Clean slate laws automatically seal or expunge certain eligible criminal records after a waiting period, without the person having to file a petition or hire a lawyer. Once a record is sealed or expunged under one of these laws, it generally disappears from the court and state repository data that a consumer reporting agency searches, so it should not appear on a new background check report. As of this writing, at least nine states, Pennsylvania, Utah, Michigan, Connecticut, Delaware, Oklahoma, California, Minnesota, and New York, have enacted clean slate laws, though the offenses covered, waiting periods, and implementation timelines vary widely by state and some are still being phased in.
For employers, staffing agencies, and property managers who screen at volume, clean slate laws change two things: which records a check can turn up, and how to handle a record reported in the past that has since been sealed. This guide covers both, using only verified, primary-source information for every claim below.
What Is a Clean Slate Law?
“Clean slate” is the common name for a state law that seals or expunges eligible criminal records automatically, on a set schedule, instead of requiring a petition. Pennsylvania passed the first such law in 2018 (Act 56, codified at 18 Pa.C.S. §9122.2), and other states have followed with their own versions. The mechanics differ, but the core idea is the same: once a person stays conviction-free for a set number of years and meets other eligibility rules, the state limits public access to the record without the person having to ask.
“Sealed” and “expunged” are not identical everywhere. Generally, a sealed record still exists but is removed from public access and standard searches, while an expunged record is treated as if it did not occur for most purposes. The practical effect for a background check is usually similar: the record should no longer surface in a standard public record search once the seal or expungement takes effect.
Which States Have Clean Slate Laws
The table below lists only states Reveal Background verified directly against the state legislature, courts, or a state agency’s own materials. Other states have discussed or partially passed similar legislation; a short verified list is more useful to a screening decision than a long unconfirmed one.
| State | Law | Automatic Process Effective | What Generally Qualifies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | Act 56 of 2018, 18 Pa.C.S. §9122.2 | Phased in starting 2018 | Non-conviction records; summary offenses after 5 years; most 2nd/3rd-degree misdemeanors after 10 conviction-free years, restitution paid |
| Utah | HB 431 (2019), Utah Code Title 77, Ch. 40a | February 10, 2022 | Dismissed/acquitted cases; qualifying misdemeanors after 5 to 7 conviction-free years; felonies, DUI, domestic violence, sex offenses excluded |
| Michigan | Public Act 193 of 2020 | April 11, 2023 | Eligible misdemeanors after 7 years, felonies after 10 years, up to a statutory cap; assaultive, weapons, and life-maximum offenses excluded |
| Connecticut | Public Act 21-32 | January 1, 2023 | Most misdemeanors after 7 years; Class D/E and certain unclassified felonies (5-year max sentence) after 10 years; sex, family violence, and firearms offenses excluded |
| Delaware | Senate Bill 111 (2021) | August 1, 2024 | Non-conviction records right away; certain misdemeanors after 5 years; a limited set of felonies after 10 years |
| California | Senate Bill 731 (2022) | July 1, 2023 | Most non-violent, non-serious felonies, for people not required to register as sex offenders, 4 years after completing supervision with no new felony |
| Oklahoma | HB 3316 (2022), 22 O.S. §19 | Enacted November 1, 2022; automatic processing still being phased in | A defined set of arrest and conviction records, once OSBI’s automated system is fully operational; petition-based expungement still applies meanwhile |
| Minnesota | Clean Slate Act of 2023 | January 1, 2025 | Hundreds of defined misdemeanor and felony offenses, plus non-conviction records; some record types still require a court petition |
| New York | Clean Slate Act (S7551A / A1029C) | November 16, 2024, with the courts phasing in existing records through November 16, 2027 | Misdemeanors sealed 3 years after sentencing; felonies 8 years after sentencing (excluding incarceration time); sex offenses and Class A felonies excluded |
Implementation dates and eligibility rules keep changing (Oklahoma’s automated system is still coming online, and New York’s courts have until 2027 to work through the backlog), so an employer or screening partner operating in any of these states should confirm current status before assuming a given record type is already sealed.
What “Sealed” or “Expunged” Means for a Background Check
Clean slate laws work upstream of the background check itself. When a court or state repository seals or expunges a record, it is generally no longer part of the public data a screening company like Reveal Background searches to build a criminal background check or state criminal record search. That is different from a consumer reporting agency independently deciding not to report something it already found.
State law can also directly restrict what a consumer reporting agency may report, separate from the sealing statute itself. California, for example, prohibits an investigative consumer reporting agency from including sealed or expunged records in a report at all, under California Civil Code §1786.18. Other states impose similar restrictions tied to their own sealing and expungement statutes.
At the federal level, the Fair Credit Reporting Act has no general expungement rule. Instead, 15 U.S.C. §1681c limits how long certain non-conviction items, such as arrests that did not lead to a conviction, can be reported, generally to seven years, while conviction records can be reported without that federal time limit. Clean slate laws sit on top of that federal floor: they do not change what the FCRA allows a report to include, they change what is available in the underlying public record for a background check company to find. Reveal covers how the federal and state timing rules interact in the background check seven-year rule by state.
The FCRA also requires a consumer reporting agency to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of a report, so a record sealed or expunged under state law is generally treated as no longer accurate, reportable public record information, which is one reason screening companies build sealing checks into how they refresh criminal record data.
What Employers Should Do When a Previously Reported Record Is Now Sealed
It is common for an employer to have an old report on file, or a personnel note, referencing a conviction that has since been sealed or expunged under a clean slate law. A few practical points apply, as general information rather than instructions for a specific situation:
- Do not rely on an old report as current. A report reflects the record as it existed on the date pulled. If the record has since been sealed, a fresh search should not return it, and acting on the outdated version is not consistent with how the record now stands under state law.
- Treat any record that does show up as part of an individualized review, not an automatic disqualifier. Under EEOC guidance on arrest and conviction records, criminal history is one input into a broader assessment of the offense, the time elapsed, and the job, not a standalone basis for exclusion.
- Follow the adverse action process if a report factors into a negative decision. That means a pre-adverse action notice, a copy of the report, a copy of the Summary of Rights, and a reasonable waiting period before any final notice, regardless of whether a given record is old, sealed, or current.
- Give applicants a channel to flag an error. If a candidate says a record has been sealed or expunged, that is a dispute for the consumer reporting agency to investigate; see how applicant disputes are handled.
- Confirm jurisdiction-specific requirements with counsel. Clean slate rules vary by state and change over time, so this overview is a starting point, not a substitute for legal advice about a specific policy or candidate.
Screening partners offering employment background checks and ongoing monitoring, rather than a single static report, are generally better positioned to reflect a sealing once it takes effect, since source data is refreshed rather than reused from an earlier pull. See Reveal’s pricing page for how that kind of ongoing coverage is packaged.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a sealed or expunged record show up on a background check?
Generally no, once the seal or expungement has actually taken effect in the court or state repository the background check company searches. Timing matters: some clean slate laws are still being phased in, so a record that is eligible for automatic sealing may not be sealed yet.
Which states currently have clean slate laws?
As of this writing, Pennsylvania, Utah, Michigan, Connecticut, Delaware, Oklahoma, California, Minnesota, and New York have enacted clean slate laws with automatic sealing or expungement, though eligible offenses, waiting periods, and rollout timelines differ by state and some states are still implementing their automated systems.
Can an employer still ask a candidate about a conviction that was later sealed under a clean slate law?
Once a record is sealed or expunged, it is generally treated as no longer part of the individual’s public record for most purposes. How and when an employer may ask about past convictions in general is a separate question governed by state and local fair chance hiring rules, covered in Reveal’s guide to ban-the-box and fair chance hiring laws. Confirm current requirements with counsel for a specific candidate or state.
What should an employer do if it has an old report showing a record that is now sealed?
Treat the old report as outdated rather than current, and rely on a fresh search if the information is needed again. Any record still appearing on a current report should go through the same individualized review and adverse action process the employer uses for any other criminal history finding.
Do clean slate laws affect federal background checks?
Clean slate laws are state laws that govern state and local court records. They do not change federal law, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s own rules on reporting certain non-conviction records, and they do not apply to separate federal processes such as FBI fingerprint-based checks conducted for specific federally regulated purposes.
How is a clean slate law different from the FCRA’s seven-year rule?
The FCRA’s seven-year limit under 15 U.S.C. §1681c applies mainly to certain non-conviction records, such as arrests that did not lead to a conviction, and it is a federal reporting time limit that consumer reporting agencies must follow regardless of state law. A clean slate law is a separate, state-level mechanism that removes eligible records, including many convictions, from the public record itself after a state-defined waiting period. The two rules can apply to the same case at different points and are not interchangeable.
Related Reading
Marijuana-related convictions raise a related but distinct question, since several states now separately restrict how far back an employer can look at cannabis-related records or how much weight those records can carry; Reveal covers that topic in marijuana convictions and background checks for employment.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Requirements for clean slate laws, sealing, expungement, and background check reporting vary by state, change over time, and can depend on the specific facts of a case. Employers should confirm current obligations with their own counsel before making screening or hiring decisions.
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