A record isn't the end of the story.
Straight, sourced answers about jobs, clearing your record and opening a bank account. No guesses. Every fact links to where it came from.
I want to…
- vote on November 3Whether a felony affects your vote, in every state and D.C.
- find work that hires people with records135 employers, and what each has said
- clear my recordWho qualifies, the wait and the cost, in 50 states and D.C.
- open a bank account24 accounts, and what each bank checks
- know if I can…24 answers, from Section 8 to nursing licenses
Election Day is November 3, 2026
Can you vote with a felony?
In most of the country, the right comes back at some point. When depends on the state, and on where someone is in their sentence. See your state's rule, from its own law and election office.
- Never lost, even in prison3
- Back on release from prison24
- Back after the full sentence11
- Extra steps, or lost for good, for some13
Look up an employer
What the record actually says.
- 22big employers have publicly committed to hiring people with records, Walmart and Target among them.
- 10states now clear some convictions automatically, including California, Colorado and Connecticut.
- 4checking accounts say on their own pages that they don't check ChexSystems or credit to open.
- 93employers haven't said anything public about hiring people with records. We tell you that too, instead of guessing.
What's changing.
- Oklahoma · by Nov. 1, 2026Oklahoma's State Bureau of Investigation must open an online portal to request record sealing without a court petition
- Oklahoma · Nov. 1, 2026Oklahoma's rewritten rule on registering to vote again after a felony takes effect
- Federal · Nov. 4, 2026The Justice Department plans to open federal firearm-rights relief applications to the public, limited to the first 5,000 applicants
Know your rights first.
- What shows up on a background checkWhat a check can include, how far back it can go, and how to fix a mistake.
- ChexSystems, explainedGet your free report, dispute errors, and find out how long a record stays.
- Second chance apartmentsTenant screening rights, fair chance housing laws, and city-by-city help.
- Every state, rankedThe 2026 Second Chance Index: clearing a record, voting rights and where the felony line falls.
- Free toolsCheck whether your state lets you clear a record, and how far back a background check can go.
- Is it a felony?How states grade common charges, from DUI to theft, with each state's own law.
- Felony classes by stateEvery state's felony and misdemeanor grades and sentences, from its criminal code.
- All guidesEvictions, pardons, gun rights, grants and more, each fact linked to its source.
Something here out of date?
Policies change. If you applied recently and what happened doesn't match a page, tell us at contact@secondchanceindex.com. We check every report against the company's own sources before changing anything.
Receipts, not rumors.
Every fact comes from whoever decides: the employer, the statute, the court, the bank. Each one is footnoted and dated, and when a company hasn't said something, we say that instead of guessing. How we check