Jobs for Felons in Vermont

Vermont's ban-the-box law covers private and public employers. An employer cannot ask about your record on its first job application form. It can ask in an interview, or once you are found otherwise qualified for the job.

The exception: if a federal or state law disqualifies people with certain convictions from the job (or bars the employer from hiring them), the application can ask, but only about those types of offenses.

When an employer does ask, you must get a chance to explain the conviction and the circumstances, including your rehabilitation since. An employer that breaks this law can be fined up to $100 per violation.

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 Vermont law that shortens that for convictions. Sealing is what keeps an old case off most checks.

Since July 1, 2025, a court must seal a qualifying misdemeanor 3 years after you complete your sentence, and a qualifying felony after 7 years, once restitution and surcharges are paid, unless the prosecutor shows sealing would be against the interests of justice. A qualifying DUI misdemeanor waits 10 years.

Qualifying felonies include burglary (not into an occupied home, unless you were 25 or younger and had no weapon), a long list of property felonies (such as grand larceny, retail theft, forgery, embezzlement, receiving stolen property and unlawful mischief), drug possession, cultivation and sale offenses, and any offense you got an unconditional pardon for. Most misdemeanors qualify, but some are excluded, including registry offenses, violations of abuse-prevention orders, and the state's “listed crimes.”

You are treated as if the arrest and conviction never happened. On a job or license application you only have to answer about records that have not been sealed, and a public inquiry gets the answer “NO CRIMINAL RECORD EXISTS.” Police, prosecutors and some others can still use sealed records, and a sealed record may still show on a federal background check.

Expungement destroys the record, and since the 2025 law it is mainly for convictions for conduct that is no longer a crime. The court must grant it once you finish the sentence and pay restitution and surcharges. The Vermont Judiciary puts it simply: fewer offenses can be expunged, and more can be sealed.

If charges are dismissed, you are acquitted, or no probable cause is found, the court seals the record within 60 days unless a party objects. You can also petition to seal an arrest or citation record at any time.

For professions licensed through Vermont's Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), a felony can be grounds to deny a license, but the board must weigh how serious the crime was, how long ago it was, how it relates to the job, and your rehabilitation. OPR offers a preapplication criminal background determination for a $25 fee. This section of the law was amended again in 2026, so confirm the current rules with OPR before you pay for training.