Florida Level 1 and Level 2 Background Checks: Jobs, Disqualifiers, Exemptions

Florida’s Level 1 and Level 2 background checks are two tiers of pre-employment screening set by state law: a Level 1 check is a name-based search of Florida criminal records and the national sex offender registry, while a Level 2 check is fingerprint-based and runs against state, local, and FBI databases. Which one you need is set by the statute governing your job or license, not by your employer’s preference. The practical gap between them is large, and so is the gap in what disqualifies you.

What Each Check Actually Searches

A Level 1 screening under Florida Statutes Section 435.03 uses your name and personal identifiers. It includes an employment history check, a statewide criminal records search through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), and a check of the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website. Local law enforcement records may be added at the screening agency’s discretion.¹

One point gets missed often: Level 1 is not Florida-only in its legal reach. The statute disqualifies anyone convicted of a listed offense “or similar law of another jurisdiction,” and out-of-state domestic violence convictions count the same as Florida ones.¹ The limitation is practical rather than legal. A name-based search is less likely to surface out-of-state records than a fingerprint check, but hiding one and getting caught later is its own problem.

A Level 2 screening under Section 435.04 is fingerprint-based. Your prints are submitted electronically and searched against local law enforcement databases, FDLE’s statewide criminal history records, and the FBI’s national criminal history database.² Fingerprints are unique, so the method catches records a name search misses: convictions under a different name, in a different state, or with slight variations in personal data. A clean Florida record alone does not tell the full story, which is why the state insists on Level 2 for sensitive roles.

Your prints are not used once and discarded. Both FDLE and the FBI retain them. FDLE searches your retained prints against incoming arrest submissions statewide, and the FBI’s Rap Back program does the same nationally. If you are arrested after you pass your initial screening, your employer’s oversight agency receives an automatic notification.³

Which Jobs Require Which Level

Florida law assigns the tier based on the position. The general framework is in Chapter 435, but the actual trigger comes from whatever statute governs your industry or license.

Level 1 is the baseline. It generally applies to roles without unsupervised access to children, elderly residents, or people with disabilities: administrative positions in state-regulated industries, certain contractor roles, and licensed professions where the regulator has decided a name-based search is enough.

Level 2 is reserved for higher-trust work. Healthcare workers, childcare providers, employees of the Department of Children and Families, school personnel, elder care staff, and anyone working in a facility licensed by the Agency for Health Care Administration typically need to clear a Level 2 screening. The same applies to many positions in juvenile justice, the guardianship system, and community-based care organizations. If your job involves direct contact with vulnerable populations, assume Level 2 until someone tells you otherwise.

Disqualifying Criminal Offenses

Florida’s standard is strict. It isn’t just convictions that disqualify you. A no-contest plea, an adjudication of delinquency with an unsealed record, or an arrest awaiting final disposition for a listed offense all count the same way.² Applicants who assume a withheld adjudication keeps them in the clear often find out the hard way that it doesn’t.

The disqualifying offenses in Section 435.04 fall into several categories:

Violent felonies, including murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, robbery, and carjacking.
Sexual offenses, including sexual battery, lewdness and indecent exposure, sexual misconduct with developmentally disabled or mental health patients, and offenses against students by authority figures.
Abuse and exploitation offenses, including child abuse or neglect, failure to report child abuse, abuse or neglect of an elderly person or disabled adult, and felony exploitation of an elderly person or disabled adult.
Drug crimes, including any felony under Chapter 893, fraudulent sale of controlled substances, and unlawful sale or manufacture of counterfeit prescription blanks.
Any offense constituting domestic violence, whether committed in Florida or another state.

The full statutory list runs to dozens of specific offenses, and anything committed under a “similar law of another jurisdiction” counts the same as a Florida offense.² Relocating to Florida after a conviction elsewhere does not reset the clock.

If You’re Disqualified: The Exemption Process

A disqualifying offense is not always the end of it. Florida Statutes Section 435.07 lets the head of the relevant agency grant an exemption if you can show rehabilitation by clear and convincing evidence.⁴ Many applicants walk away without trying, which is a mistake if you actually qualify.

Eligibility depends on the offense:

For disqualifying felonies, at least two years must have passed since you completed confinement, supervision, or any other court-imposed condition.
For disqualifying misdemeanors, you must have completed confinement, supervision, or any other court-imposed condition, with no additional waiting period.
For juvenile findings of delinquency that would be felonies if committed by an adult and whose records are unsealed, at least three years must have passed since completing all court-imposed conditions.

Regardless of category, you have to have paid in full any court-ordered fines, restitution, costs of prosecution, or other financial obligations tied to the disqualifying offense before you’re eligible to apply.⁴

Some offenses can never be exempted. Designated sexual predators, career offenders, and registered sexual offenders are permanently barred unless the registration requirement has been removed. A pardon or restoration of civil rights alone does not remove disqualification under Chapter 435.⁴ The exemption process is the actual path, not clemency.

Reviewing agencies look at the circumstances of the offense, the time since, the harm to the victim, and your record since. The burden is on you. Documentation of rehabilitation, steady employment, community involvement, and character references matters.

Getting Screened: ORI, Livescan, Timing, and Cost

Before you can be fingerprinted, you need an Originating Agency Identifier (ORI) number. This code routes your results to the correct reviewing agency. Your employer, licensing board, or screening agency supplies it. If you’re applying for a health-related license online through FL HealthSource, the ORI appears on a printable form during the application process.⁵ Showing up at a Livescan vendor without one wastes the trip; they can’t process your prints without knowing where to send them.

Bring a valid government-issued photo ID (a Florida driver’s license or U.S. passport both work), your Social Security number, and your date and place of birth. Wrong or incomplete information on the submission form can delay or invalidate the screening.

Livescan service providers capture your fingerprints digitally and transmit them to FDLE. A list of registered providers is on FDLE’s website.⁶ FDLE and the FBI typically return results within three to five business days of the scan.⁷ That’s agency processing time, not your total wait. A common name, records in multiple states, or a poor scan can stretch it. Plan on about two weeks if your start date is tight.

Fees depend on the screening type and the requesting agency. As of the January 2025 fee schedule, the combined state and FBI processing fee ranges from $20 (for Department of Children and Families, Department of Juvenile Justice, and Department of Elder Affairs screenings) to $36 for most other required checks. Criminal justice applicants pay nothing; volunteers pay $28.⁸ The Livescan vendor adds its own service fee on top, which varies, so call ahead and confirm the full cost.

The Clearinghouse, Rescreening, and Ongoing Monitoring

Florida runs the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse, a centralized web system managed by the Agency for Health Care Administration. It holds Level 2 results across agencies that oversee services to children, the elderly, and people with disabilities.⁹

The practical benefit is portability. When you change jobs within the same industry, your results can follow you instead of requiring a fresh fingerprint submission. Participating agencies view your status through the Clearinghouse portal, where results read as either “Eligible” or “Not Eligible.” If you’re flagged as ineligible, the Clearinghouse is also where the exemption process starts.

Passing once does not clear you forever. Florida law requires that fingerprints retained in the Clearinghouse be resubmitted for a national FBI check every five years, with fees collected at each resubmission, until your prints are enrolled in the FBI’s national retained print arrest notification program. If you have a break of more than 90 days from a position that requires screening, you must submit to a new national screening before returning.³

Between formal rescreenings, your retained prints are automatically searched against new arrest submissions at the state and federal level. If you’re arrested while employed in a screened position, FDLE reports it to the oversight agency through the Clearinghouse. Your employer does not wait five years to find out.

Your Rights When a Private Employer Runs the Check

If your employer uses a third-party consumer reporting agency to run a background check, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act applies on top of Florida law. The employer has to give you a standalone written disclosure that a report will be obtained and get your written permission before ordering it.¹⁰ Burying the disclosure in a stack of onboarding paperwork doesn’t satisfy the requirement. It has to be a separate document.

If the employer plans to turn you down based on the report, federal law requires a two-step process. First, a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and a summary of your rights, so you can review the information and flag errors before the decision becomes final.¹¹

After the final adverse action, a second notice has to follow, with the name and contact information of the reporting agency, a statement that the agency did not make the hiring decision, and notice of your right to dispute inaccurate information and request a free copy of the report within 60 days.¹¹ If you find mistakes, the reporting agency has to investigate, correct what’s wrong, and send an updated report to the employer if you ask. Errors in background reports are more common than people expect, especially with common names or jurisdictions slow to post dispositions, and persistence pays off.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 435.03 – Level 1 Screening Standards
2
Florida Senate. Florida Code 435.04 – Level 2 Screening Standards
3
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 435.12 – Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse
4
Florida Senate. Florida Code 435.07 – Exemptions From Disqualification
5
FL HealthSource. FAQ: Where Do I Get the ORI Number to Submit to the Livescan Vendor/Provider?
6
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Registered Livescan Service Providers
7
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Frequently Asked Questions Electronic Fingerprinting
8
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Criminal History Record Check Fee Schedule
9
Agency for Health Care Administration. Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports
11
Federal Trade Commission. Using Consumer Reports: What Employers Need to Know