Jobs for Felons in South Carolina

As far as we can find, South Carolina has no ban-the-box law for public or private employers. An employer can ask about your record on the application. A 2025 bill to change that died in committee, and nothing on the Legislature's 2026 list of acts addresses it.

Some South Carolina cities may have their own rules for city jobs. We have not verified them, so check with your city. Plan how you will answer the record question before you apply.

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 South Carolina law that shortens that for convictions. That is why expungement, where you qualify, matters so much here.

South Carolina has no general felony expungement. The law lists specific situations instead, including first-offense low-level convictions in magistrate court, youthful offender sentences, first-offense drug possession, conditional discharge, pretrial intervention, and charges that were dismissed or ended in not guilty. If your record is not on the list, expungement is not your path, and a pardon may be.

A conviction that carried no more than 30 days in jail or a $1,000 fine (or a first-offense unlawful weapon possession carrying up to one year) can be expunged three years after the conviction, if you have had no other conviction in that time. Driving offenses are not covered. You can use this only once.

After a first-offense youthful offender conviction, you can apply to expunge it five years after you finish the whole sentence, including probation and parole, with no new conviction along the way. Violent crimes, driving offenses and offenses that require registration are excluded.

A first-offense simple possession can be expunged three years after you finish the sentence, including probation and parole. A first-offense possession with intent to distribute can be expunged 20 years after you finish the sentence, if you have had no drug or felony conviction in that time.

You apply through the solicitor's office (the prosecutor) in the circuit where the charge happened. The fee is $250 per expungement order, and it is not refunded if you turn out not to qualify, so check eligibility first. Charges dismissed in general sessions court are generally free to expunge, unless they were dismissed as part of a plea deal.

If a charge in magistrate or municipal court was dismissed or you were found not guilty, and you were fingerprinted, the court must expunge it on its own, at no cost to you (with a few exceptions, such as a dismissal at a preliminary hearing).

A pardon is not an expungement. The record stays. But under South Carolina law a pardon frees you from all the legal consequences of the conviction, direct and collateral, and restores the civil rights you lost. You apply through the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. For a felony that cannot be expunged, this is often the strongest tool you have.

A South Carolina licensing board cannot deny you a license only because of a conviction unless the conviction directly relates to the job. Boards cannot use vague terms like “moral turpitude” or “good character,” and cannot count charges that were dismissed or ended in not guilty. Before denying you over a record, the board must give you a chance to appear at a hearing, and a denial must come in a written order you can appeal to the Administrative Law Court.

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. We found no South Carolina law that stops a private employer from using a record, so your leverage is expungement where you qualify, a pardon, the licensing rules, and picking the right employer.