Washington background check: WATCH, fingerprints and your rights

How a WATCH search works

WATCH is WSP's official online source for Washington State conviction records. The person searching types a name and date of birth, and the system compares them with the state criminal history database. Conviction data may be released to anyone. Arrest data without a conviction stays out of public view, with one exception: arrests less than one year old whose outcome is still pending.

WSP records who ran each search, whom they searched and when.

Why fingerprints settle the question

WSP itself warns that name and birth date matches are not always right and that the only way to tie a person to a record for certain is fingerprint verification. That is why a WATCH hit on a common name is a reason to ask questions, not proof.

Prints come in where a statute demands them, as in many roles with unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults, and many state licenses. You get printing instructions from whoever is hiring or licensing you. WSP also offers a fingerprint based copy of a person's own Washington conviction record. Read our guide to fingerprint checks for how prints are matched.

Washington background check laws: the Fair Chance Act

Washington's Fair Chance Act, RCW 49.94, limits when and how employers use criminal records. According to the Attorney General's office, an employer may not:

• ask about your record, out loud or on paper, or run a criminal check before deciding you are otherwise qualified and making a conditional offer
• put criminal record questions on the application form
• post ads that shut out people with records, such as "no felons"
• use blanket policies that automatically exclude anyone with a record
• reject you based on a juvenile record or most adult arrest records
• reject you based only on an adult conviction without a legitimate business reason

When a conviction is the reason, the employer must point to the record, keep the position open at least two business days so you can respond, and give you its decision in writing. Retaliation for reporting a violation is banned too.

Jobs the Fair Chance Act does not cover

The act steps aside for positions with unsupervised access to children under 18, vulnerable adults or vulnerable persons, for law enforcement and criminal justice agencies, for securities firms that federal rules govern, for unpaid volunteers, for jobs where another law requires or allows a record check, and for work under a federal contract that bars people with certain histories.

Even in those roles, the federal notice steps for consumer reports still apply when the employer uses a background screening company. The laws and your rights page explains those steps.

Free criminal background check in Washington State: does one exist

WATCH charges for each name searched, and the charge applies even when no record turns up. An employer that runs WATCH or hires a screening company normally covers the cost. What makes a full employment check cost more is the extra searches: counties in other states, a fingerprint check, a driving record or a drug test. Our background check cost page breaks that down without prices.

When the Washington record is wrong

Begin at the courthouse where your case was heard. If the court file is right but the state record is wrong, contact WSP's criminal history staff and ask how to challenge the entry; they will want certified court papers. If a vacated case still shows on a private report, send the vacation order to the screening company with a written dispute. Our dispute steps include a short letter you can adapt.

If you believe an employer broke the Fair Chance Act, anyone may file a complaint with the Attorney General. See the Attorney General's Fair Chance Act page for the complaint form.

Nothing here is legal advice. Rules in Washington get amended, so read the WSP and Attorney General sites, and bring your own facts to a lawyer who handles Washington job cases, or to legal aid.