Clean Slate Laws in 2026: What Employers Need to Know

Clean Slate laws are changing how background checks work, and if you hire using criminal history reports, now is the time to start doing things differently.

Why now? 14 states plus the District of Columbia have passed laws automatically sealing eligible criminal records after a waiting period, with several more states actively considering legislation. Virginia goes live on 1 July 2026, just weeks away. In most cases, sealing means the records disappear from background checks, legally speaking. And in some cases, using sealed records in your hiring process could now expose you to legal action.

New York's Clean Slate Act has garnered nationwide attention. It took effect in November 2024 and continues rolling out through 2027. Minnesota's law went live in January 2025. Virginia is next, then more after that. If your organization operates across state lines or in a regulated area like healthcare or childcare, these changes affect your policies today (whether or not you're ready).

Let's look at how these laws work, what sealed records actually mean for background screening, and what your HR teams should be doing now.

TL;DR Summary

1. Clean Slate laws are live in 14 states plus DC. Virginia goes live 1 July 2026. Your screening process must follow sealing rules in every state where you hire
2. Sealed records are hidden from most background checks, and legally off-limits
3. Regulated industries may still require fingerprint-based access to sealed data
4. Violating these rules exposes employers to civil suits and compliance penalties
5. Old PDF copies and spreadsheets of background check results may now contain records that have since been automatically sealed: using that data creates legal exposure
6. KRESS helps filter out sealed records and keep your process compliant

Clean Slate Laws in Plain Terms

Clean Slate laws aim to give people with minor or old convictions a clean sheet, allowing them to move forward without being judged by a past they've left behind.

What Is a Sealed Record?

A sealed record isn't erased. It still exists in databases, but it's hidden from most public view and standard employment checks.

What that means for your hiring process:

1. Most employers can't see or ask about sealed convictions
2. Sealed records are automatically excluded from most database searches
3. You're legally restricted from using them in any employment decision, from hiring to promotion

That includes both external candidates and current staff. If you're doing a post-hire rescreening, for example, and a sealed record surfaces, you have to ignore it unless you fall under a legal exception.

More on that in a moment.

The New York Clean Slate Act Timeline

New York's law is among the broadest and is already in effect. Here's what you need to know:

1. The law became effective November 16, 2024
2. State database systems will complete automated sealing by November 2027

Records are sealed based on time since release or sentencing:

1. Misdemeanors: 3 years, assuming no new convictions
2. Felonies: 8 years, under the same condition

But not all records qualify. Some serious offenses are never sealed:

1. Sex offenses
2. Violent sex crimes
3. Class A felonies involving violence like murder or kidnapping

If you operate in healthcare, childcare, or similar regulated areas, you may still be able to access sealed records. Whether you should act on them, though, depends on the law.

For the full legal text, you can view New York Senate Bill S7551A.

What's New in 2025 and 2026: Four Laws to Know Now

The Clean Slate landscape has shifted significantly in the last 18 months. Four developments are worth knowing about right now.

Minnesota Clean Slate Act (effective 1 January 2025)

Minnesota's Clean Slate Act took effect 1 January 2025 and is expected to seal records for around 500,000 Minnesotans. It automatically expunges petty misdemeanors, misdemeanors, and certain non-violent felonies after a waiting period (two years for most misdemeanors after sentence discharge, longer for felonies), provided the individual has not committed new offenses.

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension began transmitting eligible records to the courts on 21 April 2025 and started auto-expunging in its criminal history system on 20 June 2025. For employers running standard background checks in Minnesota, expunged records will not appear.

Oklahoma Clean Slate (eligibility opened November 2025; implementation rolling out)

Oklahoma's Clean Slate law was enacted in 2022 and became effective 1 November 2022, with the first wave of records becoming eligible for automatic expungement on 1 November 2025. The state-built expungement system is being rolled out through 2026 (Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation).

Eligible categories include most misdemeanors after a five-year waiting period, certain felonies, and arrests that didn't result in conviction. Implementation is subject to legislative funding.

Virginia Clean Slate (effective 1 July 2026): the most urgent date on the calendar

Virginia's Clean Slate law takes effect 1 July 2026, just weeks away. It combines automatic sealing for many misdemeanors and non-violent felonies with a petition-based sealing process for additional offenses. For employers hiring in Virginia, records that previously appeared on standard background checks will start to disappear after that date.

Implementation is staged: the Virginia State Police has a deadline beyond 1 July 2026 to transmit the first list of convictions eligible for automatic sealing, so the visible effect on background reports will roll out over months rather than overnight. If you run an active hiring program in Virginia, this is the date to plan around.

Washington DC Second Chance Amendment Act (automatic expungement starting 1 January 2026)

The District of Columbia's Second Chance Amendment Act took effect 1 March 2025, with automatic expungement of eligible records beginning 1 January 2026. Marijuana possession records from before 15 February 2015 are part of the first wave, along with certain arrests that didn't result in conviction and some older misdemeanors.

Old cases must be expunged by 1 October 2027; new eligible cases are expunged within 90 days. For employers hiring in DC, the practical impact starts now.

Federal momentum: the Clean Slate Act of 2025

This is no longer just a state-by-state story. The Clean Slate Act of 2025 (H.R. 3114) was reintroduced in the 119th Congress with bipartisan sponsorship from Representatives Lucy McBath (D-GA) and Nathaniel Moran (R-TX) in the House, and Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) and Rand Paul (R-KY) in the Senate. It would require automatic sealing of certain non-violent federal records, including marijuana and simple possession convictions one year after sentence completion, acquittals within 60 days, and arrests without filed charges within 180 days.

It has not passed. But it signals that the policy direction at the federal level matches what the states have been doing, and any employer running federal background checks across the country should expect this conversation to keep moving.

What This Means for Background Screening in Practice

Sealed Records: What's Hidden and What's Not

Your ability to see a record depends on the type of background check you're using:

1. Standard checks: Most employers use name-based, non-fingerprint checks. Sealed records don't appear here
2. Fingerprint-based checks: Required for certain roles, especially in regulated industries. Here, sealed records might still show up, but only if the law allows access

For example, fingerprint-based checks are often required in roles involving:

1. Healthcare and elder care
2. Childcare and education
3. Financial services

Practical Limits: What Employers Can't Do

Even if sealed records show up by mistake, or via an outdated database, you must not:

1. Ask applicants if they've had a sealed conviction
2. Use sealed information to deny or delay hiring
3. Factor it into decisions around promotions, compensation, or retention

Employers who violate these rules could face lawsuits or official complaints. In New York, the Human Rights Law treats discrimination based on sealed convictions as unlawful.

And remember, sealed means sealed. Legally, it's as though the offense never happened.

The "Old Report" Risk Most Employers Aren't Thinking About

Here's a specific exposure that doesn't get enough attention. If your team relies on archived PDF copies of background check reports, downloaded spreadsheets of candidate data, or screenshots from screening tools, any of those records may now contain convictions that have since been automatically sealed under a state Clean Slate law.

Using that data, even accidentally, can create legal exposure. The fact that the record was reportable on the date the check was originally run doesn't help you in 2026, because the law cares about what you knew at the moment of the employment decision.

Two practical defenses:

1. Run a fresh background check for every hiring decision. Don't reuse old reports for promotion, transfer, or rehire decisions, even when the report seems recent.
2. Avoid non-FCRA "people search" or public records databases. These sources often retain sealed records and don't follow Fair Credit Reporting Act requirements. If sealed information surfaces in your hiring decision because of one of these tools, the employer carries the liability.

Building a Clean Slate-Compliant Process

Regulatory pressure is increasing. Enforcement agencies expect employers to take responsibility for filtering records and complying with notice laws.

Common Risks

1. Using screening policies written before Clean Slate laws were enacted
2. Applying national practices without adjusting for specific state laws
3. Failing to train recruiters or hiring managers
4. Relying too heavily on automated systems to interpret record data
5. Reusing archived background check reports that may now contain sealed records

Clean Slate compliance requires nuance. You might need human oversight to avoid flagging legally irrelevant data. If that's an unfamiliar idea, see our post on human verification in background checks.

Action Steps to Take Now

To reduce legal risk and protect candidate rights:

1. Update your screening policies so they clearly exclude sealed convictions unless legally exempt
2. Train HR staff on what questions are no longer permitted
3. Use services that route sealed records correctly. KRESS filters sealed data from reports unless the job requires disclosure
4. Check disclosure and notice rules. The law often still requires you to give candidates a copy of their record, even if it includes sealed data erroneously. Learn more in our breakdown of 613 Notices
5. Maintain documentation. You'll want audit-proof records proving that sealed information was not a factor in any employment decision
6. Run a fresh report for every hiring decision rather than reusing archived ones

If you're unsure who's covered or exempt, get in touch with our team.

Looking Beyond New York: This is a National Shift

By 2026, 14 states plus DC have passed automatic sealing laws. The list per the Clean Slate Initiative includes Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut, Colorado, New Jersey, Utah, New York, Delaware, Minnesota, California, Missouri, Virginia, Oklahoma, Maine and the District of Columbia, with several more states actively considering legislation.

Some employers are already struggling to keep their policies in sync with:

1. Washington and Michigan's Clean Slate rules
2. California's growing record-sealing framework
3. Pennsylvania's continuing updates (Clean Slate 3.0 expanded eligibility further)
4. Minnesota and Oklahoma now joining the active list
5. Virginia and the federal Clean Slate Act of 2025 on the horizon

Each has different standards around timing, eligibility, and disclosure. Most of these laws apply after waiting periods free from further offenses, but the details change by state.

If your company hires across multiple states, you need to know what applies where. KRESS supports employers with multi-state compliance and can help tailor your policies accordingly. The KRESS state-by-state compliance guide is updated as new laws take effect.

And don't forget internal screening. Curious about re-checking current employees? That's addressed in this guide to post-hire background checks.

A Better Way to Screen in the Clean Slate Era

Managing your hiring process under new state laws doesn't have to be exhausting. But it does mean updating how you think about criminal histories, and fast: Virginia's 1 July 2026 effective date is just weeks away, and the federal Clean Slate Act keeps moving in Washington.

If you're still working from a one-size-fits-all background screening approach, or letting outdated tools flag now-sealed records, it's time for a change. KRESS tracks the state-by-state changes (New York, Minnesota, Oklahoma, DC, Virginia, and the broader Clean Slate trend) so your screening process stays compliant as the rules evolve.

Get started with KRESS to build a Clean Slate-ready background check program.

FAQs: Clean Slate Laws and Background Checks

Can I ask someone if they have a sealed conviction?
No. That's now prohibited in almost all states with Clean Slate laws. In many situations, asking could be grounds for a legal claim.

Am I still allowed to see sealed records for regulated roles?
Possibly. Roles requiring fingerprint checks, like those involving children, healthcare, or vulnerable people, can still access sealed data, but it must be handled with care.

What should I do if a sealed conviction shows up?
Don't use it. Flag the issue with your screening provider and document that sealed info was not used in your hiring action.

Do these laws apply to existing staff rescreening?
Yes. Sealed records must be ignored post-hire, too, unless your business qualifies under legal exceptions.

What happens if I ignore sealing rules and reject someone?
You could face civil lawsuits, enforcement actions, and reputational damage. States are taking this seriously.

Can someone sue me just for seeing a sealed record?
Not usually, but using that info to deny employment or failing to send required disclosures can be grounds for action.

What about background reports I ran a year or two ago?
Treat them as stale for any new employment decision. Records that were reportable when the check ran may have since been automatically sealed. The safe default is to run a fresh, FCRA-compliant background check for every hiring decision.

Is there a federal Clean Slate law?
Not yet. The Clean Slate Act of 2025 (H.R. 3114) was reintroduced in the 119th Congress with bipartisan sponsorship and would require automatic sealing of certain non-violent federal records. It has not passed.