The Kennewick City Council on Tuesday adopted E- Verify as a condition for employment and for contractors who want to do work for the city.

The electronic system verifies whether potential new hires are eligible to work in the United States. E-Verify participants fill out a form, which is checked through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. The program is voluntary and is for confirming employment authorization, not a test for citizenship.

Public entities using E-Verify cannot use it to screen applicants for a job, nor can it be used for current employees. It is available only to check a newly hired person's employment eligibility after being selected for a position.

The same rules apply for a city-retained contractor who is required to use E-Verify.

The city's policy allows the city manager to make case-by-case exceptions with council approval, and exempts several types of professional service providers such as architects, bankers, lawyers, and vendors providing commercial, off-the-shelf products.

Use of E-Verify is free for employers, and the staff report for Tuesday's council meeting said the policy would have no fiscal impact to the city.