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

Tennessee employers may run background checks on candidates, and the state adds few rules of its own to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. As of October 2026, what matters most in Tennessee is that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation sells name-based state criminal histories to anyone, that expunged records are deleted and treated as if the conviction never occurred, that state law bars negligent hiring claims based only on a prior conviction and gives extra immunity when the worker holds a certificate of employability, and that schools, child care programs and providers serving vulnerable people must run state-mandated checks. We found no Tennessee ban-the-box, credit check or salary history law for private employers.

The federal paperwork for any check through a screening company (stand-alone disclosure, authorization, pre-adverse and adverse action notices) is covered in the FCRA background check process, and the rest of the Tennessee hiring checklist is in hiring employees in Tennessee. This page covers what Tennessee law adds to the check.

What does Tennessee add to the federal FCRA?

In the Tennessee statutes we reviewed, we did not find a state law that adds its own disclosure, copy or lookback rule for employment background reports. The federal FCRA therefore governs the process and the reporting periods: no time limit for convictions, and seven years for arrests and other adverse non-conviction items on jobs paying under $75,000 (15 U.S.C. § 1681c). Tennessee's own rules concern the records themselves (what the TBI releases and what expunction erases) and the employer's liability after hiring someone with a record.

What does a TBI background check show, and who can get one?

The TBI's background checks page lists three routes, as of October 2026:

A name-based search can match the wrong person, so confirm identity before acting on a hit, and a search you run yourself is still subject to federal discrimination law. The fingerprint route is for organizations the law authorizes to fingerprint applicants. The TBI's guidance on obtaining an ORI number says qualified agencies, such as those serving children, the elderly and other vulnerable people, must cite the Tennessee or federal statute authorizing them, that general contractors working on school property apply with their school contract while subcontractors use the general contractor's number, and that "staffing agencies are also NOT eligible for an ORI number." An agency placing workers into fingerprint-required roles therefore works through the client's or the contractor's authorization.

What happens to expunged records in Tennessee?

Tennessee Code 40-32-110, on the state's official free code site, says an expunction order entitles the person to have all public records of the expunged conviction destroyed, and "has the legal effect of restoring the petitioner, in contemplation of the law, to the same status occupied before the arrest, indictment, information, trial, and conviction." Once the order is granted, the person "must not suffer any adverse effects, or direct or indirect collateral disabilities or consequences" because of the expunged offense, and "the conviction for the expunged offense never occurred." The person is not guilty of perjury or a false statement for failing to recite or acknowledge it.

The TBI's diversions and expungements page adds the practical side. Expunction is not automatic; the person files with the court. Charges that were dismissed, nolle prossed, no-billed by a grand jury or ended in a not guilty verdict are eligible at no cost, charges on pretrial or judicial diversion can be expunged after the diversion is completed, and certain misdemeanor and felony convictions may be eligible through the district attorney's office. When TBI receives an order it deletes the charges, sends the order to the FBI, and does not merely seal them.

So an expunged Tennessee case should not appear on a TBI check. If an older report or a private database shows a case the candidate says was expunged, treat it as a dispute during the FCRA pre-adverse action window and ask for a copy of the order, rather than as dishonesty.

Does Tennessee limit negligent hiring claims?

Yes, in two ways, both in Title 40, Chapter 29 of the Tennessee Code.

• No claim based solely on a conviction. Section 40-29-109 says a cause of action "may not be brought against an employer or contracting party for negligent hiring, training, retention, or supervision of an employee or independent contractor based solely upon the fact" that the person was previously convicted of a criminal offense, and that evidence of the prior conviction "is not admissible" in such a case. Those protections do not apply when the employer knew or should have known of the conviction and the conviction was for one of the types of offense the section lists.
• Certificates of employability. Under section 40-29-107, a person may petition the circuit court for a certificate of employability, and the court may issue one at its discretion if it makes the findings the section requires. In a claim against an employer for negligent hiring, the certificate "shall provide immunity for the employer." Among the conditions the section lists for losing that protection are that the person, after being hired, demonstrates danger or is convicted of a felony, that the employer keeps the person on, and that the person with hiring and firing responsibility had actual knowledge of the danger or conviction.

For hiring teams, this means a documented, job-related review of a record, and noting a candidate's certificate of employability in the hiring file, both carry legal weight in Tennessee. Background on the claim itself is in what negligent hiring is.

When can you ask about criminal history in Tennessee?

For private employers we found no Tennessee law that sets the timing. Tennessee's ban-the-box law applies to state government. As enacted by SB 2440, Public Chapter 813 of 2016, it bars a state employer from asking about criminal history on the initial application for a position that is not a "covered position," meaning one where federal law requires a background check or an offense is disqualifying under federal or state law. The bill summary says the employer may ask after the initial screening of applications, must let the applicant explain, and must weigh factors such as the duties of the job, the time elapsed, the applicant's age at the time and the frequency and seriousness of offenses. Contractors, political subdivisions, the Department of Education, the State Board of Education and the TBI are not employers under that law.

Federal discrimination law still applies to how private employers use records, and the questions to keep out of interviews are in illegal interview questions.

Credit and salary history. We found no Tennessee statute restricting employment credit checks or salary history questions; the most recent bill to ban salary history questions, HB 417, went to summer study in 2024, as noted on hiring employees in Tennessee. Compare state credit check laws.

Which Tennessee jobs require background or registry checks?

• Schools and child care programs. Tennessee Code 49-5-413 requires local education agencies, public charter schools, state and private college training schools, and child care programs as defined in section 49-1-1102 to require, before employment and at least every five years after, that anyone applying for or holding a teaching position or another position requiring proximity to school children or children in a child care program complete the section's criminal history check.
• Providers serving vulnerable people. Tennessee Code 68-11-1004 requires state agencies under Titles 33, 37, 52, 68 or 71 that license or provide care, the entities they license, and entities under contract with them to determine whether a prospective employee or volunteer is listed on the state registry of persons who have abused, neglected or misappropriated the property of vulnerable individuals before the person is employed or volunteers.

If you place workers in these settings, the client's own authorization and registry access decide when the worker may start, since a staffing agency cannot obtain its own TBI fingerprint authorization.

Tennessee background check rules at a glance

What should recruiters and staffing agencies do in Tennessee?

1. Pick the right search. A $29 TBI name search covers Tennessee only and may match the wrong person; a screening company report or, for authorized roles, the client's fingerprint check covers more. Use the FCRA steps whenever a screening company is involved.
2. Leave expunged matters off your forms. Ask about convictions only, and say expunged matters need not be listed.
3. Document job-related reviews. Tennessee's negligent hiring statute turns on what the employer knew and whether the conviction relates to the duties, so write down why a record matters, or does not, for the specific job, and note any certificate of employability.
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. Plan school and care placements with the client. The client or general contractor holds the fingerprint authorization and registry access, so agree who submits and when the worker may start.
6. Keep drug testing separate. Tennessee's drug-free workplace program has its own rules, summarized on hiring employees in Tennessee and in drug testing laws in hiring.

Other Tennessee rules for the same hire: E-Verify in Tennessee, staffing agency licensing in Tennessee and recording interviews in Tennessee. A background check policy and notification email templates keep the process consistent.