Jobs for Felons in Virginia

Virginia state agencies cannot put a question about arrests, charges or convictions on the job application, and can ask only during or after a staff interview. Cities and counties follow the same rule for their own hiring. Law-enforcement jobs and “sensitive” positions are exceptions, and local school board jobs are left out of the city and county rule.

We found no ban-the-box law for private employers. They can still ask about records that have not been sealed.

Virginia's record sealing laws took effect July 1, 2026. Some records are meant to be sealed automatically, including some misdemeanor convictions (petit larceny, shoplifting, trespass and disorderly conduct among them), marijuana possession, and many charges that were dismissed or ended in acquittal.

For those listed misdemeanor convictions, automatic sealing comes once 7 years have passed since the conviction with no new reportable conviction (traffic infractions do not count). Automatic does not mean yours is already done. Check with the State Police or legal aid.

You can petition the circuit court to seal a misdemeanor, a Class 5 or 6 felony, or a grand larceny conviction. There are no court fees or costs to file. You can have only two petitions granted in your lifetime.

You need 7 years with no new reportable conviction for a misdemeanor, or 10 years for a felony, counted from the later of conviction or release. You cannot ever have had a Class 1 or 2 felony, a Class 3 or 4 felony in the last 20 years, or any other felony in the last 10 years. Restitution must be paid in full.

Many offenses cannot be sealed by petition, including Class 1 to 4 felonies, sex crimes, violent felonies, felonies involving a firearm, protective order violations, and crimes against family or household members.

Once a record is sealed, government employers, and private employers that are not subject to federal hiring rules, cannot make you disclose it “in any application, interview, or otherwise.” If an application asks about records, it must tell you that sealed records do not have to be disclosed. The law does not spell out which private employers count as subject to federal rules, so if you work in a federally regulated field, ask legal aid.

After a sealing order, you may deny that the sealed arrest, charge or conviction happened when a private employer or a state or local agency asks. Exceptions: police and sheriff jobs, jobs where Virginia or federal law requires the question, and national-security positions. In those cases you must disclose it.

Records expunged under Virginia's older expungement law also cannot be required on job applications or in interviews.

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 Virginia law that shortens that for convictions. Virginia's protection is sealing: the State Crime Commission says the sealing laws prohibit background check companies from sharing sealed records.

For licenses from DPOR boards (contractors, barbers, cosmetology, electricians, plumbers and other trades), a board cannot refuse you just because of a conviction unless it directly relates to the work. It cannot use vague terms like “good moral character” or “moral turpitude,” and if it denies you it must tell you in writing which offense it relied on and how it weighed your rehabilitation. Health professions follow other rules.

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 Virginia law that stops a private employer from using a record that is not sealed, so your real leverage is sealing and picking the right employer.