.
• Temporary placements: the agency, as employer, sends the state notice, holds the job two business days, writes the decision and sends FCRA notices for any report it ordered.
• Direct hire: the client makes the conditional offer and sends the notices; put who does what in the contract.

A copy-ready Spokane posting line and address field

Examples to adapt for Spokane job ads and applications:

Posting line: "This position includes a background check after a conditional offer of employment. A criminal record does not automatically disqualify an applicant, and every applicant is considered on their qualifications."

Application field: "Mailing address or other way to reach you (optional if you give a phone number or email)."

If a candidate volunteers that they live in a shelter: "Thanks for letting me know. That has no bearing on your application, and I won't note it. What's the best way to reach you?"

Keep anything volunteered about records or housing out of notes and submittals; see what not to write in interview notes.

What about federal rules?

Title VII still governs how records are used, although the EEOC rescinded its 2012 arrest and conviction records guidance on October 28, 2026. A job-related review using the Green factors from the 1975 Eighth Circuit case (the nature and gravity of the offense, the time since it and the nature of the job) remains a sound way to make and document a decision, and the state Act's six factors cover the same ground. A fair chance hiring policy that names Spokane's housing status rule keeps recruiters consistent.

Summary: Spokane's fair chance hiring ordinance at a glance

For the other Northwest city rules, see Seattle's Fair Chance Employment Ordinance and Portland's ban-the-box ordinance, and for the full state picture, Washington background check laws.