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Your last background check probably came back clean. But if your provider isn't searching federal courts, clean doesn't mean complete, it means 94 districts went unchecked. There are 94 federal court districts in the United States.

If you're hiring in New York, in any state with an AI hiring rule, or with any AI tool in your screening stack, the compliance map looks very different in 2026 than it did when the New York social media law took effect in March 2024. Two years on, three things have changed:

A column for HR professionals who thought they had this one covered. In 1997, the Clinton administration issued a piece of internal guidance that would quietly become one of the most important documents in HR compliance.

On September 2, 2025, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced plans to expand its mandatory drug testing panel by adding fentanyl (a synthetic opioid) and its metabolite, norfentanyl (the inactive byproduct created when the body breaks down fentanyl), to the panel.

Your Compliance Checklist: 7 Steps to Prepare Now … • Audit your current drug testing policy.

New York's statewide ban on employer credit checks is here. Senate Bill S3072, signed by Governor Kathy Hochul on December 19, 2025, took effect April 18, 2026. Here's what the law requires, who's exempt, and what to do now. What does the law say?

The Risk of Résumé Fraud Is Real … Has a job candidate ever “padded” their résumé in hopes of landing a position with your company? It's more common than you may think. Some job candidates lie to get hired.

THCA, Delta-8, and Drug Testing … A plain-language guide for HR teams running background and drug testing programs … If a candidate has told you, “It was legal THCA,” or “I only used Delta-8, you can buy it at the gas station,” you are not alone.

As of January 1, 2026, South Carolina removed addresses from online criminal court records across all 46 counties. Full dates of birth had already been unavailable online for some time, though year of birth remains accessible. The SLED CATCH system continues to provide full dates of birth.

An executive order has directed the Department of Justice to finalize the process of moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.

Leadership Starts with Listening … For nearly 30 years, KRESS Employment Screening has been led by Chandra Kill, our President and CEO. Since 1997, she's built this company on a foundation of accuracy, integrity, and human judgment; values that shape everything we do.

If an AI platform gathers outside data, builds a candidate profile, and assigns a ranking that filters applicants out. Would that qualify as a consumer report? A proposed class action, Kistler v. Eightfold AI, filed on January 20, 2026, tests that exact question.