Index a criminal-record disclosure against the federal reporting limits
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- Separate arrests from convictions. For an arrest, record the date of entry and whether seven years have passed. For a conviction, do not apply that seven-year drop-off. If an employer will use a background-check company, list the stand-alone notice and the adverse-action steps.
- What the lawyer must review
- There is no national spent-convictions scheme on the pages opened for this task. 15 U.S.C. § 1681c excludes arrest records that antedate the report by more than seven years, or until the governing limitation period has expired if that is longer, and it excludes other adverse information after seven years other than records of convictions of crimes. Convictions are carved out of that seven-year adverse-item limit. The limits in paragraphs (1) through (5) do not apply to a report used for employment at an annual salary of $75,000 or more. The FTC's Background Checks guide says an employer that gets a criminal-record report from a company in the business of compiling background information must comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act: a stand-alone written notice before the report, and, before an adverse action, a notice that includes a copy of the report and the further FCRA steps the guide describes. The same guide says some states and municipalities regulate use of criminal records, and that a policy which disadvantages people of a particular race and is not job related and consistent with business necessity raises a Title VII problem.
- Written for / version
- United States versionUS
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Potential support includes identifying points for review. Confirm the tool’s capability and permitted scope. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Calculate operative dates independently from the current rule and actual triggering event. Check exceptions and record the verified deadline.
- Verify the applicable jurisdiction and the version of each relevant law, rule or instrument in force at the material time.
- Confirm the output against the client’s instructions and the complete relevant source material, including omissions or contradictions.
- Resolve exceptions and record the responsible lawyer’s approval of the exact output and intended use.