The Illinois Clean Slate Act (House Bill 1836) will change what candidate information employers can consider by automatically sealing eligible conviction and arrest records, reducing the long-term impact of barriers, and expanding opportunities for individuals with qualifying records.
House Bill 1836 (HB1836) was passed by the Illinois Senate on October 29, 2025. Without Governor Pritzker’s signature, the bill automatically became law on December 30, 2025, making Illinois the 13th state to adopt an automatic record sealing clean slate policy for nonviolent offenses.
A quick look at key components
The Illinois Clean Slate Act applies to eligible job applicants with Illinois criminal records and eligible arrest records. This includes most misdemeanors and some nonviolent felonies but excludes serious offenses. Here’s a quick look at the changes HB1836 covers.
Automatic sealing
Automatic sealing is the core change HB1836 introduces. Starting on January 1, 2029, the law establishes an automatic sealing process for arrest records that result in a release without charges, do not result in a conviction, or charges that are overturned or dismissed. It also establishes a two-year waiting period before sealing eligible conviction records that occurred after June 30, 2026.
Expanded qualifying records and revised sealing process
Previously, not all arrests that did not result in a conviction were eligible for expungement, with many eligible records requiring a filed petition for removal. Under HB1836, all arrests that are no longer pending and do not result in a conviction are eligible for automatic removal.
The law also removes additional hurdles that prevent sealing records, such as requiring negative drug tests before a record is sealed and limitations on the number of eligible records that can be sealed for a single individual.
Exceptions to automatic sealing
Serious crimes will be excluded from automatic sealing, such as:
- Sex offenses requiring registration
- Violent crimes
- DUIs and reckless driving
- Animal cruelty
- Homicide
- Trafficking
- Class X felonies
Agency roles
Illinois Clean Slate Task Force: HB1836 establishes the Illinois Clean Slate Task Force to oversee the development process for sealing criminal records without a petition and to create a plan for implementation.
Illinois State Police: The state police will identify qualifying records and regularly send information to circuit clerks starting in 2029.
Circuit court clerks: Circuit court clerks are tasked with sealing records within the defined timeframes (see “Three phases of the Illinois Clean Slate Act” below), making them inaccessible to the public and private employers, but still available to law enforcement and courts.
To read more details about provisions and exclusions, you can find the full text of HB1836 here.
Three phases of the Illinois Clean Slate Act
While changes start taking effect on June 30, 2026, the rollout for the Illinois Clean Slate Act can be broken down into three main phases.
1: Starting June 30, 2026, some provisions take effect
Certain provisions of the law will take effect on June 30, 2026. For instance, the waiting periods for sealing records are becoming shorter, and there are some changes to the process, such as eliminating specific requirements for petitions and drug tests.
2: Automatic sealing begins on January 1, 2029
The automatic sealing system goes live on January 1, 2029, and the Illinois State Police will begin identifying eligible criminal records and notifying circuit clerks electronically. Records that meet the eligibility criteria from this point forward will be sealed automatically, without the individual having to petition.
3: Deadline to seal older qualifying records is January 1, 2031
Automatic sealing starts in 2029 for eligible records past January 1, 2029, but older records that existed before 2029 won’t all be sealed immediately. The law allows a grace period to seal older records, with a hard deadline of January 1, 2031. This ensures that clerks and agencies have time to manage large volumes of records efficiently.
Other clean slate states
Beginning in 2029, sealed records will no longer appear in standard private background checks, which will change how criminal history information affects the hiring process in Illinois. This also means information that was previously visible to employers and screening providers will no longer be available.
In addition to Illinois, twelve other states have enacted similar policies over the last several years. Clean slate laws each have their own eligibility criteria, exclusions, waiting periods, and implementation timelines. As a result, organizations operating across multiple states or jurisdictions may have to comply with multiple clean slate laws.
This content is for informational purposes only and shall not constitute legal opinion or advice. Consult your legal counsel to ensure compliance.
