Can you get an electrician license with a felony?

Often, yes. Most electrical boards don't ban a record outright. They ask whether the offense relates to electrical work, how long ago it was, and what you've done since. Arkansas law says a conviction "shall not operate as an automatic bar" to a license, and Delaware's licensing law won't let its boards count most convictions more than 10 years old if there's been nothing since.

The rules are state law, and they differ a lot. Everything below is as of 2026 from the statute or board named. Read your own state's rule and call the board before you apply. The license is one gate. The employer and the job site are two more, and they're covered further down. If you're still building hours toward your card, our guide to getting your journeyman license has the rest of the path.

01What a board looks at

Most boards weigh the same handful of things, even where the wording differs.

• Is the offense related to the work? Delaware licenses electricians who don't have a conviction "for an offense substantially related to providing electrical services."
• How long ago? Time since conviction or release is a factor almost everywhere, and a few states set a hard cutoff.
• What you've done since. Finished probation or parole, steady work, an apprenticeship, classes, letters from people who've seen you work.
• What kind of offense. Violent and sex offenses get treated harder. Delaware grants no waiver for a felony sexual offense.
• What they can't count. Several states bar boards from using arrests that didn't end in a conviction, and records that were expunged, sealed or pardoned.

Boards that deny you usually have to say why, in writing, and let you answer. That's your chance to put the rest of your record in front of them.

02Three states with clear rules

These three states publish their rules clearly. For every other state, read the conviction question on the license application and call the board. A clean review in one state doesn't carry over: if you later move your license to another state, the new board applies its own rule.

Arkansas

The Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners statutes include Arkansas Code 17-1-103. It says the state's policy is "to encourage and contribute to the rehabilitation of criminal offenders." Convictions "shall not operate as an automatic bar" to licensing.

The board can't use arrests not followed by a felony conviction, convictions that were annulled, expunged or pardoned, or misdemeanors other than sex offenses and violent ones. If a felony is part of the reason for a denial, the board "shall state explicitly in writing the reasons." Completing probation, parole or post-release supervision, plus 5 years after release from the state penitentiary with no new conviction, is "prima facie evidence of sufficient rehabilitation."

There's one catch. Arkansas keeps a list of offenses that disqualify you unless the board grants a waiver (Ark. Code 17-3-102). Under the board's rules, you ask for the waiver in writing with your application. The board weighs your age at the time, how long ago it was, your work history since, references and how the offense relates to the license, then answers in writing with its reasons.

Delaware

Delaware's electrician licensing law, 24 Del. C. § 1408, points to the state's general licensing rule for people with records, 29 Del. C. § 8735(x). That rule makes the board do "an individualized assessment" that weighs:

1. The nature and seriousness of the offense.
2. How much time has passed since the conviction.
3. Your age when it happened.
4. The circumstances, good and bad.
5. How the offense relates to the tasks the license covers.
6. Rehabilitation or treatment since.

It also lists what the board can't consider at all: charges that didn't lead to a conviction, pardoned, sealed or expunged convictions, juvenile adjudications, and "a criminal conviction where more than 10 years have passed since the date of conviction if there have been no other criminal convictions in the intervening time." The electrician law carves out one exception to that 10-year rule: a felony sexual offense still bars the license, and no waiver is allowed for it.

Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Board of State Examiners of Electricians publishes a CORI (criminal record) policy as a PDF on its site. It lays out how the board reviews records and the hearing an applicant gets. Pull the policy and read it before you file, and confirm the hearing process with the board.

03Ask the board before you apply

If your state offers a review before you apply, use it. It can save you the exam fee and months of studying for the journeyman exam on a card you can't get.

Delaware's law spells this out. Under 29 Del. C. § 8735(x)(5), a person with a conviction can petition the Division of Professional Regulation "at any time prior to applying for a license" for an official answer on whether the record will block the license. You list each offense and can add evidence, "including personal references or testimonials." If the answer is yes, it binds the board at application time as long as nothing has changed. If the answer is that it may block you, the board can't deny your application without a hearing.

Not every state has a formal process like that. Call your board and ask for a pre-application or predetermination review anyway. Then build the packet:

1. Get your own record. Court dispositions for every case, not just the rap sheet. Boards want the final outcome.
2. Show it's done. Proof you finished probation, parole or supervised release, and paid fines or restitution. In Arkansas, finishing supervision is part of what counts as proof of rehabilitation.
3. Show the work. Apprenticeship records, hour letters from employers, a completion certificate, any OSHA 10 or 30 card.
4. Get letters. A foreman, a master, an instructor, a parole officer. People who've watched you work carry more weight than people who've known you a long time.
5. Write one plain page. What happened, when, what's changed. No excuses, no speech.
6. Ask what can't be counted. If your conviction was expunged, sealed or pardoned, or is old enough to fall outside a lookback rule like Delaware's, ask the board how to answer the application question.

Once you're cleared, the rest of the path is the same as anyone's: hours, the exam, the fee. Our license requirements by state link every board.

04Contractors do hire hands with records

Plenty of shops care more about whether you can run pipe than about a file from years ago.

One national electrical contractor told us they hire people with records on purpose. "We believe in redemption and second chances," they said, and people given a second chance "won't leave you." They'd gone as far as calling a parole board looking for licensed electricians about to be released.

Two things help when the subject comes up with a new shop:

• The Federal Bonding Program. It gives employers a free fidelity bond of $5,000 to $25,000 with no deductible, covering your first 6 months, according to the Federal Bonding Program FAQ. The employer signs nothing. You have to be on payroll with federal taxes taken out (not a 1099), and the bond is issued once you have an offer and a start date. Tell the shop about it.
• EEOC guidance. The EEOC's guidance on arrest and conviction records says "the fact of an arrest does not establish that criminal conduct has occurred," and tells employers to weigh the offense, the time passed and the job. The guidance itself says it doesn't have the force of law, but many larger contractors follow it.

05Site access is a separate question

A state license doesn't get you through every gate. Some jobs run their own background check before you get a badge.

Federal sites. Contractor employees who need a federal ID card to get onto a federal facility for 6 months or more go through the government's credentialing process. The Office of Personnel Management's 2020 credentialing procedures list an FBI fingerprint check and have the agency decide whether issuing the card would pose "an unacceptable risk" to people, property or systems. That decision sits with the agency, not the electrical board.

Data centers and private plants. There's no public national standard. The owner or the GC sets the badging and background rules, and they differ from one site to the next. Ask the contractor what the site checks and how far back it looks before you give notice anywhere. Our post on moving to a data center job has the other questions to ask first.

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