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Indiana · Hiring · IC 16-27-2 · IC 20-26-2-1.5
An Indiana personal services agency applies for a criminal history check on each worker within 3 business days of their first visit to a client’s home, and stops their home visits after 21 days if the result has not come, unless the State Police, the FBI or the check company caused the delay. Here is who is checked, which checks count, which convictions bar someone under the statute as it reads today, and what IDOH asks for on owners and managers.
Quick answer
For each person it employs to provide services in clients’ homes, including homemaker and companion workers, an Indiana personal services agency must apply for a national or expanded criminal history check within 3 business days after they start, and may not keep them providing services in clients’ homes for more than 21 calendar days without the result, unless the State Police, the FBI or the check company caused the delay (IC 16-27-2-4; -5(c)).
Since July 1, 2025 the list of convictions that bar a worker is longer than the one in IDOH’s 2022 letter. It covers a sex crime under IC 35-42-4, exploitation of an endangered adult, failure to report battery, neglect or exploitation of an endangered adult, murder and voluntary manslaughter with no time limit; theft, conversion or receiving stolen property, identity deception and fraud (felonies within 10 years, misdemeanors within 5); crimes of violence within 10 years; and felony battery and felony drug offenses within 5 years. A nurse aide registry finding of abuse, neglect, mistreatment or misappropriation also bars them. Separately, IDOH asks for a current lifetime report, dated within 3 months, on the manager, alternate managers, owners and officers, with the license application.
The rules are in IC 16-27-2, which covers home health agencies and personal services agencies together. This page quotes it as printed in the Indiana Code 2026 edition: amended by House Enrolled Act 1457 (P.L.171-2025) from July 1, 2025, which widened the offense lists, added the nurse aide registry bar for workers, the grandfathering rules and the duty to report convictions (HEA 1457 (2025)), and by P.L.85-2026 from July 1, 2026, which only changed the cross-reference for "crime of violence" to IC 35-31.5-2-79 (HEA 1258 (2026)).
IDOH’s own criminal history letter is older. It is linked from IDOH’s current program page as "Criminal History Check Information" (IDOH program page), is marked "Last updated: 08.2022", and says owners and caregivers are barred for "rape, criminal deviate conduct, exploitation of an endangered adult, failure to report battery, neglect or exploitation of an endangered adult, or theft" (IDOH criminal history letter, page 2). That was the statute before July 2025 (IC 16-27-2 (2024 edition)). Its offense list is out of date; its steps for ordering a State Police check are covered under owners, officers and managers below.
The check rules cover each person the agency employs to provide services in a client’s temporary or permanent residence. In this chapter "services" includes personal services, so homemaker and companion workers are covered as well as attendant care workers.
IC 16-27-2-2.2(3), -4, -5A person with a listed conviction may not operate a personal services agency. The statute sets the bar but no deadline for checking owners; the reports come from IDOH’s application form.
IC 16-27-2-3IDOH’s form asks for a lifetime expanded or lifetime national report, dated within the past three months, for the manager, the alternate manager and any second alternate.
State Form 53391, Section IIIIDOH’s form also asks for a current expanded or national check for owners of 5% or more and each owner, director, officer, member, partner, managing agent and managing employee it lists.
State Form 53391, Section IVThe statute accepts either. IDOH’s application form adds that an expanded report shows the result of each search, and its 2022 letter asks for a lifetime search.
National check
In this chapter a national check "means the determination provided by the state police department under IC 10-13-3-39(i)" (IC 16-27-2-2.1). The agency sends the request in the State Police’s form with a set of fingerprints and the fees (IC 10-13-3-39(c)). After the FBI search, the State Police decides whether the person has a conviction listed in IC 16-27-2-5(a) and tells the agency (IC 10-13-3-39(i)).
Expanded check
Either a consumer reporting agency check, with no credit information, that verifies identity and searches all names, every Indiana county and every out-of-state county lived in, the federal district courts, the sex offender registries and a multistate criminal database; or a national fingerprint check plus a check of the sex offender registries (IC 20-26-2-1.5). It "may not include" information from when the person was under 18, or information restricted by a state they used to live in (IC 16-27-2-4(c)). By our reading, with an expanded check the agency itself compares the result with the list, because the State Police determination comes only with a national check.
What IDOH asks of an expanded report. Its 2022 letter says an expanded report shows the result of each search ("no record found", "clear", or the record) and that the agency must "include all the requirements of A-G and lifetime or unlimited search on the report" (IDOH instruction letter). The letter puts this under the reports for owners and managers that go with the application, and does not say clearly whether it also covers workers’ checks; the statute does not say "lifetime". Our suggestion: order the same lifetime search for workers, because several offenses on the list have no time limit.
For each person you hire to provide services in clients’ homes. Tick steps off as you go; progress is saved in this browser only.
The time limits for theft, identity deception, fraud and crimes of violence count back from "the person’s employment application date", so write it down when the person applies.
Get the person’s written authorization in the form the State Police or your background check company requires; CareRulebook’s manual does this with the job offer. A national check request goes to the State Police in its form, with a set of fingerprints and the fees.
Apply for the national or expanded check no more than 3 business days after the worker begins providing services in a client’s home. You may apply earlier, and our suggestion is to apply as soon as they accept the job.
If the result has not arrived, the worker may not keep providing services in clients’ homes for more than 21 calendar days, unless the State Police, the FBI or the company running the expanded check is responsible for the delay.
A listed conviction, or a nurse aide registry finding of abuse, neglect, mistreatment or misappropriation, means you may not employ the person to provide services in clients’ homes, unless the grandfathering rule for pre-July 2025 workers applies. The full list.
IC 16-27-2 sets no record-keeping rule. CareRulebook’s manual files the result in the background check part of the staff file and keeps it at least 7 years, like the compliance documentation IC 16-27-4-18 requires; that is the manual’s choice, not rule text.
Three business days. The operator "shall apply, not more than three (3) business days after the date that an employee begins to provide services in a patient's temporary or permanent residence, for a copy of the employee's national criminal history background check or expanded criminal history check" (IC 16-27-2-4(a)). The clock starts with services in a client’s home, not with the job offer, so a worker can start before the check is even requested. CareRulebook’s manual gives an example: for a worker whose first home visit is on a Monday, the application is made by the end of Thursday, one day later for each public holiday in between. The statute does not define business days; the example is the manual’s reading.
Twenty-one calendar days. An agency "may not employ a person to provide services in a patient's or client's temporary or permanent residence for more than twenty-one (21) calendar days without receipt of that person's national criminal history background check or expanded criminal history check" (IC 16-27-2-5(c)). The exception: when the State Police, the FBI or the private company providing the expanded check is responsible for the delay.
The statute does not say when the 21 days start. CareRulebook’s manual counts them from the worker’s first day of services in a client’s home, and relies on the delay exception only when the agency has written evidence that it applied on time and that the delay is the State Police’s, the FBI’s or the company’s. Both are the manual’s reading, not rule text.
Our suggestion: apply as soon as the worker accepts the job, and where you can, have the result before their first visit. That avoids taking someone off a client’s schedule at day 22.
An agency "may not employ a person to provide services in a patient's or client's temporary or permanent residence if one (1) or more of the following conditions exist" (IC 16-27-2-5(a)). The conditions are a check that shows a conviction below, or a nurse aide registry finding (see the registry section).
| Conviction | Time limit | IC 16-27-2-5(a) |
|---|---|---|
| A sex crime (IC 35-42-4) | No time limit | (1)(A) |
| Exploitation of an endangered adult (IC 35-46-1-12) | No time limit | (1)(B) |
| Failure to report battery, neglect or exploitation of an endangered adult (IC 35-46-1-13) | No time limit | (1)(C) |
| Theft, conversion or receiving stolen property (IC 35-43-4) | Felony less than 10 years, or misdemeanor less than 5 years, before the employment application date | (1)(D) |
| Identity deception (IC 35-43-5-3.5) | Felony less than 10 years, or misdemeanor less than 5 years, before the employment application date | (1)(E) |
| Fraud (IC 35-43-5-4) | Felony less than 10 years, or misdemeanor less than 5 years, before the employment application date | (1)(F) |
| Murder (IC 35-42-1-1) | No time limit | (1)(G) |
| Voluntary manslaughter (IC 35-42-1-3) | No time limit | (1)(H) |
| A crime of violence (IC 35-31.5-2-79) | Less than 10 years before the employment application date | (1)(I) |
| Felony battery | Within the previous 5 years | (1)(J) |
| A felony offense relating to controlled substances | Within the previous 5 years | (1)(K) |
IC 16-27-2-5(a)(1)(A)-(K) · IC 35-31.5-2-79
The definition the statute points to includes murder and attempted murder, voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, battery and domestic battery as felonies, aggravated battery, strangulation as a Level 5 felony, kidnapping, rape, child molesting, robbery, arson and burglary at the felony levels it names, operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death, catastrophic injury or serious bodily injury, and resisting law enforcement as a felony, among others (IC 35-31.5-2-79). Read the full list in the statute before deciding on a borderline result.
The 2025 act widened the list, and protected some people already in place. An agency may continue to employ a worker in clients’ homes if their only bar is a misdemeanor conviction for theft, conversion or receiving stolen property, or for identity deception, and the person "was employed by the home health agency or personal services agency to provide services described in this subsection before July 1, 2025" (IC 16-27-2-5(d)).
The same applies to an owner or operator who "was operating a home health agency or a personal services agency before July 1, 2025" with only a misdemeanor theft or identity deception conviction in the 5-year window (IC 16-27-2-3(c)).
Neither rule covers a felony, a fraud conviction or any other offense on the list. By our reading the worker rule covers only someone the same agency employed before July 1, 2025, and CareRulebook’s manual treats a worker who left and was rehired after June 30, 2025 as a new hire, which is the manual’s reading.
The second condition in IC 16-27-2-5(a) is a person who "has abused, neglected, or mistreated a patient or misappropriated a patient’s property" and "had a finding entered into the state nurse aide registry" (IC 16-27-2-5(a)(2)). That bar applies to workers; the owner list in IC 16-27-2-3 does not include it.
The statute does not tell a personal services agency to search the registry, or when. CareRulebook’s manual searches it for each worker before their first client visit and records the result, so the agency knows about a finding; and as a recommended practice it repeats the search once a year. Both are the manual’s choices, not rule text.
New from July 1, 2025: if an agency "has knowledge of a conviction of an employee of the home health agency or personal services agency that would indicate unfitness for service as a home health aide, other unlicensed employee, or other health care professional", it "shall report the information to the state nurse aide registry or the appropriate licensing authority" (IC 16-27-2-5.5(a)). The statute also tells IDOH to investigate any report that a home health aide has been convicted of a listed offense and to "remove the home health aide from the state nurse aide registry with an appropriate notation indicating the reason the home health aide was removed from the registry", with notice and appeal rights (IC 16-27-2-5.5(b)).
The statute does not say which convictions "indicate unfitness", how quickly to report, or where to report someone who is neither on the registry nor licensed. CareRulebook’s manual treats every conviction on the list as indicating unfitness, has the manager decide on any other conviction and record the reasons, reports without delay to the registry if the employee is on it or to the board that licensed them, and records the decision for an employee who is neither. That is the manual’s reading. A person who in good faith reports to IDOH or the nurse aide registry, or denies or ends employment under the chapter, is immune from civil and criminal liability for it (IC 16-27-2-9).
This is separate from abuse reporting. If you believe a client is an endangered adult or a child is being abused or neglected, Indiana’s reporting laws apply to everyone at the agency (abuse reporting in the start-up guide).
CareRulebook
CareRulebook’s Indiana manual includes Policy 2.4, criminal history checks for owners, managers and workers. It quotes IC 16-27-2 as it reads today, sets out the 3-day and 21-day steps with your choice of national or expanded checks, says who pays, and gives you a log with one table for workers and one for owners, officers and managers.
$199CareRulebook founding price for the first 50 Indiana agencies, then $249. Not an IDOH fee.
The statute. Apart from the grandfathering rule above, "a person may not operate a home health agency or a personal services agency if the person has been convicted of any of the following" (IC 16-27-2-3(a)). The list is the same as the worker list in the table above, with one difference in the dates: for theft, conversion or receiving stolen property, the time limit runs back from the date the person submitted the application for licensure, while for identity deception, fraud and crimes of violence it runs back from "the person’s employment application date", which does not fit an owner. CareRulebook’s manual counts every limit back from the date of the application or report the person’s criminal history report goes with; that is the manual’s reading, and a question for IDOH or a lawyer. Knowingly or intentionally operating while disqualified is a Class A misdemeanor (IC 16-27-2-3(b)). The statute does not define who "operates" an agency.
What IDOH asks for. The statute sets no deadline for checking owners or managers. The reports come from IDOH’s forms and letters:
A current lifetime expanded or lifetime national report, dated within the past three months, for the manager, the alternate manager and any second alternate, and for the officers and owners. The ownership section also asks for a current expanded or national check for each person it lists: owners of 5% or more, direct or indirect, and every owner, director, officer, member, partner, managing agent and managing employee.
IDOH’s 2022 letter: "An expanded or national criminal history check must be conducted on the owners, manager and alternate managers and included in the initial, change of ownership application and a staff change."
IDOH’s 2022 letter says the agency must submit these changes on its letterhead with the person’s criminal history check. IDOH’s 2024 document asks for staff changes with an expanded or national background check, sent by a manager, owner or other designated party on file with IDOH.
IDOH’s renewal form: "If there are changes in staffing, submit a current (within the past three (3) months) lifetime expanded or lifetime national criminal history report." It also asks for a current report for each new officer. That is the 2018 paper form; renewals now go through the IDOH Gateway, whose upload list we could not see.
Ordering the application reports. IDOH’s 2022 letter says a new applicant must submit a national or expanded report and "You may utilize the vendor of your choice to obtain either report" (IDOH instruction letter). For the State Police route, IDOH’s criminal history letter has you register with the FBI before mailing fingerprint cards, get cards from the State Police, and have the results sent back to you to include with the application: "Please make sure the reports are sent back to you (the applicant) when they are completed." (IDOH criminal history letter). The instruction letter adds: "DO NOT CONTACT INKLESS if you are a new agency seeking to be licensed". Once licensed, an agency sends the State Police a copy of its license to be added to the State Police’s inkless registration list (IDOH instruction letter; criminal history letter). These letters date from August 2022; the contacts in them may have changed.
The statute itself names none of these reports, and it says the application may not require information the licensing chapter does not require (IC 16-27-4-6(d)). Our reading: send them anyway, because IDOH’s form says all documentation is approved before it issues a license. How IDOH reviews the application → The manager’s part is on the agency manager page.
The operator "is responsible for the payment of fees under IC 10-13-3-39 and other fees required under section 4 of this chapter" (IC 16-27-2-6(a)). The agency may require an applicant for a role in clients’ homes to pay the cost when they apply, or to reimburse the agency (IC 16-27-2-6(b)). The statute sets no amount; the State Police or your background check company sets the price. These are not CareRulebook charges.
CareRulebook’s manual asks which you choose: the agency pays (the default), the applicant pays when they apply, or the applicant pays the agency back. The policy then says so, and our suggestion is to tell applicants the amount in writing before they apply or accept.
Records. IC 16-27-2 has no record-keeping rule of its own. The licensing chapter requires the agency to "document evidence of compliance with the requirements of this chapter and document services provided to clients", kept or electronically accessible at an Indiana office for at least 7 years (IC 16-27-4-18). That section speaks of compliance with "this chapter", the licensing chapter, and the check rules sit in a different chapter, so it does not plainly cover check records. CareRulebook’s manual keeps check applications, results and decisions for at least 7 years anyway, confidential in the background check part of each staff file (Policy 2.7), seen only by the manager, the alternate manager and the owner. The 7 years and the confidentiality are the manual’s choices.
Penalties. An operator who breaks the 3-day rule, the 21-day rule or the hiring bar commits a Class A infraction, and knowingly or intentionally operating while disqualified is a Class A misdemeanor (IC 16-27-2-7; -3(b)). Separately, a person who "knowingly or intentionally applies for a job as a home health aide or other unlicensed employee" at a home health agency, a health care facility or a business that supplies aides to health care facilities, after a listed conviction, commits a Class A infraction (IC 16-27-2-5(b)). That list does not name personal services agencies.
Yes. Within limits set by IC 16-27-2. You apply for the national or expanded check no more than 3 business days after they start providing services in a client's home, and they may not keep working in clients' homes for more than 21 calendar days without the result, unless the State Police, the FBI or the check vendor caused the delay. A disqualifying result ends their work in clients' homes. The law sets these limits; your agency may choose to wait for the result before the first visit.
"not more than three (3) business days after the date that an employee begins to provide services"
Yes. The check rules in IC 16-27-2 apply to anyone a personal services agency employs to provide services in a client’s home, and "services" there includes personal services: homemaker and companion services as well as attendant care. Apply for each worker’s national or expanded check within 3 business days after they start.
"personal services (as defined in IC 16-27-4-4)"
No. IDOH’s letter, last updated in August 2022 and still linked from its program page, lists rape, criminal deviate conduct, exploitation of an endangered adult, failure to report and theft. Since July 1, 2025 the statute lists every sex crime in IC 35-42-4, theft, conversion or receiving stolen property, identity deception, fraud, murder, voluntary manslaughter, crimes of violence, felony battery and felony drug offenses, some with time limits. Use IC 16-27-2-5(a) as it reads now.
"Voluntary manslaughter (IC 35-42-1-3)."
A national criminal history background check or an expanded criminal history check for each person it employs to provide services in clients’ homes. A national check is the Indiana State Police’s determination after an FBI fingerprint search. An expanded check is either a consumer reporting agency search covering every element of IC 20-26-2-1.5, or an FBI fingerprint check plus a sex offender registry check. You apply within 3 business days after the worker starts in clients’ homes.
Yes, within limits. IC 16-27-2-4 lets the agency apply for the check up to 3 business days after the worker begins providing services in a client’s home, and IC 16-27-2-5(c) stops them providing services in clients’ homes after 21 calendar days without the result, unless the State Police, the FBI or the check company caused the delay. Our suggestion: apply as soon as the worker accepts the job.
Under IC 16-27-2-5(a) as amended from July 1, 2025: a sex crime, exploitation of an endangered adult, failure to report battery, neglect or exploitation of an endangered adult, murder or voluntary manslaughter (no time limit); theft, conversion or receiving stolen property, identity deception or fraud (felony within 10 years, misdemeanor within 5, before the employment application date); a crime of violence within 10 years; and felony battery or a felony drug offense within the previous 5 years. A nurse aide registry finding of abuse, neglect, mistreatment or misappropriation also bars the person.
No. IDOH’s letter, last updated in August 2022 and still linked from its program page, lists the offenses from before July 1, 2025: rape, criminal deviate conduct, exploitation of an endangered adult, failure to report, and theft. Use the statute as it reads now.
The statute bars a person with a listed conviction from operating a PSA. IDOH’s application form asks for a current lifetime expanded or lifetime national criminal history report, dated within the past three months, for the manager, alternate managers, officers and owners, and a current check for everyone else its ownership section lists. IDOH also asks for reports with a change of ownership, when owners, officers or managers change, and with a renewal if staffing has changed.
The agency is responsible for the fees, but IC 16-27-2-6 lets it require applicants to pay them when they apply, or to reimburse the agency. The statute does not set an amount. CareRulebook’s manual asks you which of the three you choose and writes it into the policy; the agency paying is the default.
We found no re-check duty in IC 16-27-2 or IC 16-27-4. The statute’s duties are to apply within 3 business days of a worker starting, and not to keep them on home visits past 21 days without the result. Separately, since July 1, 2025 an agency that knows of an employee’s conviction indicating unfitness must report it to the state nurse aide registry or the appropriate licensing authority.
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Including Policy 2.4 on criminal history checks and Policy 2.8 on reporting changes to IDOH.
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