Jobs for Felons in Kansas

As far as we can find, Kansas has no ban-the-box law for private employers. Kansas law expressly lets an employer ask you to sign a release so it can pull your state criminal history record. It also shields an employer from liability when it turns someone down over a record that reasonably bears on trustworthiness or the safety of its workers or customers. So plan for your record to be seen and used.

Some Kansas cities may have rules for their own hiring. We have not verified them, so check with your city.

It is a crime (a class A misdemeanor) for an employer to require you to go get and hand over a copy of your own criminal record to qualify for a job. The employer can ask you to sign a release so it can get the record itself.

Under federal law, a background check company can report a conviction no matter how old it is. Arrests that did not lead to a conviction generally drop off after seven years (the limit does not apply to jobs paying $75,000 a year or more). We found no Kansas law that shortens that for convictions. Expungement is what changes the answer.

The wait runs from when you finished your sentence or were discharged from probation, parole or postrelease supervision:

• 3 years: misdemeanors, class D and E felonies, nondrug felonies at severity levels 6 to 10, and (for crimes on or after July 1, 2012) drug felonies at level 5. Diversions: 3 years after you complete the agreement.
• 5 years: class A, B and C felonies, off-grid felonies, nondrug levels 1 to 5, and (for crimes on or after July 1, 2012) drug levels 1 to 4.
• DUI: 5 years for a first, 10 years for a second or later.

Some convictions can never be expunged in Kansas, including rape, murder, voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, and child sex and abuse offenses.

On a job application, you may state that you were never arrested, convicted or diverted for the expunged crime.

There are exceptions. You still have to disclose it if asked for certain jobs and licenses, including law enforcement, private security and detective work, some state care institutions, the Kansas lottery and gaming, commercial driver's licenses, securities, bail enforcement, law practice, and insurance producer or adjuster licenses when the record is for insurance fraud.

A Kansas licensing board may consider a felony conviction, but it cannot be an automatic bar. Most boards must list the specific records that can disqualify you, and cannot use arrests with no conviction or vague standards like “moral turpitude” or “good character.” For most records other than felonies and class A misdemeanors, a record cannot be used against you more than 5 years after you finished the sentence, if you have had no new conviction.

You can ask a board at any time for a written advisory opinion on whether your record will disqualify you. It must respond within 120 days and can charge up to $50. The opinion is not binding. Several boards are exempt from these rules, including nursing, healing arts, pharmacy, accountancy, real estate, EMS, behavioral sciences, insurance and peace officers.

Federal EEOC guidance from 2012 warns employers that blanket “no felons” policies can violate Title VII, but since April 2025 a federal executive order has told agencies to deprioritize this kind of case. For private jobs in Kansas, your leverage is expungement and picking the right employer.