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

West Virginia employers may run background checks, and the state adds no paperwork to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act for private employers. As of October 2026, the rules that matter most are expungement, which lets candidates leave expunged records off job applications (except for law enforcement and corrections jobs) while letting employers that must run checks by law see expunged convictions; State Police records that are released only with the person's signed, acknowledged authorization; the WV CARES fingerprint program for nursing, home care, child care and other covered providers and their contractors; and bans on lie detector tests and social media password demands. There is no ban-the-box, credit check or salary history law for private employers.

The federal steps (stand-alone disclosure, written authorization, pre-adverse and adverse action notices) apply to every West Virginia hire that uses a screening company and are covered in the FCRA background check process. This page covers what West Virginia law adds, with each Code section linked to the Legislature's official code site. The wider state picture is on hiring employees in West Virginia.

Does West Virginia add anything to the federal FCRA?

Not for screening companies. We found no West Virginia statute that adds disclosure, consent or copy requirements to the FCRA for consumer reports, and no state lookback limit. West Virginia's rules work on the records themselves: what the State Police may release, what expungement removes, and which employers must fingerprint.

How far back can a West Virginia background check go?

The FCRA sets the limit: arrests and other non-conviction items older than seven years may not be reported for jobs paying under $75,000 a year, and convictions have no time limit (15 U.S.C. § 1681c). Expungement is what takes older West Virginia records out of reach.

What happens to expunged records in West Virginia?

West Virginia has two expungement statutes with nearly the same effect on job applications.

• Charges that did not end in a conviction. A person found not guilty, or whose charges were dismissed (other than in exchange for a guilty plea to another offense), or who completed pretrial diversion or a deferred adjudication, may petition for expungement no sooner than 60 days after the acquittal or dismissal, with no filing fee; people with a prior felony conviction may not use this route (W. Va. Code § 61-11-25).
• Convictions. Misdemeanors become eligible one year after conviction, sentence or supervision ends (two years after the last one, for several), and nonviolent felonies after five years. Violent felonies, crimes against minors, sex offenses, DUI and other listed offenses are excluded, the person may use this relief only once, and a $100 State Police processing fee applies (W. Va. Code § 61-11-26).

The effect, under § 61-11-25(e) and § 61-11-26(l): the proceedings are considered never to have occurred, courts and agencies reply that no record exists, and the person "shall not have to disclose the fact of the record or any matter relating to the record on an application for employment, credit, or other type of application." For expunged convictions there are two exceptions that matter to employers:

• Anyone "applying for a position in which he or she would be engaging in the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution, or incarceration of persons for violations of the law shall disclose any and all convictions," expunged or not.
• "Any person required by state or federal law to obtain a criminal history record check on a prospective employee are authorized to have knowledge of any convictions expunged under this section." A nursing home running a required WV CARES check, for example, can learn of an expunged conviction; an employer running a voluntary check has no such authorization, and the candidate need not disclose it.

When can West Virginia employers ask about criminal history?

At any stage, under state law. West Virginia has no ban-the-box law for private employers; the 2024 Ban the Box Act, HB 4229, covered only public employers and stalled in House Judiciary. We did not find a Charleston, Huntington or Morgantown ordinance that limits private employers' questions. Word the application question so it excludes expunged records, unless the job is one of the law enforcement or corrections positions the statute names.

Federal Title VII still applies. On October 28, 2026, the EEOC voted to rescind its 2012 enforcement guidance on arrest and conviction records, effective immediately; its announcement says Title VII "continues to prohibit discrimination based on race or national origin, including employment requirements that are proxies for intentional discrimination." Title VII's disparate impact provision, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(k), is unchanged, and a job-related review using the Green factors from the 1975 Eighth Circuit case Green v. Missouri Pacific Railroad Co. (the nature and gravity of the offense, the time since it, and the nature of the job) remains a sound way to make and document a decision. Questions to keep out of interviews are listed in illegal interview questions.

How do you get a West Virginia criminal record?

From the State Police Criminal Identification Bureau, with the candidate's signed consent. Under W. Va. Code § 15-2-24(d), the Bureau may furnish records to a private organization "with the approval of the superintendent," but "all requests ... must be accompanied by a written authorization signed and acknowledged by the person whose fingerprints, photographs, records or other information is to be released." Fingerprints taken for permit, license or employment checks are kept by the Bureau and the FBI for the Rap Back program, which reports later criminal history events, and applicants must be told (§ 15-2-24(k)).

Organizations that provide "care, treatment, education, training, instruction, supervision, or recreation for children, the elderly, or individuals with disabilities" can sign the State Police's NCPA/VCA user agreement to screen employees, volunteers and contractors with unsupervised access under the federal National Child Protection Act and Volunteers for Children Act. Other private employers usually use a screening company.

Which West Virginia jobs require background checks?

• WV CARES covered providers. Under W. Va. Code § 16B-15-1, covered providers include skilled nursing and nursing facilities, home health agencies, hospices, long-term care hospitals, personal care and adult day care providers, residential care providers including assisted living, and intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Covered contractors are those that contract with a covered provider to perform direct access services, including their employees and subcontractors. Each applicant for a direct access job goes through registry prescreening and then "fingerprint-based state and federal criminal background checks," with Rap Back (§ 16B-15-2), and may not be employed before the check is complete (§ 16B-15-3), except provisionally for up to 60 days under direct on-site supervision with a signed statement (§ 16B-15-6). The Office of Inspector General's WV CARES page also lists persons responsible for the care of children, behavioral health centers, chronic pain management clinics and opioid treatment programs among those required to use it.
• Teachers and other licensed school staff. Applicants for an initial license from the Department of Education are fingerprinted by the State Police for a state check and an FBI check, at their own cost, and with the applicant's written consent the state results can go to a county board within 90 days (W. Va. Code § 18A-3-10).

A disqualifying offense under WV CARES includes crimes listed in the federal health care program exclusion law, 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7(a), and others named in the Inspector General's rule, such as crimes against vulnerable people, violent and sexual offenses and financial crimes. The applicant or employer may ask for a variance within 30 days of a notice of ineligibility (§ 16B-15-5).

Can West Virginia employers check credit, salary history or social media, or use a lie detector?

• Credit. We found no West Virginia statute limiting employment credit checks; the FCRA steps apply. Other states are compared in credit check laws for employers.
• Salary history. West Virginia has no salary history ban; see salary history ban states for candidates elsewhere.
• Social media. § 21-5H-1 bars requesting, requiring or coercing a potential employee to disclose a personal account password, to open a personal account in the employer's presence, or to add the employer or an employment agency as a contact. Looking at publicly available information is allowed. More in social media screening of candidates.
• Lie detectors. § 21-5-5b bars requiring or requesting a lie detector or similar examination of a prospective employee, except for jobs with direct access to controlled substances and for law enforcement agencies and the state's military forces.

West Virginia background check rules at a glance

What should recruiters and staffing agencies do in West Virginia?

1. Reword the conviction question. Ask about convictions "other than expunged records" for ordinary jobs, and use the full question only for the law enforcement and corrections roles the statute names.
2. Know whether your check is required by law. Only employers that must run a check by state or federal law may learn of expunged convictions; write down the legal basis for each required check.
3. Healthcare staffing goes through WV CARES. If you supply aides or nurses to a covered provider, you are a covered contractor: run prescreening and fingerprints before placement, and use the 60-day provisional period only with on-site supervision and the signed statement.
4. Skip polygraphs and passwords. Remove lie detector language and social media password requests from screening scripts for West Virginia candidates.
5. Keep records out of interview notes. If a candidate mentions an expunged case, do not record it. If you record interviews, check West Virginia's recording consent rules.
6. Write it down. A background check policy that names the checks by role, and the reasons, also helps defend negligent hiring claims. Agency licensing is covered in staffing agency licensing in West Virginia, work authorization in West Virginia E-Verify requirements, and candidates across the border in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky background check laws.