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

Maryland employers may run background checks on candidates, but state law limits what a report may contain and when and how records may be used. As of October 2026, the main Maryland rules on top of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act are a seven-year limit on reporting arrests and convictions that lifts for jobs paying $75,000 or more, a written notice within three days of ordering an investigative report, a ban on requiring disclosure of expunged or shielded records, the statewide rule that criminal records wait until the first in-person interview, and limits on credit history, salary history and social media logins. Baltimore City and Montgomery County push criminal history to after a conditional offer.

The federal paperwork is covered in the FCRA background check process, and the statewide timing rule (who it covers, penalties, a recruiter script) is on Maryland's ban-the-box law. This page adds the reporting statute, the records Maryland takes off the table, the county rules and the mandatory checks.

What does Maryland add to the federal FCRA?

Maryland's consumer reporting statute is in the Commercial Law Article, sections 14-1201 and following. Its definition of a consumer report covers reports used for "employment purposes" (§ 14-1201), and it adds two duties for employers:

• Investigative reports. Before procuring a report with information on character, general reputation, personal characteristics or mode of living gathered through interviews, the employer must disclose that such a report may be made, in a writing mailed or otherwise delivered "not later than three days after the date on which the report was first requested," including a statement of the right to ask for more detail. If the candidate asks in writing, the employer must disclose the nature and scope of the investigation within five days (§ 14-1204). The notice is not required for a report on a job the consumer has not specifically applied for.
• Adverse action. When employment is denied wholly or partly because of a consumer report, the employer must tell the candidate and supply the name and address of the agency that made it (§ 14-1212). The federal adverse action notice already carries this information.

How far back can a Maryland background check go?

Commercial Law 14-1203(a)(5) 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 years." Subsection (b)(3) lifts the limit for "the employment of any individual at an annual salary which equals, or which may reasonably be expected to equal, $75,000 or more."

The difference from federal law is convictions: the federal seven-year rule never covers them (15 U.S.C. § 1681c), but Maryland's does. So for a Maryland job paying under $75,000, a screening company should not report a conviction whose disposition, release or parole date is more than seven years before the report. Tell the screening company the real salary on the order.

Which records can Maryland employers never require a candidate to disclose?

• Expunged charges. Under Criminal Procedure 10-109, an employer may not require disclosure of expunged information about criminal charges "in an application, interview, or other means," and refusing to disclose it may not be the sole reason to refuse to hire. A violation is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $1,000 or up to one year in prison, or both, for each violation.
• Shielded convictions. A person may petition once in a lifetime to shield court and police records of listed minor convictions, such as disorderly conduct, trespass on posted property, possession of a controlled dangerous substance or paraphernalia, and driving without a license, no earlier than three years after the sentence is satisfied (§§ 10-301 and 10-303). An employer may not require disclosure of shielded information or refuse to hire solely because the person declines (§ 10-306).

Shielded records remain "fully accessible" to employers that are subject to a statutory or regulatory requirement or authorization to look into an applicant's criminal background, to persons the Family Law Article authorizes or requires to look into criminal background, and to a person who attests under penalty of perjury that it employs or seeks to employ someone to care for or supervise a minor or vulnerable adult (§ 10-302(b)).

When can you ask about criminal history in Maryland?

Statewide, an employer with 15 or more full-time employees may not require an applicant to disclose a criminal record or criminal accusations before the first in-person interview (Labor and Employment 3-1503; details on Maryland's ban-the-box law). The state law lets local laws be stricter, and two of the largest jurisdictions are:

Baltimore City. Before a conditional offer, a covered employer may not require the applicant to disclose a criminal record or criminal accusations, "conduct a criminal-record check on the applicant," or make any inquiry "of the applicant or others" about it. A conditional offer is one conditioned only on the criminal record inquiry or another contingency stated at the time of the offer. Employment includes temporary work and work through a temporary or other employment agency (§ 15-1). Inquiries required or expressly authorized by federal, state or city law, and employers that provide programs, services or direct care to minors or vulnerable adults, are excepted (§ 15-7).

Montgomery County. According to the county's Office of Human Rights, the Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Revised Law took effect February 19, 2021. Before a conditional offer, employers may not ask about arrests, accusations or convictions, on the application or otherwise, or conduct any background check about them. An employer may ask follow-up questions only if the applicant volunteers the information first, and may ask about gaps in work history. Federal and state government, county public safety agencies, employers serving vulnerable adults or minors, and employers requiring a federal security clearance are exempt. Violations carry a civil penalty of up to $1,000 each.

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

Credit. Labor and Employment 3-711 bars using a credit report or credit history to deny employment, discharge, or set pay or terms. An employer may request or use credit information after an offer for another purpose, or when it has a bona fide purpose that is "substantially job-related" and disclosed in writing. The statute lists positions that qualify, including managerial roles that set the direction of a business or unit, access to customers' or employees' personal information (beyond what a retail transaction involves), fiduciary authority to issue payments, collect debts, transfer money or sign contracts, an expense account or corporate card, and access to trade secrets or other confidential business information. Federally insured financial institutions and their affiliates, approved credit union share guaranty corporations, SEC-registered investment advisers and employers required by law to check credit are excluded. The Commissioner of Labor and Industry may assess civil penalties of up to $500 for an initial violation and $2,500 for a repeat one. Compare other states on credit check laws for employers.

Salary history. Labor and Employment 3-304.2 bars seeking it; see Maryland's salary history ban.

Social media. Labor and Employment 3-712 bars employers, including their agents and representatives, from requesting or requiring an applicant's user name or password for a personal account, and from refusing to hire someone who declines.

Which Maryland jobs require criminal history records checks?

• Schools, child care, camps and youth programs. Public schools, private and nonpublic schools that report to the State Board of Education, licensed child care centers, registered family child care homes, recreation centers and programs primarily serving minors, day and residential camps, and home health or residential service agencies serving minors must require criminal history records checks (Family Law 5-551). The facility must apply for a national and state check "on or before the 1st day of actual employment" (§ 5-552), and the employee signs a sworn statement disclosing convictions, probation before judgment, not criminally responsible dispositions and pending charges (§ 5-553).
• School system hiring bars. A county board may not knowingly hire or retain anyone convicted of listed sexual offenses, child sexual abuse or crimes of violence, and school system contracts must bar contractors from assigning such employees to work on school premises with direct, unsupervised access to children (Education 6-113).
• Adult dependent care. Assisted living programs, adult day care, home health agencies, residential service agencies, hospices, group homes and the other programs listed in Health-General 19-1901 must, before an eligible employee begins work, apply for a state criminal history records check or have a qualifying private agency run a background check, and request a reference from the most recent employer that asks about any history of physical abuse (§ 19-1902). A private agency check must cover each state where the employee worked or lived in the past seven years.

State checks run through the Criminal Justice Information System Central Repository. Its background checks page says private employers must complete a Private Party Petition to receive an authorization number, that in-state applicant fingerprints go in electronically by live scan, and that the FBI's fee for fingerprint-based federal reports rose from $12 to $15 on October 1, 2026.

Maryland background check rules at a glance

What should recruiters and staffing agencies do in Maryland?

1. Put the salary on the order. The $75,000 line decides whether convictions older than seven years may be reported.
2. Hold criminal history until the client's line. No questions on a recruiter phone screen anywhere in Maryland; in Baltimore City and Montgomery County, no questions and no check until a conditional offer. A statewide practice of checking after a conditional offer fits all three rules.
3. Strip expunged and shielded matters from forms. Ask only about convictions and say expunged and shielded matters need not be listed, unless the role is one where the law gives access.
4. Write down the credit exception. If a client wants a credit check before an offer, record which 3-711 category applies and give the candidate the written disclosure of the job-related purpose.
5. Keep criminal history out of interviews and notes. If a candidate volunteers a case, do not follow up or note it. If you transcribe interviews with an AI note taker, remove the passage from any notes you share.
6. Send one combined notice. The FCRA pre-adverse and adverse action notices, naming the screening company, cover Maryland's adverse action rule too; templates are in background check notification emails.

Other Maryland rules for the same hire: hiring employees in Maryland, Maryland drug testing laws, Maryland non-compete law, Maryland pay transparency, E-Verify in Maryland, staffing agency licensing in Maryland and recording interviews in Maryland.