BEAVER — Convicted felons would get a second chance to make a better first impression when applying for a county job under a proposal two of the three Beaver County Commissioners were receptive to Wednesday.

Commissioners Daniel Camp and Tony Amadio said they supported removing a question about whether a prospective job applicant had committed a felony within the last seven years that’s presently on the county’s employment application.

They said so after being approached by Dean Williams, an activist associated with the group Pittsburgh United which is branching out to form similar groups in Beaver, Washington and Erie counties.

This is Beaver County United’s first initiative, Williams said.

Called “Ban the Box,” the effort has the support of the Beaver County Chapter of the NAACP.

The commissioners were individually approached about the matter in December, Camp said, and during Wednesday’s commissioners work session Williams made his pitch publicly.

The idea is to give people with criminal records a chance to be considered for employment that might otherwise be hampered simply by marking “Yes” in the box next to the question about a person’s criminal history on many job applications.

Removing the question allows someone with a criminal record to “get their foot in the door” to be considered for a job, Williams said.

“It behooves all of us to give people a second chance,” Amadio said.

Camp agreed and the commissioners asked county Solicitor Garen Fedeles to draft a resolution removing the question from the county’s job applications that will be voted on at the Jan. 25 commissioners meeting.

Egley didn’t attend Wednesday’s meeting.

The move wouldn’t mean the county can’t do background checks on people if warranted, but it would allow people who are otherwise qualified for a job to at least be considered, Williams said.

The new policy would be similar to ones Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and Pennsylvania have in place.