Jobs and licences with a criminal record
California has one of the stronger licensing protections in the country for people with a dismissed conviction — and a catch inside it. A board may not deny you for a dismissed conviction, but you have to be able to prove the dismissal, and free automatic relief gives you no document to prove it with.
Where a dismissal does most of the work
Contractor (CSLB)CSLB applicants are not required to disclose a conviction -- a common misconception says otherwise -- because Business and Professions Code 480(f) bars most boards, CSLB included, from asking about criminal history on the application at all.Pharmacy technicianYou are not required to disclose your conviction on a Board of Pharmacy application -- the Board works from your DOJ record -- but a dismissed conviction cannot be used against you at all once you can prove the dismissal.Social worker (LCSW)BBS does not require you to disclose a conviction when you apply -- it works from your DOJ record -- and a conviction dismissed under Penal Code 1203.4 cannot be used to deny your licence or registration at all.Security guard (BSIS)BSIS reviews your DOJ and FBI Live Scan results directly rather than asking you to disclose convictions on the application -- Business and Professions Code 480(f) bars BSIS from requiring that -- and a conviction dismissed under Penal Code 1203.4 cannot by itself be used to deny your guard card.Cosmetology / barberingDisclosure is voluntary -- the Board has an optional Disclosure Statement Regarding Criminal Pleas/Conviction form, and a dismissed conviction can't be used against you once you can prove it.
Where you still have to disclose, or it still shows
These are the ones with their own statutory rules. Read the page before you spend anything — for some of them a dismissal will not get you where you want to go, and we would rather say so.
Still disclosable
Registered nurse (RN)The Board of Registered Nursing requires you to self-report a conviction even after it is dismissed under Penal Code 1203.4, so a clean DOJ record alone is not enough.Still disclosable
CNA (nursing assistant)CDPH gets your conviction from a mandatory Live Scan background check, not a disclosure question -- and the law is explicit that a conviction is never an automatic bar, even one that shows up after a dismissal.Still disclosable
Teacher (credential)CTC's own fitness form requires you to disclose every conviction no matter how long ago it happened, even one dismissed under Penal Code 1203.4 -- and for a narrow category of offences, state law requires CTC to deny the credential unless you hold both a Certificate of Rehabilitation and a 1203.4 dismissal.Still disclosable
Commercial driver (CDL)Federal law forbids California from masking, deferring, or diverting a CDL holder's traffic convictions -- in any vehicle, not just a commercial one -- so an option like traffic school that works for other drivers generally does not apply once you hold a CDL.Still disclosable
Rideshare / delivery (gig)Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash run their own private background checks through vendors like Checkr -- not a government license -- so Business and Professions Code 480 does not apply to them directly, and none of the three publishes a detailed list of disqualifying offences.Still disclosable
Childcare / foster careAny conviction other than a minor traffic infraction requires either a clean clearance or a CDSS exemption -- about 60 specific crimes are non-exemptible, and some are absolutely barred with no exemption possible at all for facilities that accept dependent children.Still disclosable
Insurance agent / producerThe Department of Insurance requires you to disclose every criminal conviction on your producer licence application, including one dismissed under Penal Code 1203.4 -- nondisclosure is itself grounds for denial.Still disclosable
Real estate agent / brokerDRE cannot require you to answer a conviction question on the application itself, but every applicant submits Live Scan fingerprints through DOJ and FBI as part of licensing, so your record surfaces through that channel regardless.Still disclosable
Health care (general)Rules vary by exact licence, but almost every health care credential runs a DOJ and FBI Live Scan check regardless of what any application form asks you to self-report, so plan to address your record rather than assume it stays hidden.Find out where you actually stand
The check is free, takes about two minutes, and needs no account and no card. If your record cannot be cleared yet, it tells you that and why.