An FBI background check does not show sealed records in most situations, but the exceptions are wide enough to matter. For employment screening, professional licensing, and other noncriminal justice purposes, federal law requires sealed records to be excluded from the response. For criminal investigations, security clearances, and certain positions involving vulnerable populations, sealed records can still be accessed or must be disclosed. And because the FBI relies on state agencies to report when a record has been sealed, records sometimes appear in database searches even when they legally shouldn’t. Whether your sealed record surfaces depends on who’s running the check, why, and whether the paperwork actually caught up with the court order.
The Federal Rule: Sealed Records Are Excluded From Employment and Licensing Checks
The main protection comes from the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact. Under Article IV, the FBI and state repositories must provide criminal history records “excluding sealed records” when responding to requests for noncriminal justice purposes such as employment screening or licensing.1Office of Justice Programs. National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact Resource Materials Any entries that cannot legally be used for the requested purpose must be deleted from the response. If nothing releasable remains, the system returns a “no record” answer.
The Compact defines “sealed” narrowly. A record qualifies only if its release for noncriminal justice purposes has been prohibited by a court order or by action of a designated state official acting under federal or state law.1Office of Justice Programs. National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact Resource Materials An informal understanding with a prosecutor, or a case that was simply dismissed without a sealing order, does not qualify.
Federal regulations reinforce the point. Under 28 CFR Part 20, when a state that originated a criminal history record has sealed or purged it, other states receiving that information are free to comply with the originating state’s sealing rules.2eCFR. 28 CFR Part 20 – Criminal Justice Information Systems
How the FBI’s System Actually Works
The FBI maintains criminal history through the National Crime Information Center, which lets law enforcement search records across all 50 states and federal agencies.3United States Department of Justice. National Crime Information Systems The Interstate Identification Index links records across jurisdictions, with 27 states participating fully in the associated National Fingerprint File and another 24 states plus the District of Columbia participating in the index alone.4Federal Bureau of Investigation. Interstate Identification Index and National Fingerprint File
The FBI does not investigate your history on its own. It compiles arrest records, charges, convictions, and dispositions that state and local agencies send in. When a court seals a record, the state agency is supposed to notify the FBI so the database reflects the change. That notification is where things break down.
When Sealed Records Still Appear
Even with the Privacy Compact in place, sealed records show up in FBI checks in three recurring situations.
Reporting delays. The FBI cannot seal or expunge a record in its database without a request from the relevant State Identification Bureau. If there’s a gap between the court’s sealing order and the state agency notifying the FBI, the record continues to appear. Breakdowns happen at every step of the chain, from the court clerk to the state bureau to the FBI’s system. Interstate moves are where records most often fall out of sync, because the sealing order in one state has to travel through multiple layers before it reaches the federal system that a background check in another state pulls from.
Criminal justice access. The Compact’s exclusion applies only to noncriminal justice requests. Law enforcement agencies conducting criminal investigations can see the full record. So can agencies authorized by federal statute or executive order, such as those conducting national security investigations.2eCFR. 28 CFR Part 20 – Criminal Justice Information Systems A sealed record is hidden from a private-sector licensing check but visible to a detective.
Enhanced checks for vulnerable-population jobs. Some states require more extensive background checks for positions involving children, the elderly, or people with disabilities. These enhanced checks can reveal sealed or expunged records, particularly those involving abuse or mistreatment, though the underlying details usually require a separate court order to access.
Security Clearances: The Biggest Exception
If you’re applying for a federal position that requires a security clearance, the rules are different, and the burden shifts to you. The SF-86 questionnaire that all security clearance applicants complete requires you to disclose criminal history regardless of whether the record has been sealed, expunged, or stricken from the court record. The only exception is convictions expunged under the Federal Controlled Substances Act at 21 U.S.C. § 844 or 18 U.S.C. § 3607, which you do not need to report.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3607 – Special Probation and Expungement Procedures for Drug Possessors
Executive Order 10450 requires every civilian federal employee to undergo a background investigation proportional to the sensitivity of the position. At a minimum, that includes a check of FBI fingerprint files and written inquiries to local law enforcement, former employers, supervisors, references, and schools.6National Archives. Executive Order 10450 – Security Requirements for Government Employment For positions involving classified information, Executive Order 12968 mandates thorough investigations before granting access, including consent to searches of financial records and consumer reports.7GovInfo. Executive Order 12968 – Access to Classified Information
Neither executive order mentions sealed records by name, but the scope of these investigations is broad, and concealing a sealed record on the SF-86 can itself become a disqualifying issue. Investigators care as much about honesty as about the underlying offense.
Private Employer Checks Are a Different System
Most employers don’t run FBI fingerprint-based checks. They hire private background screening companies, which produce consumer reports regulated under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The FCRA sets time limits on reporting negative information: arrests that didn’t lead to conviction drop off after seven years, as do civil judgments and most other adverse items, though convictions have no automatic time limit.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued guidance stating that background screening agencies cannot include sealed or expunged records in consumer reports. Once a record has been sealed, expunged, or otherwise legally restricted from public access in a way that would prevent the end user from obtaining it directly from the government entity that maintains it, including that record in a consumer report is misleading and inaccurate.9Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Fair Credit Reporting – Background Screening A screening company without procedures to prevent sealed records from slipping in is not meeting its legal obligation to ensure maximum possible accuracy.
This is worth knowing because a “background check” run by an employer through a screening vendor is not the same thing as an FBI check, and the legal protections come from a different body of law. If a sealed record appears in a private screening report, the FCRA and CFPB guidance are the tools to address it.
Check Your Own FBI Record Before You Need To
You can request your own FBI criminal history, called an Identity History Summary Check. The FBI describes it as a listing of information taken from fingerprint submissions retained in connection with arrests and, in some cases, federal employment, naturalization, or military service.10Federal Bureau of Investigation. Requesting FBI Records The request requires fingerprints and can be submitted electronically or by mail through the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
Doing this before you apply for a job or license that requires a background check is the single most practical step you can take. If your sealed record still appears on your summary, you have time to fix it. The FBI will not seal a record on its own initiative. The request has to come from the State Identification Bureau or the original contributing agency, so the fix starts in the state where the record originated.
If a Sealed Record Appears When It Shouldn’t
The Privacy Act of 1974 gives you the right to request access to records the federal government maintains about you. Exemptions apply for law enforcement and national security records, but the general principle is that you can see what the FBI has and challenge its accuracy.11U.S. Department of Justice. Overview of the Privacy Act – 2020 Edition – Exemptions Document the court order that sealed the record and contact both the originating state agency and the FBI’s CJIS Division. Follow up in writing. Interstate moves and older sealing orders are the two situations most likely to require this cleanup.