A felony is a serious criminal offense typically punishable by more than one year of incarceration in state or federal prison. Felonies cover a wide range of severity — from non-violent drug offenses and financial crimes at the lower end to violent crimes like assault, robbery, and murder at the most serious. Most states categorize felonies into classes (Class A, B, C, or similar) based on severity, with Class A felonies representing the most serious offenses and carrying the heaviest penalties.
A misdemeanor is a less serious offense typically punishable by up to one year in county jail. Examples include disorderly conduct, minor theft, simple assault, and first-time DUI offenses in many states.
Both can appear on background checks. Both affect hiring decisions. But felonies generally receive greater scrutiny from employers — and also have different treatment under expungement and sealing laws than misdemeanors.
In most hiring situations, a felony conviction will appear on a background check when:
The conviction was prosecuted at the county or state level and those records were searched. Most felonies are prosecuted in state courts — which means they live in county court records. A background check that includes county-level criminal searches in the jurisdictions where the candidate has lived will return these records. A national database search may also flag them, but as we cover in County Criminal Search vs. National Database, national databases are aggregated and incomplete — county-level searches are the more reliable source.
The conviction is within the reportable timeframe. Under the FCRA, criminal convictions have no federal time limit — they can be reported indefinitely. Nine states have enforceable seven-year limits on CRA conviction reporting (state laws in this area are otherwise preempted by the FCRA unless they were in effect before September 30, 1996). In three — California, Montana, and New Mexico — the limit applies with no salary exception. In the other six — Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Washington — the restriction lifts above a salary threshold (e.g., $75,000 in Maryland, $25,000 in New York, $20,000 in Kansas, New Hampshire, and Washington). In the remaining states, a felony from 20 years ago is still legally reportable.
The record hasn't been expunged, sealed, or covered by a Clean Slate law. If the conviction is still in the public record and hasn't been cleared through a legal process, it will appear on a thorough background check.
The check includes federal criminal records. Federal felonies — fraud, tax evasion, immigration violations, drug trafficking across state lines — are prosecuted in federal district courts and require a separate federal criminal search. A county-only check will not return federal records.
There are several important circumstances where a felony conviction may not appear — and employers need to understand all of them.
Expungement is a legal process that results in a criminal record being sealed or destroyed, making it unavailable for most purposes including employment background checks. When a court grants expungement, PBSA-accredited screening providers are required to suppress the record — reporting an expunged conviction is an FCRA violation.
Expungement eligibility varies significantly by state. Most states allow expungement for lower-level felonies after a waiting period and a clean record. Violent felonies, sex offenses, and Class A felonies are generally excluded from expungement eligibility in every state. The individual typically has to petition the court and meet eligibility criteria — expungement is not automatic in most cases.
This is the biggest change to the felony background check landscape in recent years. Clean Slate laws automate the sealing or expungement of eligible criminal records without requiring the individual to petition a court — the process happens automatically after a defined waiting period if eligibility criteria are met.
As of 2026, the following states have enacted Clean Slate laws covering at least some felony convictions:
Critically, Clean Slate laws typically exclude the most serious offenses from automatic sealing. Offenses such as violent felonies, sex crimes, murder, arson, and crimes involving children are excluded from Clean Slate eligibility in virtually every state, though petition-based pathways in some states reach somewhat further than the automatic process. Clean Slate laws are designed to give non-violent, lower-level offenders a path to clear records — not to erase serious criminal history.
For employers: when a Clean Slate law applies and a record is sealed, it must be treated as non-reportable. Employers cannot use sealed records in hiring decisions even if they discover the information through other means.
This is a practical gap, not a legal one — but it's consequential. A background check only returns records from the jurisdictions that were searched. If a candidate lived in a county that doesn't submit records to national databases consistently, and no direct county search was ordered for that jurisdiction, a felony conviction there simply won't appear.
This is why address history is foundational — they identify every jurisdiction where the candidate has lived, which tells the screening program where county searches need to run. A background check that only searches the candidate's current address will miss records from past jurisdictions entirely.
In the nine states with enforceable seven-year caps on conviction reporting, a felony conviction older than that limit generally cannot be reported. The candidate has a felony. It's in the courthouse records. But for a position in California — at any salary — a 10-year-old felony conviction cannot be included in the background check report.
The rules vary by state. California, Montana, and New Mexico apply the seven-year limit with no salary exception. The other six states — Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Washington — lift the restriction above a salary threshold: $75,000 in Maryland, $25,000 in New York, and $20,000 in Kansas, New Hampshire, and Washington. For most roles, these limits apply. See our full breakdown of [how long background check records stay on file] for state-by-state detail.
Federal felonies — drug trafficking, wire fraud, federal tax crimes, crimes on federal property — are prosecuted in federal district courts and don't appear in county criminal searches or state repositories. A background check that doesn't include a federal criminal records search will miss these records entirely. For roles with significant financial responsibility, government access, or positions that may attract candidates with federal criminal history, a federal criminal search is a separate and important component.
Seeing a felony on a background check report doesn't automatically justify declining a candidate. The long-standing best practice — one that a growing number of states now require by law — is an individualized assessment before making any adverse decision based on criminal history. That means looking at three things:
For years, this framework was closely associated with the EEOC's and the "disparate impact" theory behind it. That changed in mid-2026, when the federal government stepped back from enforcing disparate impact claims. But the framework itself hasn't gone anywhere. The underlying statute is still on the books, individuals can still bring their own claims, and states like California, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois have been writing individualized assessment requirements directly into their own fair chance laws. The result is a patchwork: federal enforcement has receded while state-level requirements keep expanding.
This framework relflects a practical reality: not all felonies mean the same thing in all contexts.A 12-year-old non-violent drug possession felony on the record of a candidate for a warehouse role is very different from a recent financial fraud conviction on the record of a candidate for a financial controller role. The FCRA's adverse action process — pre-adverse notice, waiting period, final notice — works the same in both cases, but what differs is the assessment that happens before any decision is made.
Timing is its own layer. In jurisdictions with ban-the-box laws - now on the books in more than 37 states, D.C., and 150+ cities and counties — the criminal history question comes later in the hiring process. Most of these laws delay it until the application or interview stage; the strictest, like California's, wait until after a conditional offer. Washington State joins that stricter group in July 2026, when its updated Fair Chance Act takes effect for larger employers — and it extends coverage to existing employees being considered for promotions, not just new hires.
Bchex Core Screening conducts county-level criminal searches in every relevant jurisdiction identified through address history — not just in the candidate's current location. This is what closes the most common gap in felony detection: records from past jurisdictions that only exist in county court systems.
When a felony record appears, Bchex's adjudication process confirms the record belongs to the candidate, verifies current accuracy and disposition, and flags whether the record is legally reportable given the candidate's state and the position's salary level. Expunged, sealed, and Clean Slate-eligible records are suppressed before the report is delivered — reporting a legally protected record is an FCRA violation that Bchex's compliance infrastructure is designed to prevent.
Bchex is PBSA-accredited, meaning its data sourcing, accuracy standards, and suppression workflows have been independently audited — not just self-reported. For employers who need to stay current on Clean Slate changes and state-level reporting restrictions that affect what felony records appear, working with an accredited provider with up-to-date jurisdiction rules is the most reliable approach.
No — not always. Felonies that have been expunged or sealed under state law generally will not appear. Clean Slate laws in states including California, Michigan, Colorado, Delaware, Minnesota, and New York are now automatically sealing eligible felonies without requiring individuals to petition a court. Federal felonies require a separate federal criminal search and won't appear in county searches. And in 9 states, felony convictions older than seven years cannot be reported for most positions.
Under federal FCRA law, criminal convictions have no time limit and can be reported indefinitely. However, 9 states — including but not limited to California, New York, and Massachusetts — limit conviction reporting to seven years for most positions. In states with Clean Slate laws, eligible felonies are automatically sealed after defined waiting periods and become non-reportable once sealed. See our full guide on how long background check records stay on file.
Generally no. When a court grants expungement or sealing, screening providers are required to suppress the record. Reporting an expunged record is an FCRA violation, and in many states, the sealing statute itself. That said, expungement eligibility varies significantly by state — most states exclude violent felonies, sex offenses, and most serious felonies from expungement eligibility. An expunged record may still appear in certain limited contexts (government security clearances, law enforcement hiring, licensing boards), but for standard employment background checks it should not.
Not without legal exposure. While federal enforcement of "disparate impact" claims receded in 2025–2026, the underlying law remains on the books, individuals can still bring their own claims, and a growing number of states — including California, New York, and Washington — have written individualized assessment requirements directly into their fair chance laws. That assessment weighs the nature and gravity of the offense, the time elapsed, and whether the conviction is directly relevant to the specific job duties. The FCRA's adverse action process also applies — pre-adverse notice, a reasonable waiting period, and final notice before a decision is finalized.
It can — if the screening program includes county-level searches in the jurisdictions where the candidate lived when the offense occurred. A national database search may flag it if that state submits records consistently. A direct county search in the relevant jurisdiction is the most reliable approach. This is why address history is foundational — they identify every jurisdiction that needs to be searched, not just the candidate's current location.
Clean Slate laws automatically seal or expunge eligible criminal records after defined waiting periods without requiring individuals to petition a court. As of 2026, states including California, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Virginia, New York, and Oklahoma have enacted Clean Slate provisions covering at least some felony-level offenses. Violent felonies, sex crimes, and Class A felonies are excluded from Clean Slate eligibility in virtually every state. When a record is sealed under a Clean Slate law, employers must treat it as non-reportable — it cannot legally be used in hiring decisions. One practical note: in several states, implementation is still catching up — a record that qualifies for sealing may remain visible until the state's automated process reaches it.
Yes. County criminal searches return records for offenses prosecuted in state courts — which covers the vast majority of felonies. Federal criminal searches return records for offenses prosecuted in federal district courts — fraud, tax crimes, federal drug trafficking, crimes on federal property, and immigration violations. These are separate searches. A county-only background check will not return federal felony convictions, and vice versa. A complete screening package for higher-risk roles should include both.
Felonies don't always show up on background checks — and increasingly, Clean Slate laws are automatically sealing records that used to stay visible for decades. Whether a felony appears depends on how the check was conducted, which jurisdictions were searched, whether the record was expunged or sealed, what state law applies, and how much time has passed. For employers, the question isn't just whether a felony appears — it's whether the record is legally reportable, whether it's relevant to the specific role, and whether the FCRA's adverse action process was followed before a decision was made.
Ready to run felony checks that are accurate, compliant, and jurisdiction-aware? Explore Bchex Core Screening — PBSA-accredited, with direct county court access, human adjudication, and suppression workflows built for a Clean Slate world.