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

Texas employers may run background checks on candidates, and the state adds fewer steps to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act than states like California or New York. As of October 2026, the Texas rules that matter most are a seven-year limit on reporting arrests and convictions that lifts for jobs paying $75,000 or more, the effect of expunctions and orders of nondisclosure, public access to conviction records through the Department of Public Safety, a limit on negligent hiring claims, and mandatory checks for schools, long-term care and child care. Austin has its own fair chance hiring ordinance.

The federal paperwork (stand-alone disclosure, authorization, pre-adverse and adverse action notices) applies to every Texas hire that uses a screening company and is covered step by step in the FCRA background check process. This page covers what Texas law adds on top, with each statute linked.

How far back can a Texas background check go?

Business and Commerce Code 20.05(a)(4) bars a consumer reporting agency from furnishing a report containing "a record of arrest, indictment, or conviction of a crime in which the date of disposition, release, or parole predates the consumer report by more than seven years." Section 20.05(b)(3) lifts the limit for "the employment of a consumer at an annual salary that is or may reasonably be expected to be $75,000 or more."

The difference from federal law is convictions. The federal FCRA's seven-year limit covers arrests and other adverse items but never convictions (15 U.S.C. § 1681c). The Texas limit covers convictions too, so for a Texas job paying under $75,000, a screening company should not report a conviction whose disposition, release or parole date is more than seven years old. Section 20.05(c) also bars medical information in a report obtained for employment unless the candidate consents.

What happens to expunged and nondisclosed records in Texas?

Texas has two ways to keep a record out of view, and both reach screening companies.

• Expunction. Since January 1, 2025, expunction is in Chapter 55A of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Under article 55A.401, once an expunction order is final, "the release, maintenance, dissemination, or use of the expunged records and files for any purpose is prohibited," and the person may deny the arrest and the existence of the order.
• Orders of nondisclosure. A person whose record is subject to an order of nondisclosure "is not required in any application for employment, information, or licensing to state that the person has been the subject of any criminal proceeding related to the information that is the subject of the order" (Government Code 411.0755). Unlike an expunction, the record still exists and may be shared with the agencies and employers listed in section 411.0765(b), which include school districts and charter schools, hospitals, long-term care facilities, the Texas Board of Nursing and the Health and Human Services Commission.

Government Code 411.0851 requires a private company that compiles and sells criminal history to destroy, and stop disseminating, information once it receives notice of an expunction or nondisclosure order, and makes it liable for damages, court costs and attorney's fees if it does not. Companies not regulated by the FCRA that buy records from the state may disseminate them only if they obtained or updated them within the previous 90 days.

For recruiters this means two things. Do not ask candidates to list expunged or nondisclosed matters, since they are entitled to leave them out. And if a report shows a case the candidate says was expunged or sealed by a nondisclosure order, treat it as a dispute in the FCRA pre-adverse action window, not as dishonesty.

Can Texas employers search criminal records themselves?

Yes. Government Code 411.135 entitles any person to obtain from the Department of Public Safety criminal history record information "that relates to the conviction of or a grant of deferred adjudication to a person for any criminal offense," and to use it for any purpose. DPS offers this through its Criminal History Conviction Name Search, which DPS describes as name-based results for people reported with a conviction or deferred adjudication.

Two cautions. A name search can match the wrong person, so confirm identity before acting on it. And although a search you run yourself is not a consumer report under the FCRA, a decision based on it is still subject to Title VII and to any city fair chance ordinance. The database covers deferred adjudication as well as convictions, so read each entry's disposition before treating it as a conviction.

When can Texas employers ask about criminal history?

In the Texas statutes we reviewed, we did not find a law that sets a stage in the hiring process after which a private employer may ask about criminal history. That does not make every question safe: federal discrimination law still applies to how records are used, and the questions to avoid in interviews are listed in illegal interview questions.

The City of Austin is the exception we confirmed. Its Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance, which the city says took effect April 4, 2016, restricts when certain private employers can ask about a job applicant's criminal history and how that information can be used, and the city's Office of Civil Rights receives and investigates complaints. Read the ordinance linked from that page for the employer size threshold and steps before hiring in Austin.

Does Texas limit negligent hiring claims?

Yes, which is one reason Texas employers can hire people with records with less legal risk than they may assume. Civil Practice and Remedies Code 142.002 says a negligent hiring or supervision claim "may not be brought" against an employer, general contractor, premises owner or other third party solely because the employee has been convicted of an offense. The protection does not apply if the employer knew or should have known of the conviction and the offense was committed while performing substantially similar duties or under substantially similar conditions, or is a serious offense listed in Code of Criminal Procedure article 42A.054 or a sexually violent offense. It also does not apply to misuse of others' funds or property by an employee previously convicted of a fraud or misuse offense in a foreseeably fiduciary role.

Which Texas jobs require criminal history checks?

• Schools. Non-certified employees offered jobs by school districts, open-enrollment charter schools and shared services arrangements must submit to a national criminal history review, which can include fingerprints, before being employed, with results reported through the DPS clearinghouse (Education Code 22.0833). Many employees of contractors with continuing duties and direct contact with students are covered too (section 22.0834).
• Long-term care and home health. Nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, home and community support services agencies and other facilities listed in Health and Safety Code Chapter 250 must obtain the applicant's conviction record from DPS, check the nurse aide registry and employee misconduct registry, and may not employ people convicted of listed offenses, some permanently and some for five years. A person hired pending the check may have no direct contact with residents or clients until it clears.
• Child care. Directors, employees, prospective employees and others at licensed child care operations must have background checks, and fingerprints are required for many of them (Human Resources Code 42.056).

Staffing agencies placing people in these settings should confirm with the client who submits the information and when the worker may start; in long-term care, the emergency hiring exception in section 250.003 has short deadlines for requesting the check.

Does Texas restrict credit checks or salary history questions?

We found no Texas statute restricting employment credit checks or salary history questions, and Texas does not appear on our lists of state credit check laws or salary history bans. The federal FCRA steps still apply to a credit report from a screening company.

Texas background check rules at a glance

What should recruiters and staffing agencies do in Texas?

1. Tell the screening company the pay. The $75,000 line decides whether convictions older than seven years may be reported, so the salary on the order should be accurate.
2. Leave expunged and nondisclosed matters off your forms. Ask only about convictions, and say that sealed, expunged and nondisclosed matters need not be listed.
3. 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.
4. Assess, do not exclude. Write down why a specific conviction matters for the specific job, especially in Austin, and use the FCRA pre-adverse action window to hear the candidate.
5. Keep drug testing separate. It has its own rules, covered in Texas drug testing laws.
6. Know the regulated settings. For schools, long-term care and child care, follow the agency process and do not start the worker early.
7. Put it in a policy. A background check policy that names the checks by role keeps practice consistent across recruiters and clients.