Background Checks in Virginia.

Who this guide is for

This is a practical compliance guide for Virginia employers running pre-employment background checks. It covers the 2021 expungement reform and its phased rollout, the limited cannabis-oil employment protection, what an actual check returns, the unusual Virginia court structure (95 counties plus 38 independent cities, each with its own circuit and general district courts), where Virginia has unusual limitations, and which package fits common industries (federal contractors, healthcare, education and childcare, technology, hospitality, defense, transportation).

When Virginia employers should screen

Virginia employers commonly request these checks depending on the role and industry:

• Criminal background check — county and independent-city searches, Virginia State Police Central Criminal Records Exchange (state repository), and a multi-state national database
• Motor vehicle records (MVR) — required for any role involving driving company vehicles or transporting passengers, cargo, or hazardous materials
• Employment verification — confirm prior job titles, dates, and reason for separation (where lawful)
• Education verification — required for licensed professions (nursing, teaching, accounting, engineering, professional services)
• Professional license verification — Virginia Department of Health Professions, Virginia Board of Accountancy, etc.
• Drug and alcohol testing — fully permitted with cannabis-oil patient exception
• VDOE / VDSS / DHP fingerprint checks — required for licensed teachers, childcare staff, and certain healthcare roles
• Federal security clearance verification — relevant for the large federal contractor workforce in Northern Virginia
• FMCSA Clearinghouse + PSP — required for CDL drivers under federal law (handled via our DOT compliance program)
• OIG / SAM exclusion search — required for any employer billing federal healthcare programs

Virginia compliance table

Topic	Rule	What employers should do
Ban-the-box / Fair Chance	No statewide rule for private employers. State agencies follow Virginia Code § 2.2-1201.5. Major Virginia cities have BTB only for city government hiring.	Lawful to ask about criminal history at application or interview, subject to FCRA. Apply EEOC guidance: consider job-relatedness, time elapsed, and consistency in adverse-action decisions.
Criminal lookback	FCRA only — 7-year limit on non-conviction records. Convictions reportable indefinitely under federal FCRA. No state-specific lookback cap.	Use a CRA that respects FCRA limits. Consider business-relevance and time elapsed when evaluating older convictions.
Expunged / sealed records	Historically narrow (Va. Code § 19.2-392.2 — non-convictions only). 2021 reform (§ 19.2-392.7) expanded to certain misdemeanors and non-violent felonies, phased in through 2025+.	Do not consider expunged records. If they appear on a CRA report, file an FCRA dispute. Re-check status for older database hits — recent automatic expungements may not yet be reflected in national aggregators.
Cannabis (off-duty use)	Possession legal for adults 21+ (Va. Code § 4.1-1100); no commercial sales market yet. Cannabis-oil patient employment protection (§ 40.1-27.4). No broad off-duty recreational use protection.	Pre-employment cannabis testing remains permitted, except for documented cannabis-oil patients using as prescribed. Confirm patient status before adverse action on a positive cannabis test from a registered medical-program participant. Continue cannabis testing for DOT-regulated CDL drivers and federal contractors as required.
Salary / credit checks	No statewide salary-history ban. No statewide credit-check restriction. Federal FCRA applies.	Limit credit checks to roles with genuine fiduciary or financial-control responsibility. Document the business reason in case of FCRA disclosure dispute.
Pending charges	Reportable under federal FCRA. No state-law restriction on consideration. EEOC guidance still applies.	Pending charges (no conviction) should not be the sole basis for adverse action. Document business reason if used. Be especially cautious where the charge does not relate to job duties.
Adverse action	Federal FCRA pre-adverse + adverse action notice required.	Send pre-adverse action notice with copy of report + summary of rights, wait at least 5 business days for dispute, then send the final adverse action notice. Document the consistent, job-related reason.

Statewide rules — no city overlays for private employers

Virginia is similar to Georgia and North Carolina in having essentially no patchwork of local ordinances reaching private employers. Charlottesville, Richmond, Norfolk, Newport News, Virginia Beach, and Roanoke have fair-chance policies for their own city government hiring, but those policies do not extend to private employers. Federal FCRA is the ceiling, with the additional Virginia-specific layer of expungement reform (§ 19.2-392.7) and cannabis-oil employment protection (§ 40.1-27.4).

Expungement reform (Va. Code § 19.2-392.7 et seq.)

• Pre-2021 framework: Only acquittals, dismissals, and "nolle prosse" charges were eligible (one of the most restrictive expungement systems in the country)
• 2021 reform: Expanded eligibility to certain misdemeanors (after 7 years clean) and certain non-violent felonies (after 10 years clean); authorizes both petition-based and automatic expungement
• Implementation: Phased rollout — automatic expungement provisions delayed into 2025 and beyond as Virginia\'s court systems build capacity
• Effect: Expunged records are removed from court files and the State Police repository; CRAs cannot report them
• Employer obligation: Do not consider expunged records. Be aware that older database snapshots may still surface charges that have since been expunged.

Cannabis-oil employment protection (Va. Code § 40.1-27.4)

• Scope: Employees with a Virginia-issued medical cannabis-oil registration using as prescribed
• Protection: Cannot be subject to adverse action solely for lawful cannabis-oil use
• Limits: Workplace use, possession, or impairment may be prohibited; safety-sensitive and federal-contractor / DOT positions retain testing rights
• Recreational use: Possession is legal but no broad employment protection — pre-employment testing for cannabis remains permitted for non-cardholders

Virginia government employers (state, county, city) follow additional rules applying only to public-sector hiring; those rules are outside the scope of private-employer screening.

What shows up on a background check in Virginia?

• County and independent-city criminal records — Virginia is unique in having both 95 counties and 38 independent cities, each with its own Circuit Court (felonies + civil over $25K) and General District Court (misdemeanors + civil under $25K). Coverage includes Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Arlington, Henrico, Chesterfield, Norfolk, Virginia Beach (city), Newport News (city), Richmond (city), Roanoke (city), Alexandria (city), Hampton (city), Chesapeake (city), and every other jurisdiction.
• Virginia State Police Central Criminal Records Exchange (CCRE) — name-based search through the state repository
• Federal criminal search — U.S. District Court records (Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia)
• National criminal database — multi-state aggregator covering most jurisdictions; not authoritative on its own (per FCRA, requires county/city-level verification)
• Sex offender registry — Virginia Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry plus the national sex offender public registry (NSOPW)
• Motor vehicle records (MVR) — Virginia DMV certified or uncertified driver record
• Employment verification — direct contact with prior employers (typically last 3-5 employers)
• Education verification — high school, college, or graduate degrees
• Professional license verification — Virginia Department of Health Professions (medicine, nursing, pharmacy), Virginia Board of Accountancy, Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR — trades, real estate, security)
• Drug and alcohol testing — at any of 1,200+ Virginia collection sites; cannabis-oil patient exception
• Federal security clearance — relevant for the large NoVA federal contractor workforce; verifiable via JPAS / DISS for cleared roles
• DOT-specific checks — for CDL drivers: FMCSA Clearinghouse pre-employment full query and annual limited queries, PSP report, MVR (handled via the parent Vertical Identity DOT compliance program)

Turnaround times in Virginia

Most Virginia background checks complete in 1 to 5 business days. Specifics:

• Virginia State Police CCRE name-based: typically same-day to 24 hours
• Major-jurisdiction criminal (Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Arlington, Henrico, Chesterfield, Virginia Beach, Norfolk): 1-2 business days (online court access via Virginia Online Court System)
• Smaller jurisdiction criminal: 1-3 business days; some Southwest Virginia counties require clerk-assisted searches and may extend to 5-7 business days
• Federal criminal: 1-2 business days via PACER
• MVR (Virginia DMV): typically same-day to 48 hours
• Employment verification: 2-5 business days depending on prior employer responsiveness
• Education verification: 1-3 business days; longer for international institutions
• VDOE school employee fingerprint: 7-21 business days (state-administered)
• VDSS childcare check: 7-30 business days depending on FBI fingerprint queue
• Federal security clearance verification: varies — JPAS / DISS lookup is fast for already-cleared individuals; new investigations can take months

Common-name candidates, missing identifiers (no DOB or SSN), and out-of-state prior employment can all extend turnaround. We surface specific delays inside the applicant tracking dashboard so HR teams know what's blocking each check in real time.

Virginia-specific limitations

• Independent-city court structure: Virginia\'s 38 independent cities are NOT subdivisions of any county — they have their own courts entirely separate from the surrounding county. A search of "Fairfax County" does not include the City of Fairfax (independent city). Multi-jurisdiction searches must explicitly include both the county and any independent cities where the candidate lived or worked.
• Expungement reform rollout: The 2021 expansion of expungement is being phased into 2025 and beyond. Older database snapshots may still surface charges that have since been expunged. Verify status against the Virginia State Police CCRE before any adverse action.
• Pre-2021 expungement was extremely narrow: Records that an employer might assume are "old enough to be expunged" likely are not — Virginia\'s pre-2021 system did not allow expungement of any conviction. Convictions from the 1990s and 2000s typically remain on the record unless they were expunged after 2021.
• Cannabis-oil verification: A Virginia medical cannabis-oil patient requires a specific certification under Va. Code § 18.2-251.1:3 — verify the certification before treating a positive cannabis test as protected. Recreational use is legal but not employment-protected.
• Pending cases: Reportable but should not be the sole basis for adverse action under best-practice EEOC guidance.
• DOB redaction on online court records: Some Virginia courts redact partial date of birth on public online records. This can cause false positives on common surnames — verification at the court level is required.
• Federal security clearance interplay: Many Northern Virginia federal contractor roles require active or upgradable security clearances. Standard CRA reports do not capture clearance status — verify via DISS / JPAS for cleared positions.
• Alias / maiden name searches: Required for thorough screening of candidates who have changed names.

Recommended screening package by employer type

Federal contractors (Northern Virginia)

Virginia is the densest concentration of federal contractors in the country (Booz Allen Hamilton, Northrop Grumman, Leidos, MITRE, CACI, Peraton, plus thousands of smaller contractors around Tysons, Reston, Herndon, and the Pentagon). Common screening:

• Criminal background check (county/city + Virginia CCRE + federal + national database)
• Federal security clearance verification (DISS / JPAS) for cleared roles
• Education verification (degree authentication critical for cleared roles)
• Employment verification (5 prior employers — common in federal contracting)
• Drug testing (cannabis testing retained — federal contracts override Virginia recreational legalization)
• Federal export control / ITAR screening for some engineering roles
• OFAC / sanctions screening
• For roles requiring Public Trust or higher: SF-85 / SF-86 background investigation history

Healthcare employers

Hospitals (Inova, Sentara, VCU Health, Carilion, Bon Secours, HCA Virginia), clinics, dental practices, and senior care facilities operating in Virginia should run:

• Criminal background check (county/city + Virginia CCRE + national database)
• OIG / SAM exclusion search (federal — required for any employer billing Medicare/Medicaid)
• Virginia DHP license verification (medical, nursing, pharmacy, allied health)
• Drug testing (cannabis-oil-aware: confirm patient status before adverse action)
• Employment verification (3 prior employers minimum)
• Education verification (degree + nursing / medical school)
• Sex offender registry (national + Virginia)
• Long-term care direct-care: Virginia State Police criminal history check via DHP / facility

Education and childcare employers

K-12 schools, charter schools, universities, licensed childcare centers, family day homes, after-school programs:

• VDOE fingerprint check (required by Va. Code § 22.1-296.1 for licensed teachers and school employees)
• VDSS Office of Background Investigations (required for licensed childcare)
• Virginia Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry
• Virginia State Police CCRE name-based check
• National criminal database
• National + Virginia sex offender registry
• Education verification
• Professional license / teacher certification verification

Technology and corporate

Northern Virginia tech corridor (Amazon HQ2 / Crystal City, Capital One, Capital Group, MicroStrategy, plus the data-center capital of the world in Loudoun County), Richmond corporate (Altria, Markel, Owens & Minor, CarMax):

• Criminal background check (county/city + Virginia CCRE + federal + national database)
• Education verification (degree authentication is critical at this level)
• Employment verification (3-5 prior employers)
• Professional license verification (CPA, JD, FINRA, PE, etc.)
• Drug testing (cannabis-oil-aware)
• For cleared roles: federal security clearance verification

Defense and shipbuilding

Hampton Roads shipbuilding (Newport News Shipbuilding / Huntington Ingalls — largest U.S. shipyard), Norfolk Naval Station support contractors, Quantico-area defense firms:

• Criminal background check (county/city + state + federal + national database)
• Federal security clearance verification (DISS / JPAS)
• Drug testing (cannabis testing retained — federal-contract preemption)
• OFAC / sanctions screening
• Federal export control / ITAR screening
• Employment verification (5 prior employers)
• Education + degree verification

Long-term care and senior services

Assisted-living facilities, nursing homes, home health agencies, hospices:

• Virginia State Police criminal history check (required by DHP / facility license)
• Virginia CCRE and national criminal database
• Virginia Nurse Aide Registry (for CNAs)
• OIG / SAM exclusion search
• Sex offender registry
• Drug testing (cannabis-oil-aware)
• Employment verification

Hospitality and retail

Northern Virginia hotels, Williamsburg / Virginia Beach tourism, Richmond, retail chains:

• Criminal background check (county/city of residence + Virginia CCRE)
• National criminal database
• National sex offender registry
• Identity verification
• For Virginia ABC-licensed roles (alcohol service): separate ABC permit check
• Drug testing for safety-sensitive roles (security, kitchen, drivers)

Transportation and trucking

For CDL drivers operating in Virginia (interstate or intrastate), full DOT compliance is required. This is handled through our parent brand Vertical Identity:

• FMCSA Clearinghouse pre-employment full query + annual limited queries
• Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) report — 5 years inspection + 3 years crash data
• MVR (Virginia DMV — typically certified driver record for CDL roles)
• DOT drug and alcohol testing (cannabis testing retained — federal preemption over recreational legalization)
• Previous employer drug and alcohol testing history (49 CFR 391.23)
• Driver Qualification File (DQF) management

Small business / general employers

For small businesses hiring office, retail, or service staff:

• National + Virginia CCRE criminal database
• County and independent-city criminal search (residence jurisdiction)
• National sex offender registry
• Identity verification
• Optional: employment verification, MVR for driving roles, drug testing for safety-sensitive roles

Pricing

Virginia background check packages start at $39 for the standard pre-employment package (criminal + sex offender + identity). Add drug testing ($69 standard, $59 BAT), Virginia DMV MVR, employment verification, and education verification a la carte. State-administered checks (VDOE, VDSS, DHP) carry separate state agency fees. Volume pricing is available for ongoing employers — call (602) 899-3611 or schedule a demo for a quote.

Browse our full pre-employment screening packages or enterprise programs for high-volume employers (100+ checks/year, ATS integration, dedicated account manager).