What Shows Up on a Background Check in California? Arrests, Convictions, and Expunged Cases Explained

Q: How far back does a background check go in California?

Seven years for most commercial reports. Civil Code section 1786.18 bars consumer reporting agencies from reporting convictions, arrests, or indictments older than seven years, with exceptions for certain higher-salary and regulated positions. Live Scan records through the Department of Justice have no time limit.

Q: Can an employer ask about my criminal history on the application?

Not before a conditional offer, for most employers. Government Code section 12952 bars employers with five or more employees from asking about conviction history until after a conditional offer, and then requires an individualized assessment and written notice before withdrawing the offer. Law enforcement, certain government positions, and positions where a background check is required by law are exceptions.

Q: Does a dismissed DUI still show on my driving record?

Yes. A dismissal under Penal Code section 1203.4 affects the criminal court record, not the DMV record. A DUI conviction remains on the DMV record for ten years and is visible to anyone who pulls a driving record with your authorization, which matters for commercial drivers and anyone whose job involves driving.

Q: Do I need a lawyer to clean up my record?

Not always, but it helps when the record is complicated. A single old misdemeanor with completed probation can often be dismissed with form CR-180 on your own. Multiple cases, a felony wobbler, an unfinished probation term, an open warrant, licensing or immigration questions, or a denied petition are situations where counsel changes the result. Daniel Gramling, Esq. handles record cleanup on a flat-fee basis in Riverside, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles counties.

Daniel Gramling, Esq.

11 minutes ago

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The Short Answer: It Depends on Who Is Looking and How

The short answer: a California background check can show convictions, pending cases, and in some situations arrests, but what actually appears depends on the kind of check being run and what has been done to the record. A commercial background check pulled by an employer or landlord is limited by state and federal reporting laws and generally cannot report convictions older than seven years or arrests that never led to a conviction. A fingerprint-based Live Scan run for a license, a school, or a government job shows the full Department of Justice record, including dismissed convictions, with notations. A conviction dismissed under Penal Code section 1203.4 is reported as dismissed and generally cannot be used by private employers, while a sealed arrest is treated as if it never occurred for most purposes. A criminal defense attorney can tell you which of these tools applies to your record.

Why the question matters. People in Riverside, San Bernardino, Victorville, and Los Angeles ask this question when a job offer is pending, a rental application is due, or a professional license renewal asks about criminal history. Guessing wrong in either direction causes harm: disclosing something that was legally not reportable, or denying something that shows up. This guide explains the four main kinds of checks, what each one shows, and the legal tools that change the answer.

The Four Kinds of Background Checks and What Each Shows

Commercial name-based background checks. Most private employers and landlords buy a report from a consumer reporting agency that searches court records by name and date of birth. These reports are governed by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and California's Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act. Under Civil Code section 1786.18, an agency generally may not report a conviction, arrest, or indictment that is more than seven years old measured from the disposition, release, or parole date, and may not report an arrest that did not result in a conviction unless charges are still pending. The reports are only as accurate as the court indexes they search, so dismissed cases sometimes appear without the dismissal, which is a correctable error.

Fingerprint Live Scan through the Department of Justice. Employers and agencies authorized by statute, including school districts, healthcare employers, licensing boards, law enforcement, and many government jobs, receive the applicant's state summary criminal history under Penal Code section 11105. That record shows arrests, charges, convictions, sentences, and dispositions, with no seven-year cutoff, and it shows a conviction dismissed under Penal Code section 1203.4 with a dismissal notation. Only entities with legal authorization can receive this record, and what they are allowed to consider is limited by the statutes discussed below.

Court records and online case searches. Criminal court records are public unless sealed. Anyone can search the online index of the San Bernardino County or Riverside County Superior Court by name, and the Los Angeles Superior Court offers a similar search. A case that was dismissed still appears in the index with a dismissed disposition unless a sealing order has been entered. Many commercial reports are built from these indexes, which is why a sealing order has a practical effect well beyond the courthouse.

DMV records. Traffic and DUI history lives in a separate system. A DUI conviction appears on your DMV record for ten years and is visible to employers who pull a driving record, including anyone hiring a driver. A dismissal under Penal Code section 1203.4 does not remove a DUI from the DMV record. Our guide on the DMV hearing after a DUI explains how the DMV side of a DUI case works.

Arrests That Did Not Lead to a Conviction

What the law says employers may consider. Labor Code section 432.7 prohibits most employers from asking about, seeking, or using as a factor in hiring any arrest or detention that did not result in a conviction, any referral to or participation in a pretrial or post-trial diversion program, or any conviction that has been judicially dismissed or ordered sealed. An employer may ask about an arrest for which you are out on bail or your own recognizance pending trial. There are exceptions for law enforcement positions, positions with access to medications in health facilities, and certain other statutory categories.

What a commercial report may include. Under Civil Code section 1786.18, a consumer reporting agency may not report an arrest that did not result in a conviction except when charges are pending. In practice, an arrest with no filing, a dismissed case, or an acquittal should not appear on a standard employment or tenant screening report. If it does, you have the right to dispute the entry and the agency must correct it.

How to make the arrest disappear from the public record. An arrest that ended without a conviction can be sealed under Penal Code section 851.91. Once sealed, the arrest is deemed not to have occurred for most purposes, the court and police records are marked sealed, and you may answer that you were not arrested on most applications, with exceptions in Penal Code section 851.92 for law enforcement applications and certain other situations. Arrests that ended in a completed diversion program may be sealed under Penal Code section 851.87 or the diversion statute itself. Our guide on how to seal an arrest record walks through the petition.

Automatic relief. California's automatic record relief law, Penal Code section 1203.425, directs the Department of Justice to grant relief on a rolling basis for qualifying arrests that did not result in a conviction after a waiting period and for many completed convictions. The relief is applied at the DOJ level and can lag, and it does not reach every record or every private database, so do not assume it has happened. A Live Scan or a request for your own DOJ record will show whether relief has been applied.

Convictions and the Seven-Year Rule

What a private employer sees. A conviction within the last seven years will appear on a commercial background check, with the charge, the date, and the disposition. The seven-year limit in Civil Code section 1786.18 means older convictions generally should not appear on a California consumer report, although federal law alone would allow them. Positions above certain salary thresholds and certain regulated positions are treated differently, so a senior-level applicant may see older history reported.

The Fair Chance Act. Government Code section 12952 bars employers with five or more employees from asking about conviction history before making a conditional offer of employment, requires an individualized assessment of whether the conviction has a direct and adverse relationship to the specific job before rescinding an offer, and requires written notice and an opportunity to respond with evidence of rehabilitation or inaccuracy. Employers also may not consider convictions that were dismissed, sealed, or expunged, or referrals to diversion. Regulations adopted by the Civil Rights Council spell out the procedure in detail, and employers in Riverside, Ontario, and Los Angeles are regularly held to it.

Felony versus misdemeanor on the report. The report shows the level of the conviction. A felony that has since been reduced to a misdemeanor under Penal Code section 17, subdivision (b) is a misdemeanor for all purposes going forward and should be reported as one. That reduction is often the single most valuable record-cleaning step for a person with an old wobbler conviction, as explained in How to Reduce a Felony to a Misdemeanor in California.

Dismissed and Expunged Convictions: What Changes and What Does Not

What a 1203.4 dismissal does. A dismissal under Penal Code section 1203.4 withdraws the plea or verdict, enters a not guilty plea, and dismisses the case after probation is completed. The record is not destroyed. The court and DOJ records show the conviction with a notation that it was dismissed. Private employers generally cannot ask about or use the dismissed conviction under Labor Code section 432.7 and Government Code section 12952, and a consumer reporting agency should not report it as a conviction. Our guide on how to expunge a criminal record in California covers eligibility, timing, and form CR-180.

What a dismissal does not do. The statute itself lists the limits. The dismissed conviction may still be pleaded and proved as a prior in a later prosecution, and it must still be disclosed in response to a direct question on an application for public office, for a license from a state or local agency, or for contracting with the state lottery. A dismissal does not restore firearm rights lost under Penal Code section 29800 or Penal Code section 29805, does not relieve a duty to register under Penal Code section 290, does not remove a DUI from the DMV record, and has no effect on immigration consequences, which are governed by federal law as explained in our guide to immigration consequences of a California conviction.

Licensing boards. State licensing agencies receive the full DOJ record through Live Scan and see dismissed convictions. Business and Professions Code section 480 limits most boards from denying a license based on a conviction that has been dismissed under Penal Code section 1203.4 or that is more than seven years old, with exceptions for serious felonies and offenses requiring registration, and requires the board to consider rehabilitation. Each board has its own regulations, so nurses, contractors, real estate licensees, and security guards should check their board's criteria and involve counsel before answering a licensing question.

Certificates of rehabilitation and pardons. For felony convictions that resulted in a state prison sentence, or where a greater degree of relief is needed, a certificate of rehabilitation under Penal Code section 4852.01 and a governor's pardon remain available. These do not erase the record, but they are formal findings of rehabilitation that licensing agencies and employers must weigh.

Pending Cases, Warrants, and Probation

Pending charges appear. A case that has been filed and not yet resolved shows up on commercial reports, court indexes, and Live Scan results, and an employer may ask about it under Labor Code section 432.7. This is one reason to resolve a case quickly or through diversion rather than letting it sit through continuances. How long a case stays pending is covered in How Long Does a Criminal Case Take in California?.

Active warrants appear on Live Scan. A bench warrant for a missed court date shows on the DOJ record and often on court indexes. Applicants for licensed positions in Victorville, Hesperia, and Barstow are regularly surprised when a years-old warrant from a traffic citation surfaces on a Live Scan. Clearing the warrant first, as explained in our guides on finding out whether you have a warrant and clearing a bench warrant at the Barstow courthouse, prevents an embarrassing conversation with a licensing analyst.

Probation status. A conviction with probation still in progress cannot be dismissed under Penal Code section 1203.4 until probation ends. Early termination under Penal Code section 1203.3 can shorten the wait, which is why the two motions are often filed together, as explained in How to Terminate Probation Early in California.

Juvenile Records and Infractions

Juvenile cases. Juvenile delinquency records are confidential under Welfare and Institutions Code section 827 and are not convictions. Many are sealed automatically under Welfare and Institutions Code section 786 when the case is successfully completed, and others may be sealed by petition under Welfare and Institutions Code section 781. A juvenile adjudication should not appear on a commercial employment report. Our guide to juvenile court for parents explains sealing in more detail.

Infractions. Traffic infractions and most non-traffic infractions are not crimes for background check purposes and generally do not appear on criminal history reports, although traffic infractions appear on the DMV record. A misdemeanor that was reduced to an infraction is reported as an infraction.

How to Check Your Own Record Before Someone Else Does

Request your DOJ record. Any person may request their own California criminal history from the Department of Justice through a Live Scan submitted for that purpose. The result is the same record a licensing board sees, including notations for dismissals and sealed entries, and it is the definitive way to learn what relief has actually been applied.

Search the court indexes. Check the online case index for every county where you have ever had a case. Confirm that dismissed cases show a dismissed disposition and that dismissals under Penal Code section 1203.4 are reflected. If an order was granted but the index is wrong, the clerk can correct it.

Run a commercial report on yourself. Several consumer reporting agencies allow you to order your own report. If it contains an arrest without a conviction, a conviction more than seven years old, or a dismissed conviction reported as active, dispute it in writing. The agency must investigate and correct inaccurate or legally non-reportable information.

Fix what can be fixed. The sequence for most people is: clear any warrant, finish or terminate probation early, reduce any wobbler felony under Penal Code section 17, subdivision (b), dismiss the conviction under Penal Code section 1203.4 on form CR-180, and seal any arrest that did not lead to a conviction under Penal Code section 851.91. These petitions are filed in the court where the case was heard, whether that is the Riverside Hall of Justice, the San Bernardino Justice Center, the Victorville courthouse, or the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles. Daniel Gramling, Esq. offers flat-fee record cleanup and limited-scope options for these filings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does an expunged conviction show up on a background check in California?

On a commercial check, generally no; on a Live Scan, yes with a dismissal notation. A conviction dismissed under Penal Code section 1203.4 should not be reported as a conviction by a consumer reporting agency, and private employers cannot use it under Labor Code section 432.7. Licensing boards and government employers that receive the DOJ record will see the conviction marked dismissed and must apply their own rules about what they may consider.

How far back does a background check go in California?

Seven years for most commercial reports. Civil Code section 1786.18 bars consumer reporting agencies from reporting convictions, arrests, or indictments older than seven years, with exceptions for certain higher-salary and regulated positions. Live Scan records through the Department of Justice have no time limit.

Do arrests without a conviction show up?

They should not on a commercial report, but they do on a Live Scan unless sealed. Civil Code section 1786.18 prohibits reporting arrests that did not result in a conviction unless charges are pending, and Labor Code section 432.7 bars employers from considering them. Sealing the arrest under Penal Code section 851.91 removes it from the DOJ record for most purposes as well.

Can an employer ask about my criminal history on the application?

Not before a conditional offer, for most employers. Government Code section 12952 bars employers with five or more employees from asking about conviction history until after a conditional offer, and then requires an individualized assessment and written notice before withdrawing the offer. Law enforcement, certain government positions, and positions where a background check is required by law are exceptions.

Does a dismissed DUI still show on my driving record?

Yes. A dismissal under Penal Code section 1203.4 affects the criminal court record, not the DMV record. A DUI conviction remains on the DMV record for ten years and is visible to anyone who pulls a driving record with your authorization, which matters for commercial drivers and anyone whose job involves driving.

Do I need a lawyer to clean up my record?

Not always, but it helps when the record is complicated. A single old misdemeanor with completed probation can often be dismissed with form CR-180 on your own. Multiple cases, a felony wobbler, an unfinished probation term, an open warrant, licensing or immigration questions, or a denied petition are situations where counsel changes the result. Daniel Gramling, Esq. handles record cleanup on a flat-fee basis in Riverside, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles counties.

Talk to a Lawyer About Your Record

Gramling Law Group defends criminal cases and handles record cleanup, including dismissals, felony reductions, arrest sealing, and warrant recalls, at the Riverside Hall of Justice, the San Bernardino Justice Center, the Victorville and Barstow courthouses, and courthouses throughout the Inland Empire, Los Angeles County, Orange County, and Southern California. Daniel Gramling, Esq. offers flat-fee criminal defense and limited-scope options so you know the cost before you start. Call (909) 654-4575 or contact us through this website for a consultation.

Disclaimer. This article is educational and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It addresses California law only.