Kansas Background Check Laws (2026 Guide)

Kansas regulates background checks through state statutes, Executive Order 18-12, and the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Under K.S.A. 22-4710, employers cannot require applicants to personally inspect, challenge, or obtain their own criminal history records as a condition of qualifying for employment. Expungement under K.S.A. 21-6614 and lookback limits under K.S.A. 50-704 further shape what employers and landlords may lawfully consider.

Kansas background check laws govern how employers, landlords, and licensing boards can access and use criminal history records. These rules come from a combination of state statutes, executive orders, local ordinances, and federal regulations like the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Whether you are a job applicant, a landlord screening tenants, or an employer building a hiring process, understanding these laws is essential.

This guide covers every major aspect of Kansas background check law, including the Ban the Box landscape, expungement under K.S.A. 21-6614, lookback periods, FCRA requirements, licensing restrictions, housing screenings, and recent legislative changes.

How Kansas Background Checks Work

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) maintains the state's Central Repository of criminal history record information (CHRI). This database includes felony and misdemeanor arrests, prosecution data, court dispositions, and information about incarceration in state-operated facilities.

Employers and other authorized entities can request background checks through two methods:

The KBI provides these checks through the Criminal History Records Section at 1620 SW Tyler, Topeka, KS 66612. Fingerprinting can be done at local law enforcement agencies or by appointment at KBI headquarters for a $10 fingerprinting fee.

What Information Is Publicly Available

The general public can obtain the following Kansas criminal history records without special authorization:

• Court convictions for felonies or misdemeanors under Kansas law
• Court convictions for municipal ordinance violations equivalent to state misdemeanors
• Records of confinement in Kansas Department of Corrections facilities

Arrest records that did not result in a conviction, juvenile records, and sealed or expunged records are not available to the general public.

Employer Background Check Requirements

Kansas law places specific requirements on employers who conduct background checks. K.S.A. 22-4710 is the key statute governing employer access to criminal history information.

Employers Cannot Require Applicants to Self-Obtain Their Own Records

Under K.S.A. 22-4710, employers cannot require a job applicant to inspect, challenge, or personally obtain a copy of their own criminal history record as a condition of qualifying for employment. The statute does not require the employer to pay for a pre-employment background check the employer runs itself; it only allows the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to charge the employer a reasonable fee for preparing a criminal history report. Violating the self-obtain prohibition is a class A misdemeanor.

Employer Consent and Liability

An employer may require a job applicant or prospective independent contractor to sign a release allowing access to their criminal history records for the purpose of determining fitness for employment. When an employer makes a hiring decision based on criminal history information that reasonably relates to the applicant's trustworthiness or the safety of employees and customers, that employer is shielded from liability under K.S.A. 22-4710.

The FCRA Two-Step Adverse Action Process

When Kansas employers use a third-party consumer reporting agency (CRA) to conduct background checks, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act adds additional requirements. Before taking adverse action (such as denying employment) based on a background report, employers must follow a two-step process:

Step 1: Pre-Adverse Action Notice. The employer must provide the applicant with a written copy of the background check report and a summary of their rights under the FCRA. The applicant then has at least five business days to review and dispute any inaccurate information.

Step 2: Final Adverse Action Notice. If the employer proceeds with the adverse decision, they must send a final notice that includes the CRA's name and contact information, a statement that the CRA did not make the employment decision, and information about the applicant's right to request a free copy of the report and to dispute its contents.

Failing to follow this process can expose employers to FCRA lawsuits. Common violations include notifying applicants by phone instead of in writing or skipping the pre-adverse action step entirely.

Ban the Box in Kansas

"Ban the Box" refers to laws that remove criminal history questions from initial job applications. Kansas has a limited Ban the Box framework that varies by employer type and location.

State Government: Executive Order 18-12

On May 2, 2018, Governor Jeff Colyer signed Executive Order 18-12, which prohibits criminal history questions on initial employment applications for Kansas executive branch agencies, departments, boards, and commissions. Under the order:

• State agencies cannot ask about criminal history on the initial job application
• A criminal record cannot automatically disqualify someone from receiving an interview
• Agencies may ask about criminal history during an interview, giving the applicant a chance to explain the circumstances
• The order does not apply to positions where a clean criminal record is a legal requirement (such as law enforcement)

This executive order applies only to state government positions. It does not extend to private sector employers, county or city governments, or the legislative and judicial branches.

Private Employers: No Statewide Requirement

Kansas has no statewide Ban the Box law for private employers. Private companies can include criminal history questions on their job applications unless they operate in a local jurisdiction with its own fair chance hiring ordinance.

Local Ordinances

Several Kansas jurisdictions have adopted their own Ban the Box or fair chance hiring rules:

• Kansas City, Kansas (Wyandotte County): Fair chance hiring policies governing the Unified Government's own job applications
• Topeka: A fair chance hiring policy governing City of Topeka job applications
• Johnson County: Fair chance hiring policies for county employment

Each of these is a public sector hiring policy. It governs how that city or county handles applications for its own jobs. No Kansas city or county extends fair chance hiring requirements to private employers, so a private company in Topeka, Kansas City, Kansas, or Johnson County may still ask about criminal history on its application.

Kansas City, Missouri: Criminal History as a Protected Class

Although Kansas City, Missouri, is across the state line, many Kansas City metro area employers operate on both sides. On January 16, 2025, the Kansas City, Missouri City Council designated criminal history status as a protected class under the city's civil rights ordinance, covering employment, housing, and public accommodations. The housing portion was later displaced by Missouri Revised Statutes section 441.043, which as amended effective August 28, 2025 preempts Missouri local ordinances restricting a landlord's consideration of criminal history, credit, or eviction records. The employment and public accommodation provisions are unaffected, so employers in Kansas City, Missouri, still need to account for the ordinance in hiring. It does not reach employers in Kansas.

Expungement Under K.S.A. 21-6614

Kansas allows individuals to petition for expungement of certain criminal convictions, arrest records, and diversion agreements under K.S.A. 21-6614. Once a record is expunged, it is treated as though it never occurred, and employers cannot legally access or use expunged records in hiring decisions.

Waiting Periods

The waiting period depends on the severity of the offense. The clock starts after the person satisfies the sentence imposed, completes a diversion agreement, or is discharged from probation, parole, postrelease supervision, or a community correctional services program.

Offenses That Cannot Be Expunged

K.S.A. 21-6614(e) lists the convictions that are permanently ineligible for expungement, along with attempts to commit them. They include:

• Capital murder, first degree murder, second degree murder, and voluntary and involuntary manslaughter
• Rape, criminal sodomy, aggravated criminal sodomy, indecent liberties with a child, and aggravated sexual battery
• Sexual exploitation of a child and internet trading in child pornography
• Aggravated incest, abuse of a child, and endangering a child

A conviction on that list cannot be expunged at any point.

Offender Registration Is a Temporary Bar, Not a Permanent One

Registration works differently, and the distinction matters. K.S.A. 21-6614(f) provides that for an offender required to register under the Kansas Offender Registration Act, there is no expungement of any conviction or any part of the offender's criminal record "while the offender is required to register." The bar runs with the registration obligation rather than lasting forever, so it lifts once the registration period ends. A person who has completed a registration term is not permanently disqualified from petitioning, although the underlying offense may still appear on the subsection (e) list above.

Filing Process and Fees

To petition for expungement, an individual must file a petition with the district court where the conviction occurred. The filing fee is $176. The court then sets a hearing date and notifies the prosecutor and the arresting law enforcement agency.

At the hearing, the court must find that:

• The petitioner has not been convicted of a felony in the past two years
• No felony proceedings are currently pending against the petitioner
• The circumstances and behavior of the petitioner warrant expungement
• Expungement is consistent with the public welfare

Specialty Court Participants

Individuals who complete the requirements of a specialty court program (such as drug court or mental health court) established under K.S.A. 20-173 may petition for expungement of the related conviction and arrest records without waiting the standard period.

Restoration of Firearm Rights

Under K.S.A. 21-6614, a person whose conviction resulted in the loss of firearm rights has those rights fully restored upon successful expungement. The statute states that the person "shall be deemed to have had such person's right to keep and bear arms fully restored."

Lookback Periods and Reporting Limits

Kansas limits how far back consumer reporting agencies can go when reporting criminal history, but the practical impact of this limit is narrow.

The Seven-Year Rule Under K.S.A. 50-704

K.S.A. 50-704, part of the Kansas Fair Credit Reporting Act, prohibits consumer reporting agencies from including records of arrests, indictments, or convictions that are older than seven years from the date of disposition, release, or parole.

However, this restriction has significant exceptions. The seven-year limit does not apply to:

• Credit transactions involving $50,000 or more
• Life insurance underwriting involving $50,000 or more
• Employment at an annual salary of $20,000 or more

Because the salary threshold is only $20,000, the seven-year limit effectively applies to very few employment situations. For the vast majority of Kansas jobs, consumer reporting agencies can report non-expunged convictions regardless of age.

Arrests Without Convictions

Non-conviction records (arrests that did not lead to a conviction, dismissed charges, and acquittals) sit inside the same Kansas rule as convictions, and inside the same exceptions. K.S.A. 50-704(a) treats "records of arrest, indictment, or conviction of crime" as a single item, and the subsection (b) exceptions apply to all of subsection (a). Employment at an annual salary of $20,000 or more therefore lifts the Kansas seven-year bar on arrest records exactly as it does on convictions.

Federal law is what keeps most old arrests off employment reports in that range. 15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)(2) bars reporting records of arrest that antedate the report by more than seven years, and 15 U.S.C. 1681c(b)(3) removes that limit only for employment at an annual salary of $75,000 or more. Between $20,000 and $75,000, the federal seven-year limit on arrest records still applies even though the Kansas limit no longer does.

Housing and Tenant Screening

Kansas landlords can conduct background checks on prospective tenants, but they must follow both federal and state rules.

General Kansas Requirements

Landlords must obtain written consent before running a background check on a prospective tenant. The federal FCRA applies to landlords who use third-party screening companies, including adverse action notice requirements if an applicant is denied based on the screening results.

Under HUD guidance, landlords should not apply blanket policies that automatically reject anyone with a criminal record. Instead, each applicant's criminal history should be evaluated individually, considering the nature, severity, and recency of any offenses along with evidence of rehabilitation.

Kansas City, Missouri Ordinance 231019 Does Not Apply in Kansas

Ordinance 231019 was enacted by Kansas City, Missouri. It never applied to landlords in Kansas City, Kansas, or anywhere else in Kansas, and Kansas landlords have no obligation under it.

It no longer restricts Missouri landlords either. Missouri Revised Statutes section 441.043, as amended by H.B. 595 and H.B. 343 and effective August 28, 2025, bars any Missouri county or city from enacting, maintaining, or enforcing an ordinance that "restricts a landlord's ability to use or consider income-qualifying methods, credit scores, credit reports, eviction or property damage history, or criminal history." That state preemption displaces the housing provisions of the Kansas City ordinance.

Kansas Act Against Discrimination

The Kansas Act Against Discrimination (K.S.A. 44-1016) extends federal fair housing protections and adds ancestry as a protected class. While criminal history is not a protected class under state housing law, landlords must ensure that their screening policies do not disproportionately affect protected groups in violation of fair housing principles.

Professional Licensing Background Checks

Many Kansas professional licensing boards require criminal background checks as part of the application process. K.S.A. 74-120 governs how licensing bodies can consider criminal records.

Key Protections Under K.S.A. 74-120

This statute provides several important protections for license applicants with criminal records:

• A criminal conviction cannot operate as an automatic bar to licensure, certification, or registration
• Licensing boards must publish a list of specific criminal offenses that could disqualify an applicant, rather than relying on vague terms like "moral turpitude" or "good character"
• Only criminal records directly related to protecting the general welfare and the duties of the profession can be listed as disqualifying
• If an applicant has a disqualifying record (other than a felony or class A misdemeanor) and has had no new convictions in the past five years, the old record cannot be used to disqualify the applicant

Board-Specific Requirements

Individual licensing boards have their own fingerprinting and background check processes:

• Board of Nursing (K.S.A. 74-1112): Authorizes the Board of Nursing to require fingerprint-based background checks through the KBI for nursing license applicants
• Department for Aging and Disability Services: Operates a Criminal Record Check Program for health care and direct care workers
• Kansas Department of Health and Environment: Requires background checks for child care licensing

Some professions are exempt from the K.S.A. 74-120 protections. Real estate professionals are among 13 categories that are carved out from the 2018 amendments, meaning those licensing boards may apply stricter criminal history standards.

Recent Changes and Developments

Kansas background check law has seen several notable developments in recent years.

2025: Kansas City Criminal History Protections

The most significant recent change affecting the Kansas City metro area came on January 16, 2025, when Kansas City, Missouri, designated criminal history as a protected class. It reaches employers and public accommodations on the Missouri side of the line. Its housing provisions were preempted by Missouri Revised Statutes section 441.043 as amended effective August 28, 2025. Nothing in the ordinance applies in Kansas.

2024: Child Care Background Check Renewal Cycle

Kansas requires fingerprint-based background checks for child care staff every five years. The 2024 renewal cycle required all child care workers whose last fingerprinting occurred in 2019 to complete new fingerprint-based checks through the KBI.

2018: Executive Order 18-12 and K.S.A. 74-120 Amendments

Two major changes took effect in 2018. Governor Colyer signed Executive Order 18-12 establishing Ban the Box for state government hiring. The legislature also amended K.S.A. 74-120 to limit how professional licensing boards use criminal records, requiring boards to list specific disqualifying offenses and setting a five-year limit on the use of older records.

Ongoing: Federal FCRA Updates

The Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continue to issue guidance on FCRA compliance. Kansas employers who use third-party screening services should monitor federal regulatory developments alongside state law changes.

Tips for Kansas Job Seekers With a Criminal Record

If you have a criminal record and are applying for jobs in Kansas, consider the following steps:

• Check your records first. Request a personal review of your criminal history from the KBI to know exactly what employers will see. You can use FBI form FD-353 for a personal review.
• Explore expungement. If you meet the waiting period requirements under K.S.A. 21-6614, filing for expungement can remove eligible convictions from your record entirely.
• Know your rights. Employers cannot require you to personally obtain your own criminal history record as a condition of employment, must follow FCRA adverse action procedures, and the KBI (not you) may be charged a fee to prepare a criminal history report.
• Consider public sector openings. State executive branch agencies under Executive Order 18-12, and the city and county governments in Topeka, Kansas City, Kansas, and Johnson County, keep criminal history questions off their own initial applications. Private employers in those places are not covered.
• Request your credit report. You are entitled to a free copy of any consumer report used in an employment decision. If something is inaccurate, you have the right to dispute it.