Alabama background check laws for employers (2026): what you can check and when

Alabama employers may run background checks, and the state adds few limits to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. As of October 2026, the Alabama rules that matter most are a new Alabama Background Check Service run by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) under Act 2026-374, effective October 1, 2026, which requires the person's express permission; expungement, which lets candidates leave expunged records off most applications; immunity for employers who hire people with expunged records or with an order of limited relief or certificate of employability; fingerprint checks for schools and child and adult care; and a rule against penalizing applicants who decline to give wage history. There is no statewide ban-the-box or credit check law.

The federal paperwork (stand-alone disclosure, authorization, pre-adverse and adverse action notices) applies to every Alabama hire that uses a screening company and is covered in the FCRA background check process. This page covers what Alabama law adds, with each Code section linked to the Legislature's site. The wider state picture is on hiring employees in Alabama.

Does Alabama have its own background check law?

Not for screening companies. We found no Alabama statute that adds disclosure, consent or copy requirements to the federal FCRA for consumer reports, and no state seven-year rule. Alabama's new law governs the state's own record checks instead. Code 41-9-650.1, added by Act 2026-374 (SB118), lets ALEA provide background checks to "any public or private employer to screen a prospective employee or contractor or for other employment purposes," and sets these conditions:

• The person "shall provide express permission for the release of information" before ALEA disseminates it.
• The employer must keep that permission, on paper or digitally, "for a period of three years or for the term of the subject's association with the requester, whichever is longer."
• No check on anyone under 18 without parental consent, and no passing the results on to anyone else.
• A name-based search "shall only return state information results"; a fingerprint-based search adds other states' and federal records (Code 41-9-650.2).

The record fee may not exceed $30, plus FBI, transaction and account fees (Code 41-9-650.3). Running a check without a required release, or using a report for an unauthorized purpose, is the crime of misuse of a background check report, a Class B misdemeanor (Code 41-9-650.5).

As of late October 2026, ALEA's Alabama background check page still describes its existing subscription service, in which each person checked signs a waiver and reports can include felony and misdemeanor arrests, violations and court records but not juvenile, youthful offender, sealed or expunged records. Expect the process to change as ALEA implements the new law.

How far back can an Alabama background check go?

Alabama has no lookback limit of its own, so the federal FCRA sets the rule: arrests and other non-conviction items older than seven years may not be reported for jobs paying under $75,000 a year, and convictions have no time limit (15 U.S.C. § 1681c). The bigger practical limit is expungement, which removes records from state systems.

What happens to expunged records in Alabama?

Alabama allows expungement of charges that did not end in a conviction, certain misdemeanor convictions after three years, and felony convictions after a pardon with restoration of civil and political rights, with violent, sex, serious traffic and other listed offenses excluded (Code 15-27-1 and 15-27-2). The 2021 changes were made by Act 2021-286, which its own text names the REDEEMER Act.

The effect, under Code 15-27-6(b): the proceedings "shall be deemed never to have occurred," agencies reply that no record exists, and the person "shall not have to disclose the fact of the record or any matter relating thereto on an application for employment, credit, or other type of application." The exception matters for some employers: the person must still disclose the record to any government regulatory or licensing agency, any utility and its agents and affiliates, or any bank or other financial institution, which may inspect it after filing notice with the court. Applicants for law enforcement and corrections jobs have their own disclosure duty.

Two protections follow from Code 15-27-16. Intentionally and maliciously disclosing an expunged file, knowing of the order, is a Class B misdemeanor. And an employer that hires someone and "is unaware of the existence of a criminal record due to an expungement" is immune from civil liability for damages the person causes, absent unreasonable, wanton, willful or intentional conduct.

When can Alabama employers ask about criminal history?

At any stage, under state law. We found no Alabama statute setting a ban-the-box or fair chance rule for private employers, and the Code does not make arrest or conviction records a protected category. We also found no such ordinance in the current codes of Montgomery, Huntsville or Mobile, and could not confirm a Birmingham ordinance in the city code published online; Birmingham fills most city jobs through the Personnel Board of Jefferson County. Federal Title VII still applies to how records are used, even though the EEOC rescinded its guidance on arrest and conviction records on October 28, 2026, so a job-related review of the offense, the time since it and the job remains the safe practice. The questions to avoid in interviews are listed in illegal interview questions.

Which Alabama jobs require background checks?

• Schools. Under the Alabama Child Protection Act of 1999, "no institution ... shall hire an individual who may have unsupervised access to a child without first obtaining a criminal history background information check, except on a temporary emergency basis" (Code 16-22A-5(c)). The check uses fingerprints against state and FBI records, with the applicant's written consent, and the State Superintendent makes suitability determinations. The State Department of Education explains fingerprinting on its teacher certification page.
• Child care, adult care and child placing. Every licensed child care or adult care facility, child placing agency and the Department of Human Resources must request fingerprint-based checks on applicants, employees and volunteers (Code 38-13-3), with a signed conviction statement and a mandatory criminal history check notice set out in Code 38-13-4. DHR determines suitability; see its child care background check instructions.
• Nursing facilities. We found no Alabama statute requiring criminal checks for nursing home or home health workers. Public Health rules bar nursing facilities from employing people found guilty by a court of abusing, neglecting or mistreating residents or with a finding on the nurse aide registry (Ala. Admin. Code 420-5-10).

Separately, Alabama makes it a crime for a business that provides child care, or an organization that serves mainly children, to knowingly employ an adult sex offender (Code 15-20A-13).

Does Alabama protect employers who hire people with records?

Yes, more than most states. Besides the expungement immunity above, an employer that knew an employee held an order of limited relief at the time of hiring is immune from a negligent hiring claim based on the prior conviction (Code 12-26-9(k)), and the same immunity applies to a certificate of employability (Code 15-22-24.1(e)). Both sections limit, but do not remove, claims for retaining the employee, and neither covers other claims about the employee's conduct. Under the new Rap Back provisions, an entity is not negligent per se solely because it chose not to enroll someone in ALEA's arrest notification program (Code 41-9-650.4(g)). The general doctrine is in what negligent hiring is.

Can Alabama employers check credit, salary history or social media?

• Credit. We found no Alabama statute limiting employment credit checks; the federal FCRA steps apply. Other states are compared in credit check laws for employers.
• Salary history. Employers may ask, but under the Clarke-Figures Equal Pay Act an employer "shall not refuse to interview, hire, promote, or employ an applicant for employment, or retaliate against an applicant for employment because the applicant does not provide wage history" (Code 25-1-30(c)). Details are on Alabama's salary history rule.
• Social media. We found no Alabama statute protecting applicants' social media passwords.

Alabama background check rules at a glance

What should recruiters and staffing agencies do in Alabama?

1. Get express permission for every ALEA check and file it for at least three years, even when you run the check yourself without a screening company.
2. Leave expunged matters off your forms, unless the client is a bank, utility or other employer the statute lets ask; say on the form that expunged records need not be listed.
3. Keep criminal history out of interviews and notes. If a candidate volunteers an arrest, do not follow up or record it. If you record interviews, check Alabama's recording consent rules and remove the passage from notes you share.
4. Ask about certificates. If a candidate has an order of limited relief or a certificate of employability, note that you knew of it at hiring, since the immunity depends on that knowledge.
5. Know the regulated settings. Schools and child and adult care providers must complete fingerprint checks; agency licensing is covered in staffing agency licensing in Alabama.
6. Put it in a policy. A background check policy that names the checks by role keeps practice consistent. Alabama's E-Verify mandate is a separate process, covered in Alabama E-Verify requirements, and restrictive covenants are covered in Alabama non-compete law.