Indiana Criminal Reporting Act restricts criminal records for inquiring, disclosing and reporting.

Important changes for employers:

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.

Important changes on what information can be disclosed by Indiana courts to an employer or to Aurico/CRAs:

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.

This affects the scope of information that employers can expect in background reports. Specifically, the law prohibits courts from disclosing information pertaining to alleged infractions where the individual:

• Is not prosecuted or if the action against the person is dismissed;
• Is adjudged not to have committed the infraction;
• Is adjudged to have committed the infraction and the adjudication is subsequently vacated; or
• Was convicted of the infraction and satisfied any judgment attendant to the infraction conviction more than five years ago.

Important Information on what can be reported to an employer:

Effective July 1, 2013, the law also will restrict information that “criminal history providers” can report to others. The law defines a “criminal history provider” to be a “person or an organization that assembles criminal history reports and either uses the report or provides the report to a person or an organization other than a criminal justice agency or law enforcement agency,” such as CRAs that typically provide background checks to employers.

Under the law, criminal history providers that obtain criminal history information from the state may only provide information pertaining to criminal convictions. Moreover, the law explicitly states that criminal history providers such as CRAs will no longer be permitted to provide the following information in background reports:

• An infraction, an arrest or a charge that did not result in a conviction;
• A record that has been expunged;
• A record indicating a conviction of a Class D felony if the Class D felony conviction has been entered as or converted to a Class A misdemeanor conviction; and
• A record that the criminal history provider knows is inaccurate.

Click here to read the Act

Reference: www.littler.com