It’s unusual to celebrate the defeat of legislation that we wholeheartedly supported, but in the case of Rep. Nancy Smith’s bill to address the problem of convicted criminals working in sensitive jobs with the state, a good outcome has been guaranteed.

Smith’s bill, which was before the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, would have forced the state to account for its employees who have been convicted of serious crimes and to ensure that they are not given jobs that put state residents, who likely are unaware of the employee’s criminal past, in harm’s way.

The legislation was prompted by disclosure that a state employee, who had been convicted of a sex crime with a minor, was in a job that could have sent him into the homes of families with children. It would have required state residents receive fair warning before sex offenders and the like showed up at the door working as state investigators.

Last week, Smith met with representatives of the state employees’ union and the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, which oversees the Bureau of Employee Relations. All the parties were able to hammer out a compromise that protects the public interest without violating the state’s commitment not to discriminate against people with criminal convictions.

“The administration and the union were eager to address the issue,” Smith said Friday. “There were good intentions on everyone’s part to resolve this issue and improve the policy.”

The state has agreed to include questions about criminal history on all its applications, and to consider it for both new hires and transfers between departments. The compromise also includes training for supervisors on how to oversee employees with convictions and to safeguard the public.

The deal means the state will balance the state’s interest in protecting its residents against employees’ rights not to face discrimination.

Smith’s legislation forced the state government to reconsider its employment policies and prompted improvements that can take effect immediately, without the delay that sometimes exists as a bill winds its way through the Legislature.

Smith says she’ll be watching to make sure the state lives up to the arrangement. If it doesn’t, she says, her legislation will be back. And so will our demands that something be done.