Louisiana Background Checks After the Aug. 1 Expungement Change
Louisiana background checks remain lawful, but the rules on expunged records and conviction-based denials need a tighter checklist.
If your process still treats every criminal-history hit as a decision point, the Louisiana rules have already moved. The rules leave background checks in place while tightening what may be used and what must be documented before a denial.
The change narrows the feed, not the screen
What changes is the boundary between information you may receive and information you may use. The checklist below is built around that boundary. Each item can be tested against a vendor setting, a policy sentence, or a single applicant file.
- Confirm that excluded data stays out of the decision file. Louisiana's La. R.S. 23:291.2, effective August 2021, bars prospective employers from using arrest records or non-conviction charge records in hiring decisions.
- Confirm that a written assessment exists before any denial tied to a conviction. Under Louisiana's La. R.S. 23:291.2, an employer must make an individualized assessment of the person's background before refusing a job because of a conviction.
- Confirm that you can produce the used report when asked. Louisiana applicants can ask in writing for the background-check information the employer used.
- Treat unavailable records as off-limits in the hiring file. In Louisiana, expungement removes a record from public view without destroying the record.
- Document the legal basis before using any record that a public actor may access. Under Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure article 973, law enforcement, criminal justice agencies, prosecutors, and courts can still access expunged records.
- Note any pending eligibility review for roles that require a license. In 2022, Louisiana amended La. R.S. 37:33–36 so people with criminal records could request a pre-application eligibility determination before applying for a license.
- Private employers should treat unavailable records as off-limits unless counsel confirms an exception.
- Document any exception before using a record that is otherwise unavailable.
If an item fails, the fix is usually procedural: change the vendor feed, add a sign-off, or create a request log. The target is a file that can be reviewed without reconstructing the decision.
The line falls between legal steps and risk controls
Some items are legal requirements. Some are risk controls. The difference matters because a manager can be disciplined for missing a legal step, but a missing risk control usually shows up later as a bad decision. The checklist items that restate the law are the ones that cannot be skipped; the private-employer and exception items are the controls that keep the file defensible.
Most failures happen upstream. If the vendor sends a report that includes data you are not allowed to use, you have already created a problem. The fix is to configure the vendor to exclude that data before it reaches the hiring manager. A clean report is easier to defend than a messy one that requires an after-the-fact explanation.
Do not let the hiring manager see a raw report and then ask HR to clean it up later. The cleaner the input, the easier the decision file becomes. A short vendor note, a redaction rule, and a sign-off line are enough to keep the process defensible.
Monday testing catches the gap before the offer
Pick one open requisition and one completed denial. Check the vendor setting, the decision file, and the assessment. Correct the process before the next offer if the file contains data that should not have been used. Rewrite the assessment until it names the job-related reason, and create a request log and a retention rule now if you cannot find the exact report that was used.
Keep the same discipline for offers. When you move forward despite a record, note the reason in the file. That protects the next manager, the next audit, and the next applicant who asks what was considered.
For licensed roles, keep the licensing file separate from the employment file. When the candidate has a pending licensing review, note the status without treating it as a clearance. The two files answer different questions, and mixing them creates a false sense of completion.