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

Minnesota employers may run background checks on candidates, and the state adds its own notice and copy rules to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. As of October 2026, the main Minnesota layers are a written disclosure with a check box for a free copy of the report, an adverse action notice with dispute rights, the rule that criminal history waits until the applicant is selected for an interview, public conviction data that expires 15 years after the sentence ends, automatic sealing of many records under the Clean Slate law since 2025, and a statute keeping sealed records and arrests out of negligent hiring suits. Minneapolis protects justice-impacted status, and many health care, human services and school jobs require state background studies.

The federal steps are in the FCRA background check process, and the timing rule, its penalties and a recruiter script are on Minnesota's ban-the-box law. This page adds the reporting rules, what Minnesota records show, the Clean Slate law and the mandatory studies.

What does Minnesota add to the federal FCRA?

• Disclosure with a check box. Under Minn. Stat. 13C.02, anyone obtaining a consumer report for employment purposes must first disclose in writing that a report may be obtained and that the candidate may request more information on its nature. If the report may include personal interviews about character, reputation, personal characteristics or mode of living, the disclosure must say so. When a written application is used, the disclosure must be in or accompany it. It "must include a box that the person may check off and return to receive a copy of the consumer report."
• Copy within 24 hours, free. If the box is checked, the employer asks the screening company to send a copy, which the company must send within 24 hours of providing the report to the employer, with a statement of the right to dispute and correct errors. The candidate may not be charged.
• Adverse action. If employment is denied wholly or partly because of a report, the employer must say so, tell the candidate of the right to a free copy if they did not get one, give the screening company's name and address, and give notice of the right to dispute errors (13C.03). The Attorney General or a county attorney may enforce the chapter (13C.04).

Section 13C.02 does not apply to a report for a job the candidate has not specifically applied for, or to a report used while investigating a current employee's suspected violation of law or misconduct, until the investigation ends. The simplest compliance step is a Minnesota version of the authorization form with the copy box on it.

How far back do Minnesota criminal records go?

We found no Minnesota statute that caps how old a conviction a screening company may report, so the federal FCRA's rule applies: no time limit for convictions, seven years for arrests and other items on jobs paying under $75,000 (15 U.S.C. § 1681c). What Minnesota limits is what the state makes public. Under Minn. Stat. 13.87, criminal history data is private, except that Bureau of Criminal Apprehension data identifying a person convicted of a crime, the offense, court disposition and sentence are public "for 15 years following the discharge of the sentence."

The BCA's free Minnesota Public Criminal History search applies that rule. As of October 2026 it shows offenses, courts, dates of conviction and sentencing information, and it does not include arrest data, juvenile data, criminal history from other states, federal data, or convictions where 15 or more years have passed since the sentence was completed. A screening company searching county court records may find more, which is one reason to read the disposition dates on any report.

One older Minnesota statute is worth knowing because it shows up in form reviews. Minn. Stat. 181.53 bars requiring, as a condition of employment, a written statement about the applicant's "personal record, for more than one year immediately preceding the date of application." The same section adds that it does not stop an employer from requesting or considering criminal history under section 364.021 or other law.

Which Minnesota records are sealed automatically?

Minnesota's Clean Slate law, Minn. Stat. 609A.015, grants expungement without a petition. The revisor's note says it applies to offenses that met the eligibility criteria before January 1, 2025 and were in the BCA's system as of that date. It covers:

• arrests where all charges were dismissed, and cases resolved in the person's favor;
• completed diversion programs or stays of adjudication for non-felonies, after one year without a new charge;
• convictions for most petty misdemeanors, misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors, and listed felonies, after a waiting period without a new conviction: two years for petty misdemeanors and misdemeanors, three for gross misdemeanors, four for felony fifth-degree controlled substance crimes and five for other eligible felonies, counted from discharge of the sentence.

Domestic assault, violation of an order for protection, fourth-degree and some other driving while impaired offenses, and the other offenses listed in the section are excluded. The BCA says all cannabis-related petty misdemeanor and misdemeanor records, and felony-level cannabis records resolved in the person's favor, were expunged from its system as of May 2024.

An expungement order does not reach records held by the Commissioners of Human Services, Health, and Children, Youth, and Families, and an expunged conviction may still be opened for a human services background study under section 245C.08 or a Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board check, and for evaluating a prospective employee of a criminal justice agency (Minn. Stat. 609A.03, subd. 7a). For other employers, a sealed record should simply not appear.

When can you ask about criminal history in Minnesota?

Statewide, public and private employers may not ask about, consider or require disclosure of criminal history until the applicant has been selected for an interview, or, without an interview, before a conditional offer (Minn. Stat. 364.021; see Minnesota's ban-the-box law). Employers with a statutory duty to run a check are exempt, and any employer may tell applicants that a particular criminal history disqualifies them from a particular position under law or policy.

Minneapolis. According to the city's Civil Rights Department, amendments to the Civil Rights Ordinance passed May 1, 2025 and in effect since August 1, 2025 make it unlawful to discriminate in employment based on justice-impacted status, meaning a criminal record or history such as any arrest, charge, conviction, period of incarceration, or past or current probation. The department says employers should consider whether there was a conviction, how long ago it occurred, its severity and nature, the person's age at the time and evidence of rehabilitation, and that employers cannot discriminate based on arrests that did not lead to convictions, other than pending cases. State and federal licensing rules still apply.

Does Minnesota protect employers who hire people with records?

Partly. Minn. Stat. 181.981 says criminal history of an employee or former employee "may not be introduced as evidence" in a civil action against a private employer based on that person's conduct if any of these applies:

• the job did not expose others to more risk than the person interacting with the public outside work, or than employment in general;
• before the act, a court sealed the record, it was sealed by automatic expungement, or the person was pardoned;
• the record is of an arrest or charge that did not result in a conviction; or
• the action is based solely on the employer's compliance with section 364.021.

The section does not override a statutory duty to run a check for particular jobs. More on the underlying claim is in what negligent hiring is.

Does Minnesota restrict credit checks or salary history?

Credit. We found no Minnesota statute restricting employment credit checks, and Minnesota is not on our list of state credit check laws; the 13C notices and the federal FCRA steps apply to a credit report like any other consumer report.

Salary history. Minn. Stat. 363A.08 bars asking about pay history; see Minnesota's salary history ban.

Which Minnesota jobs require background studies or BCA checks?

• Health care facilities. The Commissioner of Health contracts with the Commissioner of Human Services to run background studies on people with direct contact with patients and residents in hospitals, boarding care homes, outpatient surgical centers, nursing homes, home care agencies and assisted living facilities, and on all other employees in nursing homes, boarding care homes and assisted living facilities (Minn. Stat. 144.057).
• Human services programs. For programs licensed under chapter 245A, such as adult foster care, children's residential facilities, home and community-based services, substance use disorder treatment and adult day care, the Commissioner of Human Services studies current and prospective employees who will have direct contact with the people served (Minn. Stat. 245C.03).
• Schools. A school hiring authority must request a BCA criminal history background check on everyone offered employment in a school and on most people offered coaching roles, with the individual's signed consent and payment of the cost; it may skip the check for someone who received an initial entrance license from the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board or the commissioner of education in the 12 months before the offer (Minn. Stat. 123B.03).

Section 364.021 exempts employers with a statutory duty to run a criminal history check, which typically covers these roles; confirm with the client which statute applies to the job. A staffing agency placing workers into these settings should agree with the client who submits the study and when the worker may start.

Minnesota background check rules at a glance

What should recruiters and staffing agencies do in Minnesota?

1. Use a Minnesota authorization form. Add the copy check box and the description of investigative reports, and attach it to the application when there is a written one. Confirm the screening company sends copies within 24 hours.
2. Hold criminal history until interview selection. A recruiter's first call usually comes before the employer selects anyone for an interview, so keep the topic off it. In Minneapolis, also drop arrests without convictions from any decision.
3. Expect sealed records to be missing, not hidden. Do not ask candidates to list sealed or expunged matters, and do not treat a gap between a candidate's account and an old report as dishonesty without checking for a Clean Slate seal.
4. Keep criminal history out of interview notes. If a candidate volunteers a case, do not follow up or write it in the ATS. If you transcribe interviews with an AI note taker, remove the passage from any notes you share.
5. Send one combined adverse action notice. Include the screening company's name and address, the right to a free copy and the dispute rights; templates are in background check notification emails.
6. Keep drug testing separate. It follows its own rules, including cannabis limits, covered in Minnesota drug testing laws.

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