Indiana is the latest state to past legislation restricting criminal history reporting. Indiana House Bill 1033, which, starting July 1, 2012, will, in part: (1) prohibit certain pre-employment inquiries; (2) restrict the types of criminal history information that employers and background report providers (known as “consumer reporting agencies” or CRAs) can obtain from Indiana state court clerks; and (3) restrict the types of criminal history information that CRAs can report to employers in background reports.
The law provides that, effective July 1, 2012, residents of Indiana with restricted or sealed criminal records may legally state on an “application for employment or any other document” that they have not been adjudicated, arrested or convicted of the offense recorded in the restricted records. In addition, covered employers will be prohibited from asking an “employee, contract employee, or applicant” about sealed and restricted criminal records. The law does not define the term “employer,” and does not specifically address what it means for applicants and employees to be able to “legally” state on documents that they do not have certain previous criminal records. Also effective July 1, 2012, the law will restrict information that individuals and businesses such as employers and CRAs can obtain from Indiana state court clerks.
