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

Kansas employers may run background checks, and Kansas has its own consumer reporting statute. As of October 2026, the Kansas rules that matter most are the Kansas Fair Credit Reporting Act (K.S.A. 50-701 to 50-722), which bars screening companies from reporting arrest and conviction records more than seven years old for jobs paying under $20,000 a year; K.S.A. 22-4710, which forbids making applicants fetch their own criminal record but lets employers request it with a signed release; expungement rules that let most candidates answer that they were never arrested or convicted; and mandatory checks for adult care homes, home health agencies and child care. There is no ban-the-box law for private employers.

The federal steps (stand-alone disclosure, authorization, pre-adverse and adverse action notices) apply to every Kansas hire that uses a screening company and are covered in the FCRA background check process. This page covers what Kansas law adds, with each statute linked. The wider state picture, including wage, E-Verify and recording rules, is on hiring employees in Kansas.

What does Kansas add to the federal FCRA?

Kansas passed its own Fair Credit Reporting Act in 1973, effective January 1, 1974. Most of it mirrors the federal law, but a few sections bind employers and screening companies directly:

• Employment is a permitted purpose. A consumer reporting agency may furnish a report to a person it has reason to believe "intends to use the information for employment purposes" (K.S.A. 50-703).
• Investigative reports need a written notice. If you order a report that covers character, general reputation, personal characteristics or mode of living (reference interviews, for example), the candidate must get a written disclosure no later than three days after the report is first requested, including the right to ask for more detail. On a written request, you must describe the nature and scope of the investigation within five days (K.S.A. 50-705). The notice is not required for employment "for which the consumer has not specifically applied."
• Public records must be current or flagged. A screening company that reports adverse public records for employment must either notify the candidate at the time, with the name and address of the employer receiving it, or keep strict procedures so the record is complete and up to date (K.S.A. 50-712).
• Adverse action notice. When employment is denied wholly or partly because of a consumer report, the user must tell the candidate and give the name and address of the agency that made the report (K.S.A. 50-714).
• Liability. A user that willfully fails to comply is liable for actual damages, punitive damages the court allows, and attorney's fees; negligent noncompliance carries actual damages and fees (K.S.A. 50-715 and 50-716).

If you already follow the federal process, these steps are mostly covered. The one that catches people is the three-day written notice for investigative reports, so ask your screening company whether its Kansas disclosure meets it.

How far back can a Kansas background check go?

This is where Kansas differs most from federal law. K.S.A. 50-704 bars a consumer reporting agency from reporting "records of arrest, indictment, or conviction of crime which, from date of disposition, release, or parole, antedate the report by more than seven (7) years," along with civil judgments, paid tax liens and collection accounts older than seven years and bankruptcies older than 14 years. The limits do not apply to "the employment of any individual at an annual salary which equals, or which may reasonably be expected to equal twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), or more."

Federal law is looser on convictions: the FCRA lets convictions be reported without a time limit and limits arrests and other items to seven years only for jobs paying under $75,000 (15 U.S.C. § 1681c). The FCRA generally preempts state rules on what reports may contain, but that preemption "shall not apply to any State law in effect on September 30, 1996" (15 U.S.C. § 1681t(b)(1)(E)), and K.S.A. 50-704 dates from 1974.

In practice the $20,000 line is low. As an example, a full-time job at $9.62 an hour for 2,080 hours comes to about $20,010 a year and is outside the limit. The rule matters most for part-time, seasonal and short-term roles, which is where staffing agencies place many workers. Tell your screening company the expected annual pay so it applies the right lookback.

What does a KBI record check show, and who can get one?

The KBI runs the state's central repository of criminal history. Its fact sheet on non-criminal justice record checks (updated July 2024) says "any individual or organization may obtain adult conviction CHRI upon request," limited to incidents where the person was found guilty in a Kansas court, is currently in diversion, or has a case pending. Arrests that did not result in a conviction, successfully completed diversions, expungements and juvenile records are not released on these requests.

• How to request. Name-based checks are online only, at the KBI's criminal history site, and need the person's name and date of birth; fingerprint checks are by mail. The fact sheet lists $30 for an online name-based check and $45 for a fingerprint-based Kansas check.
• Consent. The KBI says consent "isn't required by state statute or regulation for the release of Kansas CHRI," though a check of the federal database does require it. National checks are not available to the public; a Kansas governmental agency needs a Kansas or federal law that allows one.
• Handling. The KBI asks employers to share results only with people who need them for the decision and to shred records no longer needed.

You may not make the candidate fetch their own record

K.S.A. 22-4710 makes it unlawful for "any employer or prospective employer to require a person to inspect or challenge any criminal history record information relating to that person for the purpose of obtaining a copy of the person's record in order to qualify for employment," a class A misdemeanor. The reason is practical: a person's own record includes diversions, expungements and juvenile data that an employer is not entitled to see. The same statute lets an employer require a signed release so it can obtain the record itself, and says no employer is liable for a decision based on that information if it "reasonably bears upon" the applicant's trustworthiness or "the safety or well-being of the employer's employees or customers."

What happens to expunged records in Kansas?

Under K.S.A. 21-6614, many misdemeanors and lower-level felonies may be expunged three or more years after the sentence is satisfied or supervision ends, and a completed diversion three years after its terms are met. Serious offenses such as murder, rape and other listed sex and child abuse offenses cannot be expunged.

Once a record is expunged, subsection (k) says that "in any application for employment" the person "may state that such person has never been arrested, convicted or diverted of such crime." Arrest records expunged under K.S.A. 22-2410 work in a similar way: the person may state they have never been arrested, subject to any disclosure the court orders for listed purposes. K.S.A. 21-6614(i) keeps a duty to disclose an expunged conviction or diversion, if asked, for listed roles, including:

• private detectives, security personnel with a private patrol operator, and jobs in state institutions of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services;
• law enforcement officers, the Kansas lottery, racing and gaming, the state gaming agency and tribal gaming;
• commercial driver's license applications and securities registration (broker-dealers, agents and investment advisers).

Write application questions so they do not ask candidates to list expunged matters, and do not treat a "no" as dishonest if an expunged record surfaces later.

When can Kansas employers ask about criminal history?

Kansas has no timing rule for private employers that we found. The state rule covers only its own executive branch: a 2024 Legislative Post Audit report describes Executive Order 18-12 as providing that during the initial stage of a state employment application, applicants "shall not be asked if they have a criminal record," and that a record shall not automatically disqualify an applicant from an interview, while still allowing a background check as a condition of employment.

The EEOC rescinded its 2012 guidance on arrest and conviction records on October 28, 2026, effective immediately, but federal Title VII still governs how records are used, including its disparate impact provision (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(k)). The K.S.A. 22-4710 safe harbor above only protects decisions where the record bears on trustworthiness or safety, so asking late and weighing the Green factors from the 1975 Eighth Circuit case, Green v. Missouri Pacific Railroad Co. (the nature and gravity of the offense, the time since it, and the nature of the job), remains the safer course. If you also fill roles across the state line, Kansas City, Missouri has its own private-employer rule; see Missouri ban-the-box rules and Missouri background check laws.

Which Kansas jobs require background checks?

• Adult care homes. Nursing facilities, assisted living and other adult care homes may not knowingly employ people with listed convictions or adverse registry findings, and some offenses disqualify only for six years after the sentence ends. Operators must request an eligibility determination from the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS), may hire provisionally once for 60 calendar days pending the result, and must receive "written certification" from any employment agency or independent contractor that its workers are not prohibited (K.S.A. 39-970). Applicants have 20 calendar days after authorization to submit fingerprints to stay eligible for provisional employment. KDADS runs the criminal record check program.
• Home health agencies. The same structure, including the 60-day provisional period and the 20-day fingerprint deadline, applies under K.S.A. 65-5117, and "applicant" includes people who apply to an employment agency that provides staff to a home health agency.
• Child care. No one may maintain a child care facility with an employee who has listed convictions or child abuse registry findings, and the state may run fingerprint-based national checks on child care employees (K.S.A. 65-516).
• Teachers. The state board of education may not knowingly issue or renew a license for a person convicted of listed offenses (K.S.A. 72-2165).

For adult care homes and home health agencies, K.S.A. 39-970 and 65-5117 also protect the facility and the employment agency from civil damages for hiring decisions made in good faith to comply.

Can Kansas employers check credit, salary history or references?

We found no Kansas statute that limits employment credit checks, and Kansas is not among the states in our credit check laws guide. K.S.A. 50-704 still applies to a credit report for a job paying under $20,000: collection accounts, judgments and paid tax liens older than seven years and bankruptcies older than 14 years must be left out. We found no salary history ban either; see salary history ban states.

For references, K.S.A. 44-119a gives a former employer absolute immunity for disclosing dates of employment, pay level, job description and duties, and wage history, qualified immunity for other information, and absolute immunity for written answers to a prospective employer's written request about evaluations and the reasons for a separation.

Kansas background check rules at a glance

What should recruiters and staffing agencies do in Kansas?

1. Give the screening company the pay. For roles under $20,000 a year, records older than seven years must stay out of the report under K.S.A. 50-704.
2. Check the investigative report notice. If you order reference or character interviews through a screening company, the written Kansas disclosure must go out within three days.
3. Never ask candidates to bring their own KBI record. Get a signed release and request it yourself, or use a screening company.
4. Fix application wording. Tell candidates expunged matters need not be listed, unless the role is one of the listed exceptions.
5. Keep criminal history out of interviews and notes. If a candidate volunteers an arrest, do not follow up or record it. If you record or transcribe interviews, check Kansas recording consent rules and remove the passage from notes you share.
6. Prepare certifications for care clients. Adult care homes must receive your written certification that placed workers are not prohibited; agency licensing itself is covered in staffing agency licensing in Kansas.
7. Put it in a policy. A background check policy that names the checks by role keeps practice consistent. Work authorization is a separate process, covered in Kansas E-Verify requirements.