If an employer does a background check, over what time period do criminal records show?

Generally, the time period is 7 years, unless it's a felony, which will appear forever. With that said, different states have different laws of how far an employer can go back...many people don't realize that. The reason is, the state doesn't want someone to be punished for the rest of their life for a stupid mistake when they were extremely young...that is why the state has laws in place of how far a search can go. The other reason these laws are in place, is to prevent the court system from being clogged with everyone that has ever been convicted of a criminal charge, from having to apply for an expungement. In general, the way it works, is that the check is for 7 years. If you are applying for state licensure, they can go back longer. If you are, let's say, working for a daycare center, they can go back 20 years and specifically look for charges such as "taking indecent liberties with a child", but they couldn't search for a drug charge, petty theft, etc. Some states also allow an employer to go back additional time if the salary is over $85,000 per year (or other pre-set amount set by the state). An easy way to find out, is call a local private investigator...they will probably be happy to answer these questions for you, and they will be familiar with the laws in YOUR state....there are no Federal guidelines on this, so that is why you need to check locally.