Guides and tools for people with records
Free tools and plain-English guides to your rights and your options. Every point links to the law or agency it comes from, and each one was checked by a second reader.
Free tools and rankings
Check your state's rules in a few clicks, and see how every state compares. Private: nothing you pick is sent to us.
- Expungement eligibility checkerPick your state and how your case ended to see the routes to clear or seal it, with waits and costs.
- How far back does a background check go?Whether an old conviction, arrest, open charge or sealed record can show up, under federal and state law.
- The 2026 Second Chance Index: every state rankedAll 50 states and D.C. scored on clearing a record, voting rights and where the felony line falls.
What's changing
New laws with countdowns, and federal rules in the works. Both update themselves every day.
Charges and sentences
Whether a charge is a felony, what each class carries in your state, and how supervision works.
- What is a felony? Every state's definitionThe federal definition and each state's own, from its criminal code, with classes and examples.
- What is a misdemeanor? Classes and jail limits by stateThe federal definition, every state's misdemeanor classes and jail limits, and how infractions differ.
- How much do you have to steal for a felony? Every stateThe dollar line where theft becomes a felony in each state, ranked from lowest to highest, from each state's law.
- What is deferred adjudication?How a deferred case works, what happens if you finish or violate it, other states' names for it, and your record.
- Is it a felony? Common charges, one by oneAssault, theft, DUI, hit and run and more: where the line between misdemeanor and felony falls.
- Felony and misdemeanor classes by stateThe prison and jail range for every class in every state, plus felony theft and DUI lines.
- Felony vs. misdemeanor: what's the difference?What each one is, infractions and wobblers, and what a felony conviction can affect.
- Is a DUI a felony? State by stateWhen a repeat DUI, an injury or a death makes it a felony in each state.
- DUI vs. DWI vs. OWI: what's the difference?What each state calls it, the legal limits, and how long a DUI stays on your record.
- Probation vs. parole: what's the difference?How each works, violations, leaving the state, and ending supervision early.
Jobs and background checks
What employers can see and what they must tell you.
- What shows up on a background checkWhat a check can include, how far back it goes, and your rights before and after.
- How long does a background check take?The screening companies' own numbers, what slows a check down, and level 2 checks.
- Background check companies: status, timing and disputesFirst Advantage, Sterling, HireRight, Checkr and more: how to check your status and fix mistakes.
- Jobs for people with records, by kind of workWarehouse, driving, retail and more, with what each employer says about records.
- Jobs for people with records and no experienceKinds of work that typically need no college degree or past experience, and who hires for them.
- Second Chance Hiring Report 2026How many big employers commit to hiring people with records, and how many say nothing.
Housing
Renting, public housing and your rights with a landlord.
- Second chance apartments: renting with a recordTenant screening rights, fair chance housing laws, and how to avoid rental scams.
- How long an eviction stays on your recordHow long evictions show up on screening reports, and the states that let you seal them.
- Section 8 and public housing with a recordThe few federal bans, and how each housing agency decides the rest.
Your record
How long a record lasts and how to clear it.
- How long a felony or misdemeanor stays on your recordCourt records, how far back background checks go, and the states that limit it.
- What is a pardon, and how do you get one?Federal and state pardons, who decides, the waits, and certificates of rehabilitation.
- Getting gun rights restored after a felonyThe federal ban, the Justice Department's relief process, and how states restore rights.
- What does expunged mean? Expungement vs. sealingWhat each means, who can still see a cleared record, and background checks.
- Which states clear records automaticallyClean Slate laws state by state, with a map.
- Can you expunge a DUI?Whether each state lets a DUI or DWI be cleared, and the wait.
- How much it costs to clear a recordFiling fees and fee waivers in each state.
Money and banking
Bank accounts, ChexSystems, grants and loans.
- ChexSystems, explainedGet your free report, dispute errors, and what a bank must tell you.
- Bank accounts that don't check ChexSystemsAccounts whose provider says it doesn't use ChexSystems.
- Grants and loans for people with records: what's realReal help from official programs, and how to spot grant scams.