Indiana Background Check Laws for Employers
Indiana gives employers unusually wide latitude on criminal history. Four state statutes still control what your report may contain. This guide explains each rule, names the agency behind it, and shows how to stay compliant.
What Indiana Regulates, and What It Leaves Alone
Indiana takes a light-touch approach to employment screening. The state has no mini-FCRA that mirrors the federal statute for every report type. Instead, lawmakers wrote one narrow chapter aimed squarely at background screening companies.
That chapter is Indiana Code 24-4-18, the Criminal History Providers act. It tells a consumer reporting agency what it may never put in a report. Meanwhile, a second statute protects employers from city-level hiring rules. A third protects people who clear their records through expungement.
Beyond those three, Indiana stays quiet. Consequently, employers here follow federal law for most decisions. The FCRA disclosure and adverse action rules apply in full. So does EEOC guidance on arrest and conviction records.
The short version for hiring managers
You may ask about criminal history on the first application. You may look back further than seven years on convictions. However, you may never touch an expunged record, and your screening partner may never report one.
Indiana Screening Statutes and the Agencies Behind Them
Use this table as your compliance map. Each row names the law, describes what it does, and identifies the body that administers or enforces it.
| Statute or order | What it does | Indiana agency or body |
|---|---|---|
| IC 24-4-18 Criminal History Providers | Bars screening companies from reporting expunged, court-restricted, or reduced records, and requires current data. | Consumer Protection Division, Office of the Attorney General |
| IC 22-2-17 Criminal history in employment | Blocks local ban-the-box ordinances and limits criminal history evidence in negligent hiring suits. | State courts; no agency rulemaking |
| IC 35-38-9 Second Chance Law | Seals and expunges records, then bars employers from discriminating against the person. | Trial courts, supported by the Office of Court Services |
| Executive Order 17-15 Fair Chance Hiring | Removes the conviction question from state executive branch job applications. | Office of the Governor; State Personnel Department |
| IC 10-13-3 Criminal History Information | Governs Limited Criminal History releases and sets the statutory request fees. | Indiana State Police |
| IC 22-9-1 Civil Rights Enforcement | Bans employment discrimination at employers with six or more workers. | Civil Rights Commission (ICRC) |
| IC 25-1-1.1 Convictions and licensing | Sets when a conviction may cost someone a professional license. | Professional Licensing Agency (IPLA) |
| IC 20-26-2-1.5 and IC 20-26-5-10 Expanded criminal history check | Defines and requires the multi-source check for school employees. | Department of Education (IDOE) |
| IC 16-27-2 Home health and personal services | Requires a national or expanded check within three business days of service. | Department of Health (IDOH) |
| IC 9-14-13 Release of BMV records | Controls who may receive driver information and for which permissible uses. | Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) |
Citations reflect the Indiana Code as published in 2026. Always confirm the current text before you rely on it.
Ban the Box in Indiana: Preempted Statewide
Indiana made national news in 2017. It became the first state to forbid its own cities and counties from passing ban-the-box rules for private employers. Senate Enrolled Act 312 created Indiana Code 22-2-17-3, effective July 1, 2017.
The language is direct. A political subdivision may not stop an employer from asking about criminal history at the initial application. Nor may it stop an employer from using that history later. As a result, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and every other Indiana city lost the power to regulate your application form. However, Indianapolis’s own criminal history rule still reaches city contractors with contracts of $50,000 or more. Employment lawyers at Ogletree Deakins flagged the change when it passed, and SHRM covered the preemption the same year.
State government hires work differently
Governor Eric Holcomb signed Executive Order 17-15 on June 29, 2017. It removed the criminal history question from executive branch applications. Agencies now run the check later in the process. Still, the order covers state jobs only. Private employers keep the question if they want it.
A quiet protection for employers
Most guides skip IC 22-2-17-4. That section matters in litigation. A plaintiff generally may not introduce an employee’s criminal history against you. The record must bear a direct relationship to the claim. The same bar applies to sealed, vacated, pardoned, or expunged matters, and to arrests that never became convictions. Therefore, screening thoughtfully also narrows your negligent hiring exposure.
How Far Back an Indiana Background Check Can Go
Indiana sets no statewide lookback cap on convictions. Federal law fills the gap instead. Read the three rules below together, because they interact.
7 years for non-convictions
Under 15 U.S.C. 1681c, arrests without conviction drop off after seven years. Convictions carry no federal time limit.
No Indiana cap on convictions
The state imposes no age limit on reportable convictions. Consequently, an Indiana report may reach back decades when the record stays public.
The $75,000 exemption
The seven-year limit lifts when the job pays $75,000 or more per year. Even so, EEOC relevance analysis still applies to old records.
The rule almost everyone misses
IC 24-4-18-7 requires currency, not age limits. A criminal history provider must reflect material changes to the official record. The trigger is any change filed 60 days or more before delivery. In practice, that means a dismissal, a reversal, or a sentence modification must appear once it has been on file for 60 days. Because of that rule, stale database hits create real liability in Indiana.
Expungement and the Indiana Second Chance Law
Indiana runs one of the broader expungement systems in the country. Indiana Code 35-38-9 lets people clear arrests, misdemeanors, and many felonies after set waiting periods. Trial courts handle every petition, and most people get one petition in a lifetime.
Waiting periods at a glance
Misdemeanors generally qualify five years after conviction. Level 6 and Class D felonies qualify after eight years. More serious felonies require eight to ten years, and the most serious need the prosecutor’s written consent. Arrests that produced no conviction qualify one year after the arrest date. Moreover, when a court dismisses all charges or a jury acquits, the court must order expungement immediately under IC 35-38-9-1.
The employer rule you cannot ignore
IC 35-38-9-10 makes it unlawful to refuse to employ, or to otherwise discriminate against, a person because of an expunged conviction or arrest. Violators commit a Class C infraction. In addition, a court may hold the employer in contempt and may order injunctive relief. The person may also lawfully state that the arrest or conviction never happened.
Use this exact application wording
The statute prescribes the question an Indiana application may ask:
“Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime that has not been expunged by a court?”
Adopt that sentence verbatim. Then train recruiters never to probe further when an applicant answers no. The Collateral Consequences Resource Center and the Indiana Office of Court Services both publish detailed walkthroughs of how the process works.
What an Indiana Background Screening Report May Not Contain
IC 24-4-18-6 binds the screening company rather than the employer. Even so, you inherit the fallout when a vendor gets it wrong. Four categories are off limits.
Expunged records
Any record a court has ordered expunged, removed, or marked as expunged stays out of the report.
Court-restricted records
Records that a court has restricted from public disclosure also stay out, whatever the underlying charge was.
Reduced felonies
A Class D or Level 6 felony that a court converted to a Class A misdemeanor may not be reported as a felony conviction.
Known inaccuracies
A provider may not knowingly deliver information it knows to be wrong. Identity verification therefore matters enormously.
Enforcement and your remedies
IC 24-4-18-8 treats a violation as a deceptive act under Indiana’s consumer protection law. The Indiana Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division enforces that statute. Furthermore, the section preserves every right the FCRA already gives consumers. So an Indiana screening error can trigger state and federal exposure at the same time.
Ask your vendor two questions
First, how do you detect expungement orders between the source record and delivery? Second, how do you satisfy the 60-day currency rule in IC 24-4-18-7? A provider that cannot answer both should worry you.
The Four FCRA Steps Indiana Employers Still Owe
Federal process rules carry most of the litigation risk in Indiana. Follow these four steps on every consumer report, every time.
- 1
Give a standalone disclosure
Hand the applicant a clear, written notice that you may obtain a consumer report. Keep that document by itself. Never add a liability waiver or state-law notices to the same page.
- 2
Get written authorization
Collect a signed authorization before you order anything. Electronic signatures are fine. Retain the record for the life of the file.
- 3
Send a pre-adverse action notice
Before you decide, send a copy of the report and the CFPB Summary of Rights. Then wait a reasonable period, commonly five business days, so the applicant can dispute an error.
- 4
Send the final adverse action notice
State that you took adverse action. Name the screening company, give its contact details, and confirm it did not make the decision and cannot explain the reasons. Include the dispute and free-file rights.
Step four contains the single most litigated omission in employment screening. Write it into your template so nobody has to remember it.
Indiana Industry Rules That Set the Minimum Check
Several Indiana statutes dictate the search itself. If your organization falls into one of these categories, the statute overrides your internal policy.
Schools and school contractors
IC 20-26-2-1.5 defines an expanded criminal history check. It requires identity verification, all associated names, county searches where the person lived in Indiana and elsewhere, federal district court records, a multistate database, and sex offender registries. Alternatively, a school may use a national check plus registry searches. The Indiana Department of Education administers the requirement, and publishes an FAQ on it.
Home health and personal services
IC 16-27-2-4 gives agencies three business days. Within that window, the agency must apply for a national criminal history background check or an expanded check on any worker entering a patient’s home. The Indiana Department of Health administers the chapter and publishes guidance for operators.
Licensed professions
IC 25-1-1.1-4 requires state and national criminal history checks for many initial license applicants, at the applicant’s expense. Boards may act on listed convictions after an in-person hearing. The Indiana Professional Licensing Agency coordinates the process.
Where state records come from
The Indiana State Police maintains the state repository under IC 10-13-3. Its Limited Criminal History report covers Indiana felony and misdemeanor arrests only. Notably, the agency warns that completeness depends on county participation, and the report excludes other states entirely. Cornell’s Criminal Justice and Employment Initiative explains the same limitation for applicants.
Because of those gaps, most employers pair a statewide search with county court searches. Our Indiana real-time statewide criminal search returns live court data rather than a static database extract.
Driving Records for Indiana Employers
Indiana controls driver data through IC 9-14-13. The chapter bars the Bureau of Motor Vehicles from releasing Social Security numbers, license numbers, and other personal information except for listed permissible uses. Those uses track the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, which allows employment verification for commercial drivers.
Employers order Indiana records through the Indiana BMV driver record service. Always collect written consent first, then keep the permissible use documented in the file. Additionally, review the abstract against the job description before you act on it.
Motor Vehicle Records
Pull driving histories for delivery, trucking, sales, and CDL positions. See our Motor Vehicle Records search for coverage and ordering details.
What Indiana Does Not Restrict
Employers often ask about rules that simply do not exist here. Four areas stay open, though federal law still applies.
- Credit reports. Indiana places no limit on employment credit checks. Therefore, the FCRA and EEOC disparate impact analysis set the boundaries.
- Drug testing. No general statute governs private employer testing. Meanwhile, marijuana remains illegal in Indiana, so no off-duty use protection exists.
- Salary history. Indiana has no salary history ban. Local ordinances cannot create one for private employers either.
- Employment verification. E-Verify applies to public contractors under IC 22-5-1.7. Private employers may enroll voluntarily.
Discrimination still applies
The Indiana Civil Rights Commission enforces IC 22-9-1 at employers with six or more workers. Protected categories include race, religion, color, sex, disability, national origin, ancestry, and veteran status. Consequently, a screening policy that filters out one group disproportionately can draw a state charge as well as a federal one.
Searches BCS Background Screening LLC Runs for Indiana Employers
We build Indiana packages around court-verified data. Add or remove any search at any time.
Indiana Real-Time Statewide Search
Live court index searching across Indiana jurisdictions, with researcher verification on every hit.
County Criminal Court Search
Direct searches at the Indiana circuit and superior courts where your applicant actually lived and worked.
Nationwide Criminal Database
A broad multistate sweep used as a pointer file, then confirmed at the source court before reporting.
SSN Trace and Address History
Identifies names, aliases, and address history so you search the right Indiana counties and states.
Motor Vehicle Records
Driving histories for delivery, trucking, sales, and CDL positions, ordered under a documented permissible use.
Federal Criminal Search
United States District Court records for fraud, trafficking, and other offenses that never reach state court.
Indiana Compliance Checklist
Run this list before your next Indiana hire closes.
- Use the statutory application wording from IC 35-38-9-10, then stop asking about expunged matters.
- Keep the FCRA disclosure on its own page, free of waivers and extra notices.
- Collect written authorization before you order any consumer report.
- Send the pre-adverse action packet, then allow a reasonable dispute window.
- Include the no-decision statement in your final adverse action letter.
- Confirm your vendor screens for expunged and court-restricted records under IC 24-4-18-6.
- Confirm your vendor meets the 60-day currency requirement in IC 24-4-18-7.
- Document a permissible use before you order any Indiana driving record.
- Apply an individualized assessment when an old conviction surfaces.
- Retain every form, report, and letter for the full retention period.
Indiana Employment Screening FAQs
Eight questions Indiana employers ask us most, each answered with the governing statute and the agency behind it.
Does Indiana have its own version of the Fair Credit Reporting Act?
Not a full one. Indiana Code 24-4-18, the Criminal History Providers act, is the closest state equivalent. It regulates companies that compile and sell criminal history reports about Indiana residents. Rather than duplicating the FCRA, it adds four content restrictions and a data currency rule. IC 24-4-18-8 makes a violation a deceptive act under Indiana’s consumer protection law, which the Indiana Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division enforces. The same section preserves every federal FCRA right.
How far back can an Indiana employment background check go?
Indiana sets no state lookback cap on convictions, so reportable convictions can be decades old. The seven-year limit that employers remember comes from the federal FCRA at 15 U.S.C. 1681c, and it applies to arrests that never produced a conviction. That limit disappears entirely when the position pays $75,000 or more per year. Separately, IC 24-4-18-7 requires reports to reflect material record changes filed 60 or more days before delivery.
Does Indiana have a ban-the-box law for private employers?
No, and cities cannot create one. IC 22-2-17-3, effective July 1, 2017, prohibits any political subdivision from stopping an employer from asking about criminal history on an initial application. Indiana was the first state to preempt local ban-the-box rules this way. Executive Order 17-15, signed by Governor Eric Holcomb and administered through the Indiana State Personnel Department, removed the question from state executive branch applications only.
Can an Indiana employer ask about or use an expunged record?
No. IC 35-38-9-10 makes it unlawful discrimination to refuse to employ someone because of an expunged conviction or arrest. A violation is a Class C infraction, and the court may also find the employer in contempt or grant injunctive relief. The statute supplies the only permitted application question: have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime that has not been expunged by a court? Indiana trial courts administer expungement, with guidance from the Indiana Office of Court Services.
What records can a background screening company never report in Indiana?
IC 24-4-18-6 bars four categories. First, expunged records, including those a court marked as expunged. Second, records a court restricted from public disclosure. Third, a Class D or Level 6 felony that a court converted to a Class A misdemeanor. Fourth, information the provider knows is inaccurate. Narrow exceptions exist where another law requires disclosure, or where a government unit needs the data for a public bond issuance.
Can Indiana employers run credit checks or drug tests?
Yes to both. Indiana does not restrict employment credit reports, so the FCRA governs the process and the EEOC governs the use. Indiana also has no general drug testing statute for private employers, and marijuana remains illegal statewide, so no off-duty use protection applies. Discrimination limits still bite: the Indiana Civil Rights Commission enforces IC 22-9-1 at employers with six or more employees, covering race, religion, color, sex, disability, national origin, ancestry, and veteran status.
What background check do Indiana schools and home health agencies require?
Schools must obtain an expanded criminal history check, defined at IC 20-26-2-1.5 and required by IC 20-26-5-10. That check includes identity verification, all associated names, Indiana and out-of-state county records, federal district court records, a multistate database, and sex offender registries. The Indiana Department of Education administers it. Home health and personal services agencies work under IC 16-27-2-4, which gives them three business days from the start of in-home service to apply for a national or expanded check. The Indiana Department of Health administers that chapter.
How do Indiana employers obtain driving records legally?
Order them through the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles under IC 9-14-13. That chapter blocks release of Social Security numbers, license numbers, and other personal information except for the permissible uses listed at IC 9-14-13-7. Those uses mirror the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. 2721, which permits employment verification for commercial drivers. Collect written consent, document the permissible use, and review the abstract against the actual driving duties of the job.
Screen Indiana Applicants With Court-Verified Data
BCS Background Screening LLC runs FCRA-compliant employment screening for Indiana employers of every size. Open an account today, then order your first search the same day.
Call (800) 661-0278 or email support@usabackground.com. We offer optional Multiple Authentication Factor (MAF) on all user accounts.
Disclaimer. BCS Background Screening LLC is a consumer reporting agency, not a law firm. This page summarizes Indiana and federal law for general information only. It is not legal advice. Statutes change, and their application depends on your facts. Consult qualified employment counsel before you set or change a screening policy.