If you hire in Virginia, your background checks have changed. As of July 1, 2026, the Commonwealth seals a wide range of criminal records. The risk isn't missing records; it's acting on ones you can no longer see or ask about, and the penalty is real.
What Changed on July 1, 2026
Virginia seals records through two routes:
- Automatic sealing, with no action from the individual: certain misdemeanor convictions such as petit larceny, shoplifting, trespassing, distribution of marijuana, and disorderly conduct; marijuana possession, criminal and civil; misdemeanor non-convictions, including older previously concluded cases; felony non-convictions where the defendant requests it and the prosecutor concurs; and traffic infractions.
- Petition sealing, by court petition, for other misdemeanor and felony convictions. Excluded: Class 1 to 4 felonies, violent and sexual offenses, firearm felonies, and crimes against family or household members.
Once sealed, a record is invisible to most employers and landlords, the statutes bar background check companies from sharing it, and you cannot use it in hiring. Virginia now joins the Clean Slate laws rolling out across the U.S. in 2026.
A second change carries a criminal penalty. Under Va. Code §19.2-392.15, in effect since July 1, covered employers may not require applicants to disclose a sealed arrest, charge, or conviction, and a willful violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor per violation. Covered employers are state and local government, educational institutions, and private employers not subject to federal hiring laws or regulations. The narrow exceptions are law enforcement, national-security, corrections and probation roles, and any role where law requires the inquiry. The rule also reaches sealed-record questions on government licensing, housing or rental, and insurance applications.
The rollout is phased: the Virginia State Police has until October 1, 2026, to transmit its first list of convictions eligible for automatic sealing, while courts and the DMV update on their own timelines.
What Clean Slate Does Not Change
Clean Slate narrows what you see, not how you screen. Your Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) obligations stay in force: disclosure, consent, and adverse action still apply to every criminal background check you run. Mandated checks for regulated industries still apply where required, and you must make job-related decisions about the records you can see.
What Shows Up Now, and What Doesn't
Sealed records won't surface in court searches, repository feeds, or commercial databases, while unsealed records, including serious offenses and the excluded categories, still appear within FCRA limits. A compliant consumer reporting agency (CRA) should suppress flagged records and not report any case that reasonably appears sealed. KRESS adds human verification, so a sealed case never reaches your report.
Candidates need not disclose sealed records, so don't penalize silence; if one is volunteered, set it aside unless a statute and counsel say otherwise. You may also hold archived Virginia records in an applicant tracking system (ATS) or human resource information system (HRIS), including previously concluded dismissals and now-sealed traffic infractions. Reusing one for a rehire, promotion, or transfer acts on records the law treats as nonexistent, so purge them.
Your Virginia Clean Slate Checklist
Policy and forms
- State in your policy that you don't require disclosure of sealed records and won't use them in hiring.
- Review every form touching criminal history: applications, questionnaires, interview guides, offer letters, and onboarding packets. If you keep a criminal-history question, Virginia requires a notice on the application that applicants need not disclose sealed records; removing it is cleaner.
- Weight adjudication toward recency and job-relatedness. Moving conviction questions to after a conditional offer is sound practice, though Virginia does not require it of private employers.
Screening provider
- Confirm with your CRA how they identify sealed Virginia records and how fast they drop off.
- Check that report packages and filters don't surface sealed records, and set an escalation path for mis-flagged cases.
- Virginia now requires consumer reporting agencies that handle Virginia criminal or traffic records to register with the Virginia State Police under Va. Code §19.2-392.16, pay an annual fee for access to sealing orders, and delete sealed records promptly on notification. Confirm your provider is registered and compliant. KRESS is.
- For multi-state hiring, confirm how other Clean Slate states are handled, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut, and Utah among them.
Adverse action and the decision
- [ ] Document an individualized assessment for any disqualifying record, using the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) three factors: the nature and gravity of the offense, the time elapsed, and relevance to the role. The assessment and decision stay yours; KRESS supplies the verified data and audit trail, not the call.
- [ ] Follow the FCRA adverse action steps. If a candidate says a Virginia record should be sealed, re-verify with your CRA and lean toward non-use while the status is unclear.
Data, access, and training
- [ ] Set a retention schedule that purges or locks down older criminal-history data, and limit access to HR, compliance, and named decision-makers.
- [ ] Train recruiters and managers on what they can no longer ask. Casual prompts like "anything on your record I should know about?" create exposure.
Roles With Higher Screening Duties
Some roles demand more. Healthcare and caregiving (Office of Inspector General exclusion lists and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rules), financial services (Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act), education and childcare, and security-sensitive or government-contract roles can still require disqualification or fingerprint-based checks despite state sealing, and FBI fingerprint results can surface state-sealed records. Identify these roles and tell candidates up front. KRESS runs screening for both standard and regulated-industry hiring, so they get the deeper check and others a clean report.
Frequently Asked Questions
What records does Virginia's Clean Slate law seal automatically?
Most need no filing: certain misdemeanor convictions, marijuana possession (criminal and civil), misdemeanor non-convictions including older closed cases, and traffic infractions. Felony non-convictions need the defendant's request and the prosecutor's concurrence. Other convictions go by petition, but serious, violent, sexual, and firearm offenses are excluded.
Can I ask job applicants about sealed criminal records in Virginia?
No. Covered employers may not require disclosure of sealed arrests, charges, or convictions under Va. Code §19.2-392.15, and a willful violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor per violation. If you keep a criminal-history question, the statute requires a notice that applicants need not disclose sealed records.
What happens if a sealed Virginia record still shows up on a background check?
Processing delays during the rollout may let some sealed records appear, so a compliant CRA monitors state updates, suppresses flagged records, and avoids ambiguous cases. Virginia also offers a backstop petition for automatic-sealing-eligible cases that slipped through; flag any such case to candidate and provider.
Does Virginia Clean Slate override federal background check requirements?
No. Federal rules like the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (banking), Office of Inspector General and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services requirements (healthcare), and security-clearance standards run independently of state sealing, and FBI fingerprint results may still show state-sealed records.
July 1 has passed, and a policy memo won't close the gap. Whether sealed records reach your decisions depends on your provider's filters and verification, and acting on one is a Class 1 misdemeanor per violation. Get started with KRESS to put compliant Virginia screening in place.