Domestic Violence Cases, Jobs and Background Checks in Michigan

What an employer can see depends on how the case ended. A conviction for domestic assault is reported to the Michigan State Police and can appear in the state's public criminal history search.^[1][2] A charge dismissed before trial must be removed from that public search, and a completed deferral or a set-aside conviction is kept by the State Police as a nonpublic record.^[8][9][5]

This page explains the public record, what Michigan law says employers may ask, and the jobs that have their own statutory rules. It describes the state record system. It does not cover the practices of private background check companies or federal rules on consumer reports, which were not researched for this guide.

How does a domestic violence case get onto a criminal record?

The record starts at arrest. On an arrest for a felony, or for a misdemeanor whose maximum possible penalty exceeds 92 days, the arresting agency must collect the person's biometric data (fingerprints) and forward it to the State Police within 72 hours.^[10] A separate subsection covers a misdemeanor "for which the maximum penalty is 93 days," which describes first-offense domestic assault; if the person is convicted, the data and the disposition go to the State Police.^[1][11]

People are sometimes told that a 93-day misdemeanor does not go on a state record. For domestic assault that is wrong. The State Police website summarizes the reporting rule as covering felonies and serious misdemeanors "punishable by over 93 days," but the statute itself reaches 93-day misdemeanors.^[2][1]

The public search tool is ICHAT, the Internet Criminal History Access Tool, which searches public criminal history record information maintained by the State Police Criminal Justice Information Center.^[2] According to the State Police, ICHAT does not include suppressed records, warrant information, federal records, tribal records, traffic records, juvenile records, local misdemeanors, or criminal history from other states.^[2]

What each case outcome leaves behind

How the case ended	What the law says about the record
Arrested, never charged	The biometric data and arrest card must be destroyed immediately.[12]
Charge dismissed before trial	The arrest record shall be removed from ICHAT; fingerprints and the arrest record are destroyed if the prosecutor agrees or no objection is made within 60 days.[8]
Found not guilty	The biometric data and arrest card must be destroyed on final disposition, subject to exceptions such as a prior conviction.[13][14]
Deferral under MCL 769.4a, completed	Not a conviction for most purposes; the State Police keep a nonpublic record.[15][9]
Conviction	Reported to the State Police.[1]
Conviction later set aside	Considered not previously convicted, with exceptions; a nonpublic record is kept.[4][5]

Each of these is covered in more detail in What shows on your record after an arrest, dismissal or acquittal.

What can a Michigan employer ask about?

Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act limits questions about arrests. An employer, employment agency, or labor organization, other than a law enforcement agency, "shall not in connection with an application for employment or membership, or in connection with the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment or membership request, make, or maintain a record of information regarding a misdemeanor arrest, detention, or disposition where a conviction did not result."^[3]

Three limits on that protection are written into the same section:

• It covers misdemeanor matters where no conviction resulted. It does not stop an employer from asking about convictions.^[3]
• It does not apply to information about a felony charge before conviction or dismissal.^[3]
• Law enforcement agencies are excluded, and for this purpose that term includes the Department of Corrections.^[3]

The section also says a person is not guilty of perjury or otherwise for giving a false statement by failing to recite or acknowledge information the person has a civil right to withhold under it.^[3] No court decision applying this section to a completed deferral was reviewed for this guide, so this page does not say how it applies there.

Deferrals and what stays nonpublic

The domestic violence deferral under MCL 769.4a ends, if completed, in a discharge and dismissal that is not a conviction for purposes of disqualifications or disabilities imposed by law upon conviction of a crime.^[15] During the deferral the record of proceedings is closed to public inspection, although the court hearings themselves are open.^[16]

The record does not vanish. Unless a judgment of guilt is entered, the State Police retain a nonpublic record of the arrest, court proceedings, and disposition.^[9] That record is open to Michigan courts, law enforcement personnel, the Department of Corrections and prosecuting attorneys for use in their duties, and to decide whether an applicant meets the criteria for employment with one of those agencies.^[17] The Department of Health and Human Services may also use it to check the criminal history of people who will work in enforcing child protection or vulnerable adult protection laws.^[18]

So a completed deferral is hidden from an ordinary public search but remains visible to employers in the justice system. If the person violates probation during the deferral, the court may enter the conviction and go on to sentencing.^[19] See Does a deferral count as a conviction?

What changes after a conviction is set aside?

Once a conviction is set aside, the person, "for purposes of the law, is considered not to have been previously convicted," except as the act provides.^[4] The State Police keep a nonpublic record that is available only to a court, an agency of the judicial branch, the Department of Corrections, a law enforcement agency, a prosecuting attorney, the Attorney General or the Governor, and only for listed purposes that include hiring by the Department of Corrections or law enforcement.^[5][20]

Two provisions matter to employers. A set-aside conviction and the records relating to it cannot be used as evidence in an action for negligent hiring.^[21] And a person, other than the applicant or a victim, who knows or should have known that a conviction was set aside and who divulges, uses, or publishes information about it commits a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days or a fine of up to $500, or both.^[22]

A misdemeanor domestic assault conviction can be set aside only by application, and only after a 5-year waiting period; it is excluded from the automatic process.^[23][24] The steps are in Setting aside a domestic violence conviction and Does automatic expungement cover domestic violence?

Jobs with their own statutory rules

Nursing homes, home health agencies and similar facilities

A nursing home, county medical care facility, hospice, hospital that provides swing bed services, home for the aged, or home health agency may not employ, contract with, or grant clinical privileges to a person who will have regular direct access to patients or residents if the person has certain convictions inside a look-back period.^[6] For misdemeanors, the periods are 10 years for one involving the use or threat of force or violence, 5 years for any other misdemeanor involving assault, and 3 years for a misdemeanor for assault where there was no use of a firearm or dangerous weapon and no intent to commit murder or inflict great bodily injury.^[6] The statute does not say which description applies to a Michigan domestic assault conviction.^[6]

Schools

If a criminal history check shows a felony conviction that is not a listed offense, a school may not employ the person unless the superintendent or chief administrator and the governing board each specifically approve in writing.^[7] Misdemeanor convictions for domestic assault, aggravated assault and stalking fall within the statute's phrase "misdemeanor conviction involving sexual or physical abuse," which may be disclosed to those directly involved in evaluating the applicant.^[7] The statute makes the conviction visible to the hiring decision; it does not by itself bar the person.^[7]

Police and work that involves firearms

The Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards states that unlicensed candidates with a qualifying misdemeanor domestic violence conviction will not be given access to the licensing process until 8 years have passed since completing probation, any incarceration, and paying fines.^[25] More broadly, any job that involves carrying a firearm is affected by the state and federal firearm bans; see Police officers, service members and the firearm ban and Michigan's 8-year firearm ban.

Licensed occupations

Occupational and professional licenses follow separate rules about "good moral character" and, for health professionals and teachers, specific reporting and suspension provisions. They are set out in Professional licenses and domestic violence.

Protection orders and pending cases

A personal protection order (PPO) is not a criminal conviction, and it is handled differently from one: PPOs are entered into the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN), a police database, immediately.^[26] What that means for employment is covered in Does a PPO go on your record?

While a case is pending, bond conditions can affect work as well: a no-contact condition can be a problem where the complaining witness is a co-worker, and travel or alcohol-monitoring conditions can affect scheduling. Those conditions are covered in Bond conditions in domestic violence cases.

Practical steps

• Order your own ICHAT report before applying, so you know what a public search returns.
• Keep a certified copy of the order of dismissal, discharge or set-aside, in case a report is out of date.
• Read application questions closely. A question about convictions is different from a question about arrests or charges.
• If a record that should have been removed still appears, ask the court that handled the case what order it sent to the State Police.