The "whole person concept" is a paradigm used by government agencies that adjudicate security clearances, fingerprint checks, and background checks, to determine whether or not a person is suitable for approval.  These include the federal government and the Arizona Board of Fingerprinting.  Basically, this "rule" indicates that the "whole person" should be considered when determining whether or not a person poses an unacceptable security or safety risk.

Although the whole person concept generally does not factor into an initial application -- there, your application, submitted materials, references, and investigation results control -- it does play an important role in appealing a denial or revocation of a clearance.  Basically, if some detrimental information or disqualifying incident pops up, which would otherwise deny you clearance, positive factors may be taken into account to overcome the presumption of disqualification.

Essentially, there are two types of positive factors that can help you.  The first includes factors that mitigate the seriousness of negative conduct.  For example, if your background reveals that you have been convicted of shoplifting, this could result in disqualification and denial of a clearance.  But if you can demonstrate that you paid full restitution to the store, were only 19 years old at the time, played only a minor role in the incident, and the conviction was set aside by the judge after you completed your probation early, then the effect of the conviction may be minimized, and your application may be approved.

The second type of positive "whole person" factor includes anything that demonstrates your trustworthiness, diligence, dedication to the community or country, or overall good character.  These factors can indirectly minimize the negative impact of a black mark on your record.  Things like participation in civic, charitable, religious, or educational organizations can demonstrate good character and involvement in the community.  Awards and achievements for excellent job or academic performance can show your diligence and trustworthiness.  Recommendations from distinguished and highly-regarded professionals can bolster your character.  Basically, produce anything that gives an affirmative answer to the question, "Can we trust this person?"  


While it is better to avoid any blemishes on your record, having evidence to demonstrate that a black mark is an anomaly, and not a personality characteristic, will help you.  Thus, if you want your future to include work that requires scrutiny of your past, you should take action to burnish your present. Besides, it just feels good to do something positive!

When you have a conviction set aside, your civil rights restored, a record expunged, or charges dismissed, it's a good idea to spread the good news.  Most people do not realize that criminal records are kept by dozens of agencies, and they don't always talk to each other when their records change.

For example, if you are charged with a DUI and booked into jail for the night, a record of this incident will be created in at least three different agencies, and likely several others too.  The department employing the police officer who wrote the ticket will create a record of the stop, arrest, and citation.  The jail will create a booking record.  The court will create a criminal (or traffic, depending on the court) case record.  The local prosecutor's office will open a case file.  The police department likely will report its record to the state Department of Public Safety, or whatever agency maintains the state-wide criminal history database, which will create a criminal history record.  The state agency may report its record to the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC), which maintains a national criminal history database.  That makes for a lot of records.


Unfortunately, while these agencies will often do a good job of letting all their friends know that you've been arrested or charged, they just as often to a terrible job of passing the word that your case has been dismissed, or that your conviction was set aside.  That means that you are the one who must take charge of keeping your criminal record up-to-date.  Whenever a positive change is made to your criminal record, inform every agency that might know of the original charge.  Try to check your criminal history every once in a while to see what's there, and insist on corrections to bad information.  With so many records kept in electronic databases, and with more and more information available to the public online, it is critically important to make sure that your record is accurate.

If you are unfortunate enough to have a criminal conviction in Arizona, you should seek to set that conviction aside as soon as you possibly can.  While this will not "expunge" the conviction from your record (which will, thanks to computer storage capacity, exist practically forever), setting aside the conviction will improve your record.

Setting aside a conviction results in the charges being "dismissed," which indicates that the judge has reviewed your case and determined that setting aside the conviction is appropriate.  Please note that this is not necessarily the same thing as restoring your civil liberties, which often requires a separate application -- though by its terms, a set-aside results in the person being "released from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the conviction," with a few exceptions.  Still, it is the better practice to apply for both.  (Doing so will be the subject of a future post.)

If the judge grants your application, this does not mean that the conviction disappears.  As noted above, the case record can still appear if someone searches for it, and some court records show up on Google searches.  Thus, if you apply for a job after having a conviction set aside, and the application asks if you have ever been convicted of a criminal offense, the best answer is something like, "Yes, BUT the conviction was set aside."  DO NOT claim that you have not ever been convicted -- such dishonesty will likely cost you the job, and if you are applying for a government job, may result in further prosecution.

The statute governing set-asides in Arizona is A.R.S. section 13-907.

For those given the opportunity to work in a position that requires a federal security clearance, the background investigation is key.  It begins with completion of the Questionnaire for National Security Positions (Standard Form 86).  This is an extensive and in-depth survey of the applicant's personal history, and requires detailed information about the applicant's previous residences, work history, contacts, and other information.

It is, of course, essential to be brutally honest in filling out the SF86.  The information presented in the SF86 will be given to experienced investigators, and the investigation process will be managed by an even more-experienced investigator.  Any false information discovered on the SF86 will almost surely result in denial of a clearance, and possibly even criminal prosecution.

Some individuals think that they can guarantee approval by listing only information that puts them in a good light, and overlooking or omitting derogatory information.  While this is common practice (and perhaps generally accepted) on a resume, do not do this on the SF86.  As noted above, those investigating your background for a federal security clearance really know how to conduct an investigation.  This may include FBI agents, military investigators (from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Army Criminal Investigation Command, Defense Security Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, or others), contract investigators, or others with extensive investigation experience.

These people will talk to everybody they can find about you.  This includes not only the references that you list (and it is important to list references who will say the best things about you), but also the neighbors, former employers, classmates, etc., that you haven't listed.  They might even ask your references for references, and then talk to those people about you.  Thus, it is important to make sure that everyone who knows you feels that you are trustworthy -- if you know someone who will say that you're not, be prepared to explain it to the investigator during your personal interview.

The ultimate point of the background investigation is to determine whether or not you can be trusted with national security information.  This is an extremely important task, and those fulfilling it take it very seriously.  Look back at your history and ask yourself, "Based on this, would I trust this person with codes to nuclear weapons?"  If your answer is anything other than, "Certainly!", then you should improve your history.  You can't hide your past, but you can put a better face on it.