Counties; Criminal Records; Education; Employment; Minors; Municipalities; Personnel; Public Safety
North Carolina cities and counties would screen child-facing jobs
The check would use state and national criminal history files and apply to local public employers only when a position requires contact with children. The rule starts Oct. 1, 2025, for new applications.
The check would use state and national criminal history files and apply to local public employers only when a position requires contact with children. The rule starts Oct. 1, 2025, for new applications.
- Child-facing county and city jobs would require criminal history checks.
- The State Bureau of Investigation would run the checks.
- Local employers could still consider the results when hiring.
- The rule would take effect Oct. 1, 2025.
- 1, 2025, North Carolina counties and cities would have to run a criminal history record check on anyone applying for a job that requires working with children in any capacity
Starting Oct. 1, 2025, North Carolina counties and cities would have to run a criminal history record check on anyone applying for a job that requires working with children in any capacity. That turns a child-safety screen into a statewide baseline for local government hiring, instead of leaving it up to each board or council.
The rule matters because it draws a hard line around child-facing jobs. Local employers could still use the results in hiring decisions, but they would no longer be able to skip the check when children are part of the work.
The record that follows the applicant
The bill rewrites both the county and city hiring statutes to require checks conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation, using the State and National Repositories of Criminal Histories. It does not apply to every local job, only those that involve children.
For applicants, that means the background screen becomes part of the entry gate for those roles. Available key vote records show the bill advanced without recorded no votes.