Baltimore ban-the-box law for employers (2026): the conditional offer rule and how it is enforced

Baltimore City's ban-the-box law, the Fair Criminal-Record Screening Practices subtitle of City Code Article 11 (sections 15-1 to 15-16), bars any employer with 10 or more full-time equivalent employees in the city from asking about an applicant's criminal record, requiring disclosure, or running a criminal record check until it has extended a conditional offer. It has applied since August 13, 2014, it covers temporary and agency work, and it exempts employers that serve minors or vulnerable adults and inquiries another law requires or expressly authorizes. As of November 2026 the Baltimore Community Relations Commission enforces it, and a violation is also a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500, up to 90 days in jail, or both.

What is Baltimore's ban-the-box law?

The subtitle was enacted by Ordinance 14-221, effective August 13, 2014. The ordinance numbered it Subtitle 14, but because Article 11 already had one, it is codified as Subtitle 15, according to the code's editor's note. The sections a hiring team needs:

• Section 15-1, definitions. A "covered employer" is "any person that employs 10 or more full-time equivalent employees in the City of Baltimore." An "inquiry" is "any direct or indirect conduct intended to gather information, using any mode of communication."
• Section 15-6, the rule. No disclosure requirement, no criminal record check and no other inquiry before a conditional offer.
• Section 15-7, exceptions. Other laws, and employers serving minors or vulnerable adults.
• Section 15-11, complaints and remedies, section 15-13 on retaliation, and section 15-16, criminal penalties.

Later changes were technical. The code's history notes cite Ordinance 19-332 on the judicial review section and Ordinance 22-125, which repealed the subtitle's own definitions of "includes" and "person" and its severability clause in favor of the Code-wide versions. Section 15-6 itself carries only the 2014 ordinance in its history.

Which employers and jobs are covered?

• 10 or more full-time equivalent employees in the city. That is a lower threshold than Maryland's statewide 15 full-time employees, and it counts full-time equivalents rather than full-time heads. The subtitle does not say how to compute them.
• Jobs in Baltimore City. An "applicant" is anyone "being considered or who requests to be considered for employment in the City of Baltimore by a covered employer." The text does not address remote roles held by city residents, so check those with counsel.
• Temporary and agency work. "Employment" includes "contractual, temporary, seasonal, or contingent work" and "work through the services of a temporary or other employment agency," as well as unpaid vocational or educational training.
• Private employers. The Code-wide definition of "person" in General Provisions section 1-107 excludes, unless a provision says otherwise, a governmental entity or its units, so the subtitle reaches private employers rather than government agencies.
• Baltimore City only. Baltimore County is a separate jurisdiction; this ordinance does not cover jobs there.

Exceptions

Under section 15-7, the prohibition does not apply to:

• "any inquiry or other action that is required or expressly authorized by an applicable Federal, State, or City law or regulation"; or
• "any facility or employer that provides programs, services, or direct care to minors or to vulnerable adults," where a vulnerable adult is an adult who lacks the physical or mental capacity to provide for their own daily needs.

The second exception turns on what the employer provides, not on the duties of one job. Ask the client to name the exception it relies on, and the law behind it if it is the first, and keep that note with the requisition.

When can a Baltimore employer ask about criminal records?

Only after a conditional offer. Section 15-6(b) says that, at any time before a conditional offer has been extended, a covered employer may not require the applicant to disclose whether they have a criminal record "or otherwise has had criminal accusations brought against" them, "conduct a criminal-record check on the applicant," or "otherwise make any inquiry of the applicant or others" about it.

"Criminal accusations" is wider than convictions: it reaches arrests and pending charges, so "have you ever been arrested?" is as off-limits on a Baltimore screen as "have you been convicted?"

What counts as a conditional offer in Baltimore?

Section 15-6(a) defines it as an offer "conditioned solely on" the results of the employer's later inquiry into the criminal record, or "some other contingency expressly communicated to the applicant at the time of the offer." The Commission's Ban the Box page gives examples of such contingencies: physical exams, immigration, resume checks, license checks, driving records, relocation and criminal background checks.

In practice, put every remaining condition in the written offer. An "offer" that still depends on an unstated final round, or that leaves the employer free to keep comparing candidates, does not fit a definition that requires the conditions to be spelled out when the offer is made.

Does Baltimore require an assessment or a notice before rejecting someone?

The text of Subtitle 15 sets a timing rule only. It does not require a written assessment, a pre-rejection notice or a waiting period, and section 15-3 says it does not require anyone to hire a person with a record or limit the choice of the most qualified applicant. The Commission's Fair Chance Hiring poster, however, tells applicants that if a check shows a conviction the employer "must consider" the type of offense and the time since it, its connection to the job, and the applicant's job history, references and evidence of rehabilitation. That language is not in the code, but it is how the enforcing agency describes the law, so build those points into the review and write them down.

Federal law still sits on top. Title VII applies to how a record is used. The EEOC rescinded its 2012 arrest and conviction records guidance on October 28, 2026, but a job-related review using the Green factors from the 1975 Eighth Circuit case (the nature and gravity of the offense, the time since it and the nature of the job) remains the safe practice. If a screening company prepares the report, the FCRA's disclosure, authorization and pre-adverse action steps apply; they are in the FCRA background check process, with wording in background check notification emails.

How does the Baltimore rule fit with Maryland law?

Statewide, an employer with 15 or more full-time employees may require disclosure during the first in-person interview (see Maryland's ban-the-box law). The state law says it may not be construed to preempt a more restrictive local law (Labor and Employment 3-1502(b)), so for a job in Baltimore City the later city line, the conditional offer, is the one to follow, and employers with 10 to 14 full-time equivalents are covered by the city rule even though the state rule does not reach them. Section 15-3(b) keeps every federal and state limit on access to or use of records in place, such as Maryland's rules on expunged and shielded records in Maryland background check laws. Two nearby counties have their own, different rules: Montgomery County and Prince George's County.

Who enforces it, and what are the penalties?

• The Community Relations Commission. Any person aggrieved may file a complaint, which is filed, investigated and heard the same way as an employment discrimination complaint under City Code Article 4, Subtitle 4: a written complaint under oath (section 4-1), an investigation and a probable cause finding with conciliation (section 4-2), and a hearing before a hearing examiner if conciliation fails (section 4-3).
• Deadline. The Commission's file a complaint page lists criminal record screening among the complaint types and says the action must have happened within 300 days of filing.
• Remedies (section 15-11(b)). Back pay, reinstatement, compensatory damages for humiliation, embarrassment and emotional distress and for expenses of seeking other work, and reasonable attorney's fees. A final decision can be taken to the Circuit Court for Baltimore City (section 15-12).
• Criminal penalty (section 15-16). A misdemeanor, with a fine of up to $500, imprisonment for up to 90 days, or both, for each offense.
• Retaliation (section 15-13). No personnel action or other reprisal against anyone for claiming a violation.

The poster lists intake at the Office of Equity and Civil Rights, 7 E. Redwood Street, 9th floor, 410-396-3141.

What should recruiters and staffing agencies do on Baltimore jobs?

• Treat the agency as an employer. Employment includes work through a temporary or other employment agency, and a staffing firm with 10 or more full-time equivalent employees in the city is a covered employer when it employs the worker.
• Do not answer the client's early question. A client asking "does this candidate have a record?" before its conditional offer is an inquiry "of ... others," and an agency check run for the client before that offer is a "criminal-record check on the applicant."
• Know whose offer starts the clock. On a temp or contract placement where the agency is the employer, the agency's written conditional offer is the trigger; on a direct hire, it is the client's. Record the date and order the check only after it.
• Agree who sends the FCRA notices. Baltimore requires no notice of its own, but whoever uses a screening company's report to reject the candidate sends the federal pre-adverse and adverse action notices. Put that in the client agreement.
• Keep volunteered information out of the file. If a candidate mentions a record on a screen, do not note it or pass it on. See what not to write in interview notes.

A conditional offer line for Baltimore jobs

Adapt this with counsel; it puts every contingency in writing at the time of the offer, as section 15-6(a) contemplates.

Conditional offer of employment
Position: [title], working at [address in Baltimore City]
Start date: [date]   Pay: [rate]

We are pleased to offer you this position. This offer is conditional
only on the following, each of which we are telling you about now:
  1. the results of a criminal background check, which we will run only
     after you accept this conditional offer and sign the separate
     background check disclosure and authorization; and
  2. [every other contingency, for example: verification of your
     (license or certification); a drug test where lawful].
No other condition applies. If anything in the background check
concerns us, we will contact you and give you a copy of the report
before making any final decision.

Baltimore ban-the-box rules at a glance