Nevada Background Check Laws for Employers
Nevada regulates three things most states leave alone: employment credit checks, salary-history questions and pre-employment marijuana tests. It also has its own consumer-reporting statute with a seven-year rule that is stricter than the federal one. Ban the box, by contrast, reaches state government only. This guide covers each rule, names the agency behind it, and explains the federal FCRA steps that apply on top.
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At a glanceFCRA stepsCredit checksSalary historyMarijuana testingBan the boxRecords you may useLookbackSocial media, E-Verify, AIIndustry rulesServicesChecklistFAQs
Nevada employment screening laws at a glance
Nevada pairs its own consumer-reporting chapter, NRS 598C, with a set of Chapter 613 employment rules. The Labor Commissioner enforces most of the employment rules; the Attorney General enforces the reporting chapter.
| Rule | What it requires | Administering agency |
|---|---|---|
| Federal FCRA, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. | Stand-alone disclosure, written authorization, pre-adverse and adverse-action notices, seven-year limit on reported non-convictions below $75,000. | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Federal Trade Commission; private suits |
| NRS 598C (Nevada consumer reporting statute) | Parallels the FCRA; § 598C.150 bars reporting civil judgments, criminal proceedings and other adverse items older than seven years, excluding convictions, with no salary exemption. | Nevada Attorney General; private suits |
| NRS 613.570–613.600 (credit information) | Employers may not require, use or act on consumer credit information unless a law requires or authorizes it, the employer reasonably believes the person violated a law, or the information is reasonably related to a position involving money or assets, trade secrets, managerial duties, law enforcement, others’ personal or financial information, a chartered financial institution or a licensed gaming establishment. | Nevada Labor Commissioner (administrative penalties up to $9,000 per violation); private suits |
| NRS 613.133 (salary history) | Employers may not seek or rely on wage history and must provide the wage or salary range to applicants after an interview and to employees on request for promotion or transfer. | Nevada Labor Commissioner (penalties up to $5,000 per violation) |
| NRS 613.132 (marijuana testing) | Employers may not refuse to hire because of a positive pre-employment marijuana test, with exceptions for firefighters, EMTs, driving positions, safety-sensitive positions and federally funded roles; new hires may request a rebuttal test within 30 days. | Nevada Labor Commissioner; private suits |
| NRS 678C.850 (medical cannabis) | Employers must attempt reasonable accommodation of registered patients, unless it would pose a threat, impose an undue hardship or prohibit a job duty. | Nevada Labor Commissioner; private suits |
| NRS 284.283 (AB 384, effective Jan. 1, 2018) | State classified-service hiring may consider criminal history only after the earliest of the final in-person interview, certification of the applicant, or a conditional offer, and then only after weighing listed factors. | Nevada Division of Human Resource Management |
| NRS 179.245–179.301 (sealed records) | Sealed records may not be reported, and the person may deny the arrest or conviction. | District courts; Department of Public Safety, Records Bureau |
| NRS 613.135 (social media) | Employers may not require access to personal social-media accounts. | Nevada Labor Commissioner |
| NRS 613.310 et seq. (discrimination); Title VII | No discrimination on protected traits by employers with 15 or more employees; the EEOC guidance on criminal records applies. | Nevada Equal Rights Commission; U.S. EEOC |
The FCRA process every Nevada employer must follow
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act governs every background check a consumer reporting agency prepares for a Nevada employer. The state rules on this page sit on top of it, never in place of it.
Nevada’s own consumer-reporting statute, NRS Chapter 598C, tracks the federal process and adds the stricter seven-year rule described below. Use separate disclosure and authorization documents; Nevada courts read the stand-alone requirement strictly.
Disclose and authorize
Give the applicant a clear, stand-alone disclosure that a consumer report may be obtained for employment purposes, and get written authorization before you order. Keep the disclosure free of liability waivers and extra language.
Order the right scope
Match the search to the position. Order criminal, driving, credit, and verification searches only where the job supports them, and apply the same package to every candidate for the same position.
Pre-adverse action
Before you decide against a candidate because of the report, send a copy of the report and the CFPB Summary of Your Rights, then wait a reasonable period, commonly five business days, so the candidate can dispute errors.
Adverse action notice
If you proceed, send the final notice naming the screening company, stating that it did not make the decision, and explaining the right to a free file copy within 60 days and the right to dispute.
Employment credit checks are restricted in Nevada
Since October 1, 2013, NRS 613.570 has made it unlawful for a Nevada employer to require an applicant or employee to submit a consumer credit report as a condition of employment, to use or inquire about credit information, or to take adverse action based on it, unless an exception applies.
The exceptions
NRS 613.580 allows credit information when a state or federal law requires or authorizes it; when the employer reasonably believes the person has engaged in specific activity that may violate state or federal law; or when the information is reasonably related to the position because the job involves the care, custody or handling of money, financial accounts, corporate cards or other assets, access to trade secrets or confidential information, managerial or supervisory responsibility, law enforcement authority, custody of another person’s personal information, access to another person’s personal financial information, employment with a state- or federally chartered financial institution, or employment with a licensed gaming establishment.
Penalties
The Labor Commissioner may impose an administrative penalty of up to $9,000 per violation, and an aggrieved applicant may sue for lost wages, reinstatement and attorney fees under NRS 613.590.
Policy language
List the position classes that qualify for a credit report and the exception each relies on. Order credit reports for those classes only.
The FCRA steps still apply to every credit report you do order.
Salary history and pay ranges: NRS 613.133
Senate Bill 293, codified at NRS 613.133 and effective October 1, 2021, bars Nevada employers and employment agencies from seeking an applicant’s wage or salary history, from relying on it to decide whether to offer employment or set pay, and from refusing to interview or hire an applicant who declines to provide it.
The pay-range duty
Employers must provide the wage or salary range or rate for the position to an applicant who has completed an interview, automatically or on request, and to a current employee who has applied for a promotion or transfer, has completed an interview or been offered the position, and requests it.
Enforcement
The Labor Commissioner investigates complaints and may impose administrative penalties of up to $5,000 per violation. Earlier versions of this page omitted this statute.
Application forms
Delete salary-history fields from every form and interview script; an applicant may volunteer prior pay, but you may not ask.
Prepare the range before the interview so it can be given the same day.
Marijuana testing and drug testing in Nevada
Pre-employment marijuana tests
Assembly Bill 132, codified at NRS 613.132 and effective January 1, 2020, bars employers from refusing to hire a prospective employee because a screening test shows marijuana. The rule does not apply to firefighters, emergency medical technicians, positions that require operating a motor vehicle and for which federal or state law requires testing, positions that in the employer’s determination could adversely affect the safety of others, positions funded by a federal grant, or where a collective bargaining agreement provides otherwise.
The rebuttal test
If an employer tests a new employee within the first 30 days of employment, the employee may submit to a second screening test at the employee’s own expense to rebut the first, and the employer must accept and consider the result.
Medical cannabis
NRS 678C.850 requires employers to attempt to make reasonable accommodations for the medical needs of a registered patient, unless the accommodation would pose a threat of harm to persons or property, impose an undue hardship, or prohibit the employee from fulfilling job responsibilities. Employers need not allow use at work.
Other drug testing
No Nevada statute otherwise regulates private-employer drug testing. Adopt a written policy, use a certified laboratory and a medical review officer, and follow 49 C.F.R. Part 40 for DOT roles, which keep their federal marijuana rules.
Safety-sensitive designations
The safety exception depends on the employer’s determination. Designate the positions in writing before you post them, and apply the designation consistently.
Ban the box in Nevada: state government only
Assembly Bill 384 (2017), effective January 1, 2018 and codified at NRS 284.283, bars state classified-service hiring from considering an applicant’s criminal history until the earliest of the final in-person interview, the applicant’s certification by the Administrator, or a conditional offer, and then only after weighing whether the offense directly relates to the position, its nature and severity, the person’s age at the time, the time elapsed, and evidence of rehabilitation.
Private employers
No Nevada statute limits when a private employer may ask about criminal history, and no Nevada city or county has adopted an ordinance covering private employers.
What still limits the decision
Title VII and the EEOC enforcement guidance apply to Nevada employers with 15 or more employees, and the Nevada Equal Rights Commission enforces the parallel state law. A blanket exclusion for any conviction invites a disparate-impact charge.
Practical policy
Many private employers mirror the state rule, asking after the interview and recording an individualized assessment for any decline.
Which Nevada records you may and may not use
District and justice court records are public, but NRS 598C, the sealing statutes and the juvenile code remove several categories.
Non-convictions older than seven years
Off limits under NRS 598C.150 regardless of salary. Arrests, dismissals and other criminal proceedings that did not end in conviction may not be reported once they are more than seven years old.
Sealed records
Under NRS 179.245–179.301 a person may petition to seal records after waiting periods of one year for misdemeanors, two years for gross misdemeanors and category E felonies, five years for category B, C and D felonies, seven years for DUI and domestic-battery convictions, and ten years for category A felonies and crimes of violence; dismissals and acquittals may be sealed at any time. Once sealed, the proceedings are deemed never to have occurred, and the person may answer accordingly, including on an employment application. Sealing is by petition only; Nevada has no automatic sealing.
Decriminalized marijuana offenses
NRS 179.271 (AB 192, effective July 1, 2019) lets people petition to seal convictions for conduct that is no longer a crime, such as possession of small amounts of marijuana. Treat those records as sealed once the order issues.
Juvenile records
Juvenile court records are confidential under NRS 62H and are not available for private employment screening.
Deferred and suspended sentences
A dismissal after a completed diversion or specialty-court program, or a conviction set aside on completing one, is not a conviction. It appears only while the case is open; read the outcome before acting.
DPS Records Bureau
The Department of Public Safety releases fingerprint-based criminal history where a statute authorizes the check, such as for gaming, child care and healthcare. Private employers outside those fields rely on court-level searches.
How far back a Nevada background check can go
Nevada is one of the states with its own reporting limit. NRS 598C.150 applies to the screening company and is stricter than the federal FCRA in one respect: it carries no salary exemption.
Non-convictions and other adverse items
Civil judgments, reports of criminal proceedings that did not end in conviction, and other adverse information may not be reported more than seven years after they occurred, at any salary level. Bankruptcies are limited to ten years.
Convictions
NRS 598C.150 expressly excludes records of conviction from the seven-year rule, and the federal FCRA places no age limit on convictions. Most employers adopt a seven- or ten-year policy window anyway.
Positions at $75,000 or more
The federal $75,000 exemption for non-convictions does not apply in Nevada because the state rule is stricter and governs. Sealed records may not be reported at any age.
Count the seven years from the date of the proceeding, not the offense date, and confirm that any older non-conviction has been removed from the report before you review it.
Social media, E-Verify, AI and the SB 370 correction
Social media passwords
NRS 613.135 bars employers from requiring or requesting access to a personal social-media account as a condition of employment and from retaliating against a refusal. Publicly available content may be viewed. The Labor Commissioner enforces.
E-Verify
Nevada has no E-Verify mandate for private or public employers. Enrollment is voluntary at e-verify.gov; Form I-9 remains mandatory for every hire.
AI in hiring: no Nevada statute
Nevada has not enacted a law regulating AI or automated decision tools in hiring. Earlier versions of this page attributed bias-audit and job-ad disclosure duties to SB 370 (2023); that bill is the Consumer Health Data Privacy Act and has nothing to do with hiring tools. Title VII and Nevada’s discrimination law still apply to any automated screen.
Consumer Health Data Privacy Act
SB 370 (NRS 603A.400 et seq.) regulates businesses that collect consumer health data online. It does not reach employment records or background checks, though wellness-program vendors should review it.
Reference checks
NRS 41.755 gives an employer a qualified immunity for good-faith disclosures about a current or former employee’s ability, diligence, reliability or wrongful acts, lost only for malice or knowing falsity. Confirm dates, title and eligibility for rehire, and document the answer.
Gaming positions
Positions requiring a gaming license or registration under NRS Chapter 463 are checked by the Gaming Control Board and qualify for the credit-check exception.
Nevada industry-specific screening requirements
Healthcare and long-term care
Facilities for skilled nursing, intermediate care, residential care and home health must obtain fingerprint-based DPS and FBI checks on employees, temporary staff and contractors under NRS 449.122 to 449.125, within ten days of hire under NRS 449.123; listed offenses disqualify. Administered by the Division of Public and Behavioral Health.
Child care
Child care facility staff, volunteers and household residents must clear fingerprint-based checks and a child-abuse registry check under NRS 432A.170, requested within three days of hire and before any direct contact with children, administered by the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services.
Public schools
Licensed educators and school employees submit fingerprints for DPS and FBI checks under NRS 391.033 and 391.104, administered by the Department of Education and school districts.
Gaming
Employees in gaming positions register with the Gaming Control Board under NRS 463.335 and are subject to background investigation; casinos also qualify for the credit-check exception.
Private security
Security guards and private investigators are licensed by the Private Investigators Licensing Board under NRS Chapter 648 with fingerprint checks.
Transportation
CDL drivers follow FMCSA rules: the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse query, the 49 C.F.R. Part 40 panel and motor vehicle record reviews, and the marijuana-test protection does not apply to them. Nevada DMV records are available through the driving-records service.
Screening services built for Nevada employers
BCS Background Screening LLC runs FCRA-compliant searches for Nevada employers of every size, with no setup fee and per-search pricing.
Nevada statewide criminal search
Real-time search of Nevada district and justice court records across all 17 counties, $20 per name, every record reviewed for identity and disposition before release Order the Nevada statewide search.
County criminal court search
Direct research at the county courthouse, $18 plus any court fees, seven-year standard scope. This is the search that confirms a database hit before it reaches a report. County court search details.
Nationwide criminal database
$17 locator search of thousands of court, corrections, and registry sources with three name variations searched at once. Every hit is verified at the source before it is reported. Nationwide database search.
Motor vehicle records
State driving records for any position that drives on company business, with CDL and DOT-regulated roles supported. Motor vehicle records.
SSN trace and address history
Included at no extra cost in every search package: 10-plus years of reported address history to point criminal searches at the right counties. SSN trace.
Verifications
Employment, education, professional license, and reference verifications, plus employment credit reports for positions with financial responsibility, all ordered from the same account.
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Optional Multiple Authentication Factor (MAF) protection is available on every user account.
Nevada employer compliance checklist
Twelve steps that keep a Nevada screening program inside the FCRA, NRS 598C and the Chapter 613 hiring rules.
- Use a stand-alone FCRA disclosure and a separate written authorization for every candidate.
- Order credit reports only for position classes that fit an NRS 613.570 exception, and document which one.
- Delete salary-history questions; give the pay range after every interview.
- Do not reject a candidate for a positive pre-employment marijuana test unless an NRS 613.132 exception applies, and designate safety-sensitive positions in writing.
- Honor a new hire’s request for a rebuttal test within the first 30 days.
- Define the screening scope for each position class and apply it to every candidate in that class.
- Remove non-convictions older than seven years at any salary level; never use sealed or juvenile records.
- Run an individualized assessment before declining a candidate for a record, and keep a dated note.
- Send the pre-adverse action package, wait a reasonable period, then send the final adverse-action notice.
- Do not ask for social-media usernames or passwords.
- Complete Form I-9 for every hire; E-Verify is optional in Nevada.
- Follow 49 C.F.R. Part 40 for DOT-regulated positions.
Nevada background check laws: employer FAQs
Each answer names the statute, what it requires, and the agency that administers it.
Can Nevada employers run credit checks on applicants?
Only where an exception in NRS 613.570 applies: a law requires it, the employer reasonably believes the person violated a law, or the information is reasonably related to the position because it involves money, financial accounts or other assets, trade secrets or confidential information, managerial or supervisory responsibility, law enforcement authority, custody of others’ personal or financial information, a chartered financial institution, or a licensed gaming establishment. The Nevada Labor Commissioner may impose penalties of up to $9,000 per violation, and applicants may sue under NRS 613.590. The federal FCRA steps apply to every report you do order.
Can Nevada employers ask about salary history?
No. NRS 613.133 (SB 293), effective October 1, 2021, bars employers from seeking or relying on wage history and from refusing to interview or hire an applicant who declines to provide it. Employers must give the wage or salary range to an applicant who has completed an interview and to employees seeking promotion or transfer on request. The Nevada Labor Commissioner enforces it with penalties of up to $5,000 per violation.
Can a Nevada employer reject an applicant who tests positive for marijuana?
Generally no. NRS 613.132 (AB 132), effective January 1, 2020, bars refusing to hire because of a positive pre-employment marijuana test, except for firefighters, EMTs, positions that require driving and federally mandated testing, positions the employer determines could affect others’ safety, federally funded positions, and where a collective bargaining agreement provides otherwise. A new hire tested within the first 30 days may request a rebuttal test. Registered medical patients are also entitled to reasonable accommodation under NRS 678C.850. The Labor Commissioner enforces both.
How many years back can a Nevada background check go?
NRS 598C.150 bars a reporting agency from including civil judgments, reports of criminal proceedings and other adverse information older than seven years, and bankruptcies older than ten, with no salary exemption. Records of conviction are expressly excluded from the seven-year rule, and the federal FCRA places no age limit on convictions either. The Nevada Attorney General enforces Chapter 598C, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission enforce the FCRA.
Does Nevada have a ban-the-box law?
For state government only. AB 384 (2017), effective January 1, 2018 and codified at NRS 284.283, bars state classified-service hiring from considering criminal history until the earliest of the final in-person interview, certification of the applicant or a conditional offer, and requires it to weigh listed factors; the Division of Human Resource Management administers it. No statute or ordinance covers private employers. Title VII, enforced by the EEOC and the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, still requires job-related decisions.
Does Nevada regulate AI in hiring?
No. Nevada has no enacted statute regulating artificial intelligence or automated decision tools in employment. SB 370 (2023), sometimes cited for bias-audit and job-ad disclosure duties, is the Consumer Health Data Privacy Act (NRS 603A.400 et seq.), enforced by the Attorney General, and does not address hiring tools. Title VII disparate-impact rules, enforced by the EEOC, apply to any automated screen.
Can a Nevada employer see sealed records?
No. Under NRS 179.285, proceedings in a sealed record are deemed never to have occurred, and the person may answer accordingly on an employment application. Sealing is by petition to the district court under NRS 179.245–179.301, with waiting periods from one year for misdemeanors to ten years for category A felonies and crimes of violence, and dismissals and acquittals eligible at any time; the Department of Public Safety Records Bureau removes sealed entries from the repository.
Can Nevada employers ask for social media passwords?
No. NRS 613.135 bars employers from requiring or requesting access to a personal social-media account as a condition of employment and from retaliating against a refusal, while allowing review of publicly available content. The Nevada Labor Commissioner enforces the statute.
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This page is general information for employers, not legal advice. BCS Background Screening LLC is a consumer reporting agency, not a law firm. Nevada statutes, local ordinances, and agency guidance change; confirm current requirements with employment counsel before adopting or changing a screening policy. Rules described as current were reviewed in September 2026.