North Dakota Background Check Laws

Under N.D.C.C. § 12.1-33-02.2, a public employer may not inquire into or consider an applicant's criminal record or criminal history until the applicant has been selected for an interview. For this section, a public employer covers state and local government employers and their instrumentalities but expressly excludes school districts. The section does not apply to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or to a public employer with a statutory duty to conduct a criminal history background check or otherwise consider criminal history. This guide does not identify a statewide timing rule for private employers.

Federal FCRA requirements and applicable North Dakota rules must both be checked. When using consumer reports for employment decisions, follow applicable disclosure, consent and pre-adverse/adverse-action requirements. The public-employer interview rule has school-district, DOCR and statutory-duty exceptions.

This release does not establish the absence of additional North Dakota reporting or use restrictions. Under federal FCRA § 605 [15 U.S.C. § 1681c], criminal convictions are excluded from the seven-year limit in § 605(a)(5). Civil suits, civil judgments and arrest records have the § 605(a)(2) seven-year-or-longer-statute-of-limitations rule. For employment at an annual salary equal to or reasonably expected to equal $75,000 or more, § 605(b)(3) excepts the time limits in § 605(a)(1)–(5), not all FCRA restrictions. State law and other applicable protections still require checking.

North Dakota law allows for the expungement or sealing of certain criminal records. If a record has been legally expunged or sealed, it should not be reported by a background check provider. Employers should treat expunged or sealed records as if they never occurred. Requesting or considering such records could lead to legal issues. Employers should be aware that a background check may not reveal expunged records, and they should not ask applicants about expunged convictions.