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

Missouri employers may run background checks on candidates, and the state adds no notice forms or lookback limit of its own to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act for private employers in the statutes we reviewed. As of October 2026, what Missouri law changes is which records a check can see: arrests without charges, dismissals, acquittals and suspended impositions of sentence become closed records, expunged offenses may not be asked about except in listed jobs, and the Highway Patrol sells name-based checks of open records to anyone. Kansas City, St. Louis and Columbia restrict when employers may ask about criminal history, and schools, health care providers and caregivers must run state-mandated checks.

The federal steps (stand-alone disclosure, written authorization, pre-adverse and adverse action notices) apply to every Missouri hire that uses a screening company and are covered in the FCRA background check process. Missouri's state-agency rule and the history of the Kansas City ordinance are on Missouri ban-the-box rules, and the rest of the hiring checklist is in hiring employees in Missouri. This page covers what those leave out.

What does Missouri add to the federal FCRA?

Less than many states. We did not find a Missouri statute that requires its own disclosure form, a copy of the report on request, or a seven-year limit on reporting convictions, so for a private employer the federal FCRA sets the paperwork. Under federal law, convictions can be reported however old they are, and arrests that did not lead to a conviction drop off after seven years unless the job pays $75,000 or more (15 U.S.C. § 1681c).

Missouri's own rules work one level earlier, through Chapter 610 of the Revised Statutes, which decides whether a criminal record is open to the public or closed. A screening company that pulls Missouri records sees only what is open, unless the employer is one of the entities allowed to see closed records.

Which Missouri criminal records are open, and which are closed?

• Arrests without charges. If a person is arrested and not charged within 30 days, the arrest report becomes a closed record, except that the disposition portion may still be accessed (RSMo 610.100.2(3)).
• Dismissals, acquittals and suspended impositions of sentence. If a charged case is nolle prossed, dismissed, ends in a not guilty finding, or ends with imposition of sentence suspended, the official records become closed records once the case is finally terminated, although the court's judgment and the prosecutor's final action may still be accessed (RSMo 610.105).
• Who may see closed records. RSMo 610.120 limits closed records to listed users, including criminal justice agencies, agencies authorized under Chapter 43 when they submit fingerprints, qualified entities screening providers, and the Department of Health and Senior Services for regulated facilities. A private employer outside those groups does not get them.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol's criminal record check page spells out what that means in practice, as of October 2026. A name-based search costs $16 and is available to any member of the public online through the Missouri Automated Criminal History Site (MACHS). Its results are a "possible match" and include only open records: convictions, arrests less than 30 days old, charges filed by a prosecutor and awaiting a court disposition, and records with a suspended imposition of sentence during the probation period. A fingerprint-based search returns closed records as well, including all arrests, dismissed charges, suspended impositions of sentence after probation ends, and records closed or expunged under Chapter 610, but only to the person or a qualified requesting entity.

Two habits follow. Confirm identity before acting on a name-based hit, since the Patrol itself calls it a possible match. And read the disposition: a suspended imposition of sentence that appears during probation will close once the case ends, so treat it as what it is rather than as a conviction.

Can Missouri employers ask about expunged records?

In most jobs, no. Under RSMo 610.140, as in effect since January 1, 2025:

• No inquiry. Subsection 9 says a person with an expungement order may not be held guilty of perjury or a false statement for failing to acknowledge the arrest, plea, trial, conviction or expungement "and no such inquiry shall be made for information relating to an expungement."
• The candidate may answer no. Subsection 11 lets the person answer "no" to an employer's question about whether they have ever been arrested, charged or convicted, if after the expungement they have no public record of a crime.
• Listed exceptions. Subsection 10 requires disclosure on applications for a state professional license, gaming licenses and jobs with gaming licensees, any state-operated lottery or emergency services provider (including law enforcement), federally insured banks, savings institutions and credit unions (for 12 U.S.C. 1829 and 1785), insurers (for 18 U.S.C. 1033 and similar laws), and any employer that federal or state law requires to exclude applicants with certain convictions.
• Notice and no automatic bar. An employer in the bank, insurance or required-exclusion categories "shall notify an applicant" of the disclosure requirement. An expunged crime is not grounds for automatic disqualification, but may be a factor; in those three categories it may be automatic.

Marijuana offenses follow the constitution, not the statute. Article XIV, Section 2 of the Missouri Constitution ordered courts to expunge many marijuana offenses, and says the person is not required to acknowledge the record or answer questions about it "in any application for employment" and may deny that it exists.

For an application form, the practical wording is a question about convictions that tells candidates they need not list expunged matters, plus, for the bank, insurance and required-exclusion roles, a sentence that says why disclosure is required for this job.

When can you ask about criminal history in Missouri?

Statewide, we found no statute that sets the timing for private employers. Executive Order 16-04 removed criminal history questions from initial applications for executive branch agencies only; it is covered on Missouri ban-the-box rules. Three cities set their own rules:

Kansas City. The codified text of section 38-104, as shown on the city's code in October 2026, also makes it unlawful to base a hiring or promotion decision on criminal history unless the employer can show the decision considered all available information, "including consideration of the frequency, recentness and severity of a criminal record," and that the record was reasonably related to the job. Positions where law requires excluding people with certain convictions are exempt. Chapter 38 defines an employer as any person employing six or more employees.

St. Louis. According to the city's Civil Rights Enforcement Agency, Ordinance 71074 took effect January 1, 2021. It bars covered employers from basing decisions on criminal history unless they can show its relevance, from asking before the applicant is found otherwise qualified and interviewed, from job ads and forms that exclude people with records, and from "seeking to obtain publicly available information concerning job applicants' criminal history." The agency investigates complaints and the License Collector enforces; penalties can run from warnings and civil penalties to revocation of the business license for repeat violations.

Columbia. The city's Human Rights page says its Fair Chance Hiring law, passed December 1, 2014, bars criminal history questions on applications and any inquiry, "such as a background check," until after a conditional job offer.

Does Missouri limit credit checks, salary history or references?

Credit. We found no Missouri statute restricting employment credit checks, and Missouri is not on our list of state credit check laws; the federal FCRA steps apply.

Salary history. No statewide ban, but Kansas City Code 38-102 bars employers and their agents from asking about or relying on it; see salary history bans by state.

Service letters. Missouri has an unusual reference rule. RSMo 290.140 says that when an employee of a corporation with seven or more employees, after at least 90 days of service, requests it in writing by certified mail within one year of leaving, the corporation must issue within 45 days a signed letter stating the nature and character of the service, its duration, and "truly stating for what cause, if any," the employee was discharged or quit. A candidate may choose to share one; it is the candidate's right to request, not something a new employer can order.

Which Missouri jobs require fingerprint or registry checks?

• Schools. School districts and charter schools must ensure a criminal background check on anyone employed after January 1, 2005 who is authorized to have contact with pupils, before that contact. The applicant submits fingerprints, which the Highway Patrol searches and forwards to the FBI, the check includes a search of publicly available electronic court indexes, and the applicant pays the fees (RSMo 168.133).
• Long-term care, in-home services and other providers. Before a new full-time, part-time or temporary hire has contact with patients or residents, providers listed in RSMo 192.2495 (licensed facilities under Chapters 197 and 198, in-home services contractors, Department of Mental Health programs, adult day care, and agencies placing temporary health care workers) must request a Highway Patrol criminal check and check the employee disqualification list. If the applicant has not lived in Missouri for five consecutive years, a nationwide fingerprint check is required. The applicant must disclose criminal history, which here includes suspended impositions and executions of sentence and probation or parole.
• Caregivers. Child-care, elder-care, personal-care and mental health workers must register with the Department of Health and Senior Services' Family Care Safety Registry within 15 days of starting work (RSMo 210.906). The registry draws on Highway Patrol records, abuse and neglect findings, employee disqualification lists and sex offender registrations (RSMo 210.903).

Staffing agencies should note the wording of section 192.2495: for temporary employees hired through or contracted for an employment agency, the agency must make the request "prior to sending a temporary employee to a provider."

Missouri background check rules at a glance

What should recruiters and staffing agencies do in Missouri?

1. Know the job's city. Kansas City, St. Louis and Columbia each push criminal history later in the process, and Columbia and St. Louis also cover the background check itself. A Missouri-wide policy that waits until after a conditional offer satisfies all three.
2. Fix the application wording. Ask about convictions only, and say expunged matters need not be listed. For bank, insurance and legally required-exclusion roles, add the notice section 610.140 requires.
3. Read Missouri dispositions carefully. A suspended imposition of sentence, a closed arrest and a conviction are different things; do not reject a candidate on a name-based "possible match" without confirming identity.
4. Keep criminal history out of interviews. 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. Run health care placements in order. For temporary placements with providers under section 192.2495, the agency requests the check and the disqualification list check before sending the worker.
6. Use the FCRA steps for every report. Disclosure, authorization, pre-adverse action notice and a real chance to respond; templates are in background check notification emails, and a background check policy keeps practice consistent.

Other Missouri rules for the same hire: Missouri drug testing laws, Missouri non-compete law, E-Verify requirements in Missouri, staffing agency licensing in Missouri and recording interviews in Missouri.