How Far Back Do Background Checks Go in Arizona: 7-Year Rule

In Arizona, how far back a background check goes depends on what kind of record is being reported. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, most negative items drop off after seven years, but criminal convictions have no time limit and can appear on your report no matter how old they are. Arizona has no state law shortening that window, so the only reliable way to keep an older conviction off a report is to seal or expunge it.

What the Seven-Year Rule Covers

When an employer, landlord, or lender orders a check through a third-party screening company, that company has to follow the FCRA. The statute bars screening companies from reporting most negative information once it is more than seven years old.¹

The seven-year cap applies to:

Arrests that never led to a conviction, measured from the arrest date
Civil suits and civil judgments, measured from the date of entry
Collection accounts, measured from when the account was placed for collection
Any other adverse item that is not a criminal conviction

Bankruptcies get a longer window. A screening company can report a bankruptcy for up to ten years from the date the order for relief was entered.¹

The statute carves criminal convictions out of the seven-year limit entirely. It says screening companies cannot report adverse items older than seven years “other than records of convictions of crimes,” which means a conviction from any point in your life can show up.¹

Three Situations Where Older Records Can Still Appear

Even for non-conviction records, the FCRA opens the window beyond seven years in three specific cases:

Jobs with an expected annual salary of $75,000 or more
Credit transactions of $150,000 or more
Life insurance policies of $150,000 or more

These dollar amounts are fixed in the statute and are not adjusted for inflation.¹

The $75,000 salary line is the one most Arizona job seekers run into. If you’re applying for a management, professional, or other role above that threshold, a dismissed charge or old arrest from a decade ago can still surface. Below that line, the seven-year cap holds for non-conviction data.²

Why Convictions Have No Cutoff in Arizona

Arizona has not passed a state law adding its own cap on conviction reporting. The federal default controls, so both felony and misdemeanor convictions can appear on a background check indefinitely.¹

A shoplifting misdemeanor from 20 years ago, a DUI from 15 years ago, a felony from any era: all remain reportable unless you take affirmative steps to change the underlying record. That is why Arizona’s sealing, expungement, and set-aside remedies matter so much. They are the only tools that actually shorten what a background check can reveal.

Sealing a Record Under ARS 13-911

Arizona’s record sealing law took effect in 2023 and is now the strongest option for keeping an eligible conviction off most background checks. Once a record is sealed, you can legally state that you were never arrested for, charged with, or convicted of the sealed offense when applying for a job, housing, or financial aid.³

Who Qualifies and When

You can petition to seal after you’ve completed every term of your sentence, including fines, fees, and restitution. From the date you were discharged from the non-monetary conditions, you then have to wait:

10 years for a Class 2 or 3 felony
5 years for a Class 4, 5, or 6 felony
3 years for a Class 1 misdemeanor
2 years for a Class 2 or 3 misdemeanor

If your charges were dismissed, you were acquitted, or you were arrested but never charged, you can petition immediately with no waiting period.³

Offenses That Cannot Be Sealed

Several categories are permanently ineligible:

Dangerous offenses involving the use or threat of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument
Dangerous crimes against children
Serious, violent, or aggravated felonies
Offenses involving the knowing infliction of serious physical injury
Sex trafficking
Class 2 through 5 felonies under the sexual offenses and sex offender chapters of Arizona law

If your conviction falls into any of these, sealing is not an option no matter how much time has passed.³

When a Sealed Record Still Has to Be Disclosed

The law carves out specific situations where a sealed record must still come out. Read this list before assuming a sealed conviction is invisible:

Fingerprint clearance card applications
Jobs that involve entering residential structures, if the sealed offense involved burglary or theft
Jobs supervising minors, if the sealed offense involved child abuse or aggravated assault
Jobs caring for vulnerable adults, if the sealed offense involved vulnerable adult abuse
Commercial driving, boating, or aviation jobs, if the sealed offense was DUI-related
Financial management roles, if the sealed offense involved fraud, theft, or financial crimes
Law enforcement, prosecution, court, and corrections positions, regardless of the offense
Child welfare placements, where the Department of Child Safety can still access sealed records
Any case where state or federal law otherwise requires disclosure

If your sealed offense matches the type of job you’re applying for, one of these exceptions likely applies.³

Marijuana Expungement Under Proposition 207

Proposition 207, which Arizona voters passed in 2020, created a separate pathway for people with certain pre-legalization marijuana offenses. Expungement goes further than sealing: it fully erases the record, and an expunged offense should not appear on a background check at all.

Eligible conduct is limited to:

Possessing, consuming, or transporting 2.5 ounces or less of marijuana, with no more than 12.5 grams of concentrate
Possessing, transporting, cultivating, or processing up to six marijuana plants at your primary residence for personal use
Possessing, using, or transporting marijuana paraphernalia

Courts must grant the petition unless the prosecutor proves by clear and convincing evidence that you don’t qualify.⁴

How a Set Aside Compares

Before the sealing law, the main relief available in Arizona was a set aside under ARS 13-905. A set aside is weaker in one important respect: the conviction stays visible. When a court grants it, the judgment of guilt is dismissed and most penalties are released, but the Department of Public Safety simply annotates your criminal history. The record itself is not redacted, and law enforcement agencies aren’t required to remove the information.⁵

An employer running a background check on someone with a set-aside conviction still sees the original charge, the conviction, and a notation that the judgment was set aside. The notation helps, because it shows you completed your sentence and a court found you deserved relief, but it doesn’t hide the conviction. The offense can still count as a prior in future criminal cases and still affects your driving record.⁵

If you qualify for sealing under ARS 13-911, that’s almost always the better choice. A set aside is still worth pursuing when your offense isn’t eligible for sealing or when you haven’t yet met the sealing waiting period.

What to Do if a Background Check Costs You a Job

Federal law gives you a chance to catch errors before an employer finalizes a rejection. Before making the decision, the employer must send a pre-adverse action notice that includes a copy of the background report and a written summary of your FCRA rights.⁶

Review the report carefully. Mistakes are more common than people assume: a conviction belonging to someone else, a dismissed charge listed as a conviction, or records that should have been sealed or expunged. You have a reasonable window to dispute errors with the screening company before the employer finalizes the decision, and getting a correction through at this stage can save the offer.

If the employer still rejects you, they must send a final adverse action notice identifying the screening company and stating that the company did not make the hiring decision. You can request a free copy of your report from that company afterward.⁶

How Employers Are Supposed to Weigh Old Convictions

A conviction on your record doesn’t give employers unlimited discretion to reject you. EEOC enforcement guidance says blanket policies refusing to hire anyone with a criminal record can violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act when they disproportionately affect a protected group. Employers are expected to run an individualized assessment using three factors:

The nature and gravity of the offense
How much time has passed since the conviction or completion of sentence
The relationship between the offense and the specific job

If there’s no meaningful connection between your conviction and the duties of the job, the conviction alone shouldn’t disqualify you.⁷

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
2
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Fair Credit Reporting – Background Screening
3
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-911 – Sealing of Arrest, Conviction and Sentencing Records
4
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 36-2862 – Expungement; Petition; Appeal; Dismissal of Complaints
5
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-905 – Setting Aside Judgment of Convicted Person on Discharge
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports
7
EEOC. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions