Arkansas background check laws for employers

At a glance

The Arkansas rules on each topic, in one line. Federal law applies to every topic.

Sealed and expunged records

Who it covers: All employers; the sealing procedure binds courts and record custodians.

Arkansas has petition-based sealing under the Comprehensive Criminal Record Sealing Act of 2013 (Ark. Code 16-90-1401 to 16-90-1419); there is no automatic sealing law. Eligible records include arrests and dismissed, nolle prossed, or acquitted charges; most misdemeanors; and, immediately after the sentence is complete, nonviolent Class C or D felonies, unclassified felonies, Class A or B drug felonies under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, and nonviolent felonies committed before age 18. Violent Class C or D felonies may be sealed five years after the sentence is complete. A felony petitioner may have no more than one previous felony conviction. Class Y, A, and B felonies (other than the listed drug felonies), manslaughter, unclassified felonies with a maximum over ten years, felony sex offenses, felonies involving violence under 5-4-501(d)(2), and felony traffic offenses by commercial license holders cannot be sealed. Once the uniform order is entered, the person’s underlying conduct is deemed as a matter of law never to have occurred, and the person may state that the conduct did not occur and that no sealed record exists. The custodian may release a sealed record only to the person, a criminal justice agency (for its own hiring or for private security and polygraph licensing checks), a court, a prosecutor, healthcare licensing boards, the Arkansas Crime Information Center, and the law enforcement standards commission. From 2025, a specialty court judge (drug, mental health, veterans, DWI/BWI) may dismiss and seal a case immediately when a participant completes the program, with no limit on prior felonies (Ark. Code 16-90-1601 to 16-90-1603).

Exceptions

• A sealed conviction may still be used in later criminal proceedings, for habitual-offender status, for impeachment, for healthcare professional licensure, for disclosures under Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure 17 to 19, and for law enforcement certification (16-90-1417(b)(2)).
• Sealed records may be released to criminal justice agencies for their own employment applications and for criminal background checks under the polygraph examiner and private security licensing acts (16-90-1416(a)(2)).
• Sealing does not restore firearm rights removed by a felony conviction (16-90-1417(a)(3)).

Ark. Code 16-90-1417(b)(1) (Act 1460 of 2013, unchanged since) · Ark. Code 16-90-1416(a) (as amended by Act 151 of 2019) · Ark. Code 16-90-1417(b)(2)(E) (as amended by Act 151 of 2019) · Ark. Code 16-90-1406(a) (as amended by Act 341 of 2021) · Ark. Code 16-90-1406(c)(1)(A) (as amended by Act 341 of 2021) · Ark. Code 16-90-1602(b)(1) (Act 691 of 2025)

Cannabis use and testing

Who it covers: Private employers with nine or more employees in Arkansas in 20 or more calendar weeks of the current or preceding year.

In force since: August 1, 2017

The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment (Ark. Const. Amend. 98, Sec. 3(f)(3)) bars an employer from discriminating against an applicant or employee in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalizing them, based on past or present status as a qualifying patient or designated caregiver. ‘Employer’ means an entity with nine or more employees in Arkansas in 20 or more calendar weeks. The employer keeps wide latitude: it may run a substance abuse or drug-free workplace policy with a drug testing program and act under it; act on a good-faith belief that the patient used or possessed marijuana on the premises or during work hours, or was under the influence at work (a positive test alone cannot be the sole basis for an under-the-influence belief); and exclude a patient from a safety-sensitive position on a good-faith belief of current use, where a positive test is presumed to be current use. Safety-sensitive positions include DOT-regulated roles and any position the employer designates in writing where impairment could threaten health or safety. Permitted actions include reassignment, leave, suspension, termination, required treatment, and refusal to hire. Damages follow the Arkansas Civil Rights Act; claims must be filed within one year. Arkansas has no adult-use cannabis law.

Exceptions

• Drug-free workplace policies and drug testing programs that comply with state or federal law, and actions taken under them (Sec. 3(f)(3)(B)(i)).
• Good-faith belief of use, possession, or being under the influence on the premises or during work hours; a positive test alone is not enough for an under-the-influence belief (Sec. 3(f)(3)(B)(ii)).
• Exclusion from a safety-sensitive position on a good-faith belief of current use; a positive test creates a presumption of current use (Sec. 3(f)(3)(B)(iii), Sec. 2(20)(B), Sec. 2(25)).
• Employers with fewer than nine employees (Sec. 2(22)).

Ark. Const. Amend. 98, Sec. 3(f)(3)(A) · Ark. Const. Amend. 98, Sec. 3(f)(3)(B)(ii)(b) · Ark. Const. Amend. 98, Sec. 3(f)(3)(B)(iii) · Ark. Const. Amend. 98, Sec. 2(20)(B) · Ark. Const. Amend. 98, Sec. 2(22)

Drug and alcohol testing procedures

Who it covers: Arkansas employers covered by workers’ compensation that opt into the program (AWCC Rule 099.36).

Ark. Code 11-14-101 to 11-14-112 (Voluntary Program for Drug-Free Workplaces, Act 1552 of 1999) is voluntary. It applies only to a ‘covered employer’: one covered by the Workers’ Compensation Law that maintains a drug-free workplace under the chapter and states on its posting that the policy is implemented under it. Other employers are unaffected. A covered employer must notify all employees that refraining from reporting to work or working with drugs or alcohol in the body is a condition of employment. A positive test at the prescribed level may lead to termination and loss of workers’ compensation medical and indemnity benefits; an injured employee who refuses a test may also lose those benefits. The employer must give all employees and job applicants a one-time written policy statement before testing (types of testing, actions on a positive result, confidentiality, how to report medications, consequences of refusal, assistance programs, the right to contest or explain a positive result to the drug testing review officer within five working days, the drug classes tested), and at least 60 days must pass between the general notice and the program’s effective date. Vacancy announcements for tested positions must say so, and the policy must be posted. A covered employer must test job applicants after a conditional offer and may refuse to hire on a refusal or a confirmed positive; it must also run reasonable-suspicion, routine fitness-for-duty, follow-up, and post-accident tests. Collection and testing follow U.S. DOT procedures (49 CFR Part 40). No adverse action may rest on a result not confirmed and verified by a drug testing review officer. The employer pays for the tests it requires of employees. Results are confidential. Participating employers get a workers’ compensation premium credit of at least five percent.

Exceptions

• The chapter ‘shall have no effect’ on employers that do not meet the covered-employer definition (Act 1552 of 1999, § 3(3)).
• No cause of action arises from an employer’s failure to set up a testing program (§ 8(h)).
• An employer required to test under a federal statute or regulation is deemed in conformity for the employees federal rules cover (§ 4(c)).

Ark. Code 11-14-101(b)(2) (as amended by Act 154 of 2017) · Act 1552 of 1999, § 3(3) (Ark. Code 11-14-103) · Act 1552 of 1999, § 5(b) (Ark. Code 11-14-105(b)) · Act 1552 of 1999, § 6(a)(1) (Ark. Code 11-14-106(a)(1)) · Act 1552 of 1999, § 7(b) (Ark. Code 11-14-107(b))

Where federal law alone applies

We found no Arkansas rule for private employers on these topics. The FCRA and other federal laws still apply.

• Criminal history questions
• Limits on what a report includes
• Credit checks
• Salary history
• State consumer reporting law

Adverse action notices

Before you reject or act against someone because of a background check report, the FCRA requires a pre-adverse action notice, a wait, and then a final notice. The adverse action letter generator writes both notices and adds the Arkansas requirements where they apply.

The waiting period calculator gives the date under the federal rule.

Paperwork at hire

Besides the federal Form I-9 and W-4, Arkansas sets these for each new hire.

• State withholding. Ask each new hire to sign Form AR4EC when they start work and keep it on file; without it, withhold with no exemptions or dependents. Form AR4EC
• New hire report. Report each new hire to Arkansas within 20 days. State new hire reporting
• Notices at hire. Arkansas adds none beyond the federal forms that every employer gives.

Build the new hire checklist for Arkansas, with city rules, special cases and a due date for each item.

Sources

• Ark. Code 16-90-1417(b)(1) (Act 1460 of 2013, unchanged since)
• Ark. Code 16-90-1416(a) (as amended by Act 151 of 2019)
• Ark. Code 16-90-1406(a) (as amended by Act 341 of 2021)
• Ark. Code 16-90-1602(b)(1) (Act 691 of 2025)
• Ark. Const. Amend. 98, Sec. 3(f)(3)(A)
• Ark. Code 11-14-101(b)(2) (as amended by Act 154 of 2017)
• Act 1552 of 1999, § 3(3) (Ark. Code 11-14-103)

Last reviewed October 20, 2026 · General information, not legal advice.

After the hire

Once a background check clears, payroll and onboarding come next. Rippling (paid link) runs payroll, benefits and onboarding from one employee record.