Altimont Mark Wilks
Democratic
Jurisdiction Washington County (6)
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Altimont Mark Wilks, who owns Carmen’s Corner Store with locations in Frederick and Hagerstown, said he started the two stores after spending 14 years in prison for felony drug and weapons convictions.
During his time in prison, he said he transformed himself and wanted to use his talents to make a career out of running a grocery store that supports an underserved community.
He said he was prevented from accepting benefits because business integrity rules ban business owners convicted of crimes involving drugs, weapons and other criminal offenses, from joining the program. Wilks decided to sue over the policies.
“If you’ve been caught with possession of marijuana, or you had an open container violation in college, you are permanently excluded from ever accepting SNAP,” McClain said.
Wilks is also working with lawmakers on this, including Maryland Rep. David Trone, who in March announced a bill called the “SNAP Second Chance Act of 2023,” which Trone’s office said would limit the authority of the USDA to deny small business owners with previous criminal convictions from joining the SNAP program.
“In my business, I hired over 500 returning citizens because I know giving folks a real second chance leads to economic growth and a better community. It’s wrong to keep folks from rebuilding their lives — these bills fix that,” Trone said in a release.
“We’re doing this because we truly believe that these obstacles that exist in many government agencies need to be eradicated,” Wilks said.
Small-business owner who successfully sued the federal government is running for Congress.