Indiana employers run background checks against two layers of law. The first is the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, which applies the same way in every state. The second is a shorter list of Indiana specific rules covering who can regulate the timing of criminal history questions, how expunged records work, and what certain roles, such as licensed child care staff, must complete before they start. This guide walks through both layers.
This article is general information about publicly available Indiana and federal rules. It is not legal advice, and employers with a specific hiring decision in front of them should talk to their own counsel, particularly where disparate impact, expungement, or a local ordinance question is involved.
The federal floor: disclosure, authorization and adverse action
Any Indiana employer that orders a background check through a consumer reporting agency, rather than looking up public records itself, is a “user” of a consumer report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681b. That section sets the baseline steps before and after a report is used for an employment decision:
- A clear, standalone written disclosure that a report will be obtained, separate from the job application.
- The applicant’s or employee’s written authorization before the report is requested.
- A pre adverse action notice, including a copy of the report and the Summary of Rights, before the employer finalizes a decision not to hire or to take another adverse action based on the report.
- An adverse action notice after the decision is final, telling the person the name of the reporting agency and their right to dispute the report.
The model Summary of Rights language and the related disclosure forms that agencies and employers use come from the Federal Trade Commission’s rules at 16 CFR part 600. None of this changes based on the state where the applicant lives or works, so it applies the same way to a hire in Indiana as anywhere else.
Indiana bars local ban the box ordinances for private employers
Some states let individual cities pass their own fair chance hiring ordinances for private employers. Indiana went the other direction. Under IC 22-2-17, cities, towns and counties cannot enact or enforce their own ordinance that regulates how a private employer asks about, considers, or uses an applicant’s criminal history in a hiring decision. That means no Indiana city or county can impose a local ban the box rule, a mandatory waiting period, or its own individualized assessment standard on private sector employers operating within its borders. A local government is still free to set hiring policy for its own positions, but it cannot extend that policy to private businesses.
The practical effect is that Indiana does not have a patchwork of city level fair chance ordinances the way some other states do. A private employer hiring in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, or a smaller county is working from the same statewide baseline either way.
Ban the box for Indiana state government jobs
Indiana’s own fair chance approach applies to its own hiring. A state executive order, the Fair Chance Hiring Process order, removes the criminal history question from the initial application for executive branch state agency jobs covered by the order. Agencies under the order generally wait until later in the hiring process, such as after a conditional offer or an interview, to ask about and consider criminal history, rather than screening applicants out at the first step.
This order applies to state executive branch hiring. It does not create a private sector mandate, and because of IC 22-2-17 above, no city or county can create one either. A private Indiana employer that wants to delay the criminal history question can choose to do so as a matter of its own policy, but nothing in Indiana law currently requires it outside of state government hiring covered by the order.
The Second Chance Law: expungement of Indiana records
Indiana’s expungement statute, commonly called the Second Chance Law and codified at IC 35-38-9, lets eligible people petition a court to expunge or restrict public access to certain Indiana arrest and conviction records. Eligibility, waiting periods, and the type of relief a court can grant all vary by the offense and how it was resolved, so an employer should not assume every applicant who mentions an expungement went through the same process or got the same outcome. The statute itself, not a general summary, controls which records qualify and what effect expungement has.
What matters for an employer is the practical result: once a court grants expungement, the record is treated differently going forward, and in many cases a person may lawfully state that the matter did not happen for most employment purposes. Indiana State Police record checks described below are built to reflect expunged records, which is one reason a current check matters more than an old report or a candidate’s own memory of a prior background check.
Indiana State Police limited criminal history checks
Indiana also runs its own state level criminal history search separate from the county court and FCRA consumer report side. The Indiana State Police Criminal History Services program lets anyone, including employers and the public, request a limited criminal history check on a specific person. That check searches convictions reported to the state’s central repository. It does not include arrests that never led to a conviction, it does not reach into other states’ records, and a court ordered expungement removes the affected record from what the search returns.
Because this is a state level search rather than a multi jurisdiction consumer report, employers that want broader coverage, such as other states a candidate has lived in, still use a consumer reporting agency subject to the FCRA alongside any state record check they rely on.
Fingerprint based checks for child care and other sensitive roles
Some Indiana roles require more than a standard criminal history search. Under requirements published by the Family and Social Services Administration CareFinder program, people working in licensed child care centers, licensed homes, registered ministries, legally licensed exempt programs, and in home nanny arrangements, including prospective staff, current staff, contractors, self employed providers and qualifying volunteers, must complete a federal fingerprint based criminal history check and an Indiana fingerprint based criminal history check, plus a check of the Indiana Child Protection Index and the Indiana Sex Offender Registry. These checks run on a recurring schedule rather than once at hire, and a gap of more than 180 consecutive days away from Indiana child care work can trigger a new check.
Indiana applies comparable fingerprint based screening in other sensitive settings, including some school based roles, under separate state rules. Employers in those sectors should confirm the current requirement with the relevant licensing agency, such as the Indiana Department of Education, rather than relying on the general employer rules described in this article, since the process and the agency involved are not the same as a typical pre employment background check.
Using criminal history fairly once you have it
Indiana law does not require most private employers to individually assess how a conviction relates to a specific job, but federal nondiscrimination law still applies to how criminal history is used. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has said that broadly excluding applicants with any criminal record can have an especially negative effect on applicants based on race or national origin, which can raise a disparate impact concern under Title VII even where no one intended to discriminate. A policy that looks at the nature of the offense, how long ago it occurred, and its relationship to the job, rather than a blanket exclusion for any record, is generally a more defensible approach, though employers should get their own legal advice on how that applies to a specific policy.
What can be asked, used and reported in Indiana
| Employer or role | Can the criminal history question be asked, and when | Governing rule |
|---|---|---|
| Private employers, most industries | Generally yes, at any point in the process; Indiana does not require a delay | IC 22-2-17 blocks local rules that would require otherwise |
| Cities and counties regulating private employers | Cannot pass their own ban the box or fair chance ordinance for private employers | IC 22-2-17 |
| Indiana executive branch state agencies | Question removed from the initial application; asked later in the process | Executive Order, Fair Chance Hiring Process |
| Applicants with an expunged Indiana record | Generally treated as if the matter did not occur, subject to the terms of the court order | IC 35-38-9, Second Chance Law |
| Licensed child care staff, contractors and volunteers | Fingerprint based federal and state checks plus registry checks required, on a recurring schedule | FSSA CareFinder requirements |
| All employers using a consumer reporting agency | Must give standalone disclosure, get authorization, and follow the pre adverse and adverse action notice process | 15 U.S.C. 1681b, 16 CFR part 600 |
A practical FCRA checklist for Indiana hires
- Give a clear, standalone disclosure that a background check will be requested, apart from the job application itself.
- Get written authorization before ordering the report.
- If considering a negative decision based on the report, send the pre adverse action notice with a copy of the report and the Summary of Rights, and allow a reasonable window before finalizing anything.
- If the decision stands, send the adverse action notice naming the reporting agency and explaining the right to dispute.
- For roles subject to Indiana specific rules, such as licensed child care, confirm the fingerprint based and registry checks are current and on schedule, separate from the FCRA report.
- Keep in mind that a limited criminal history search from the Indiana State Police reflects Indiana convictions only, and will not show an expunged record or an out of state conviction.
Indiana does not require every employer to follow the same fair chance timing the state uses for its own executive branch jobs, and local governments cannot step in and require it either. That leaves most of the compliance burden on the federal FCRA steps above, plus the narrower rules that apply to expunged records and to roles like licensed child care that carry their own fingerprint based screening requirement.
For a broader look at how fair chance hiring policies work where they do exist, see our guide to ban the box and fair chance hiring laws. And because how far back a report reaches is a separate question from who can ask what and when, our breakdown of the background check seven year rule and how it varies by state covers that piece in more detail.
Frequently asked questions
Does Indiana require private employers to remove the criminal history question from job applications?
No. Indiana’s fair chance hiring policy is set by executive order and applies to executive branch state agencies. Private employers are not required by state law to delay the criminal history question, and IC 22-2-17 also prevents individual cities and counties from passing their own ordinance that would require it.
Can an Indiana city or county pass its own ban the box rule for private employers?
No. IC 22-2-17 bars local units of government from regulating how private employers ask about or use criminal history information in hiring, so no Indiana city or county can impose its own fair chance ordinance on private businesses.
What does Indiana’s Second Chance Law let people do with past convictions?
Indiana’s Second Chance Law, codified at IC 35-38-9, lets eligible people petition a court to expunge or restrict access to certain arrest and conviction records once they meet waiting periods and eligibility rules that vary by the offense. Once a court grants expungement, the record is generally treated differently for employment purposes going forward, though the exact effect depends on the terms of the order the court issues.
What shows up on an Indiana State Police limited criminal history check?
It searches convictions reported to the Indiana State Police central repository. It does not include out of state records, it will not show an arrest that never led to a conviction, and it will not show a record a court has expunged.
Do child care employees in Indiana need a fingerprint based background check?
Yes. Indiana requires licensed child care staff, contractors, self employed providers and qualifying volunteers to complete a federal and a state fingerprint based criminal history check, along with a check of the Indiana Child Protection Index and the Indiana Sex Offender Registry, on a recurring schedule.
Does the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act still apply to Indiana employers?
Yes. Any Indiana employer using a consumer reporting agency must still follow the FCRA: a standalone disclosure, written authorization, and pre adverse action and adverse action notices before and after relying on a report in an employment decision.
Need background checks that keep pace with FCRA and state specific rules like these? See how Reveal Background builds compliance into employment and tenant screening.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Employers should consult qualified counsel about how these rules apply to a specific hiring decision.
