Jobs for Felons in Missouri

In 2016, Executive Order 16-04 directed Missouri's executive branch agencies to take criminal history questions off their initial job applications, unless a record would legally rule you out of that job. The order says it lasts until amended or rescinded. We found no later order ending it but could not confirm that it is still followed, so ask the agency when you apply.

We found no statewide ban-the-box law for private employers. Two cities have their own. In the City of St. Louis, employers with 10 or more employees can ask about your record only after they decide you are otherwise qualified and have interviewed you. In Columbia, every employer in the city limits has to wait until after a conditional job offer.

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 Missouri law that shortens that for convictions you still have.

A new Missouri section, in effect since August 28, 2026, says records of a conviction that was expunged or fully pardoned, and of an arrest that did not lead to a conviction, “shall no longer be reported.” The law does not say exactly who it binds, though its enforcement part points to federal credit-reporting law. If an expunged record shows up on a check, ask legal aid what you can do.

You can petition to expunge a Missouri record 3 years after you finish your sentence for a felony, or 1 year for a misdemeanor, as long as you have no new convictions in that time and have paid all fines and restitution. Over your lifetime you can expunge up to 2 felonies and 3 misdemeanors.

Some records cannot be expunged, including class A felonies, “dangerous felonies,” offenses that require sex offender registration, felonies where death is an element, felony assault, domestic assault, kidnapping, and DWI and other intoxication-related traffic offenses, plus a long list of other named offenses.

A 2026 law (Senate Bill 1421) makes Missouri expunge some convictions automatically, with no petition. It covers only four drug offenses: possession of a controlled substance and unlawful use or possession of drug paraphernalia, as the law lists them. It does not cover other felonies. Class A felonies are left out.

The record is cleared 1 year after a misdemeanor or 3 years after a felony is fully finished, if you have no new convictions and no pending charges. The law gives the state until January 1, 2027 to start doing this, so it may not have happened yet. These count toward the same lifetime limit of 2 felonies and 3 misdemeanors.

After a Missouri expungement, you can answer “no” when an employer asks whether you have ever been arrested, charged or convicted, as long as you have no other public record of a crime. Exceptions: jobs where federal or state law requires the employer to screen out certain convictions (banks, insurance and similar), and applications for state professional licenses, where you must disclose it. Even then, an expunged crime cannot be an automatic bar.

Since August 28, 2026, Missouri also protects employers: an employer who hires someone with an expunged record is immune from claims over misconduct tied to the expunged part of the record, unless it failed to use reasonable care. That is worth saying in an interview.

Most Missouri state licensing boards cannot disqualify you because of a conviction unless it directly relates to the licensed work or is violent or sexual. Some boards are left out of that rule, including teachers, nurses, physicians, pharmacists, dentists, real estate and peace officers.

Any board, including the ones left out, has to answer if you ask ahead of time whether your record disqualifies you. It must tell you within 30 days after it meets, and no later than 4 months. The answer is binding unless you get new convictions or left something out.

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. Outside St. Louis and Columbia, we found no Missouri law that stops a private employer from using a record, so your real tools are expungement, the licensing rules, and picking the right employer.