Bottom Line for Missouri Nonprofits
- ✓School 'screened volunteers' who may be left alone with students in any public school or charter school (RSMo § 168.133)
- ✓Volunteers with access to children, plus all employees and contractors, at licensed residential care facilities and child placing agencies and at license-exempt residential care facilities (RSMo § 210.493, § 210.1263)
- ✓Child care staff members, including volunteers who care for or supervise children or have unsupervised access to them, at licensed, license-exempt and registered child care facilities, except church-controlled facilities without federal child care funds (RSMo § 210.1080)
- +2 more required roles below
State Laws That Apply to Volunteer Background Checks
Missouri Revised Statutes § 168.133
RSMo § 168.133 (as amended eff. August 28, 2025)Requires school districts and charter schools to ensure a criminal background check for every “screened volunteer” — anyone who assists a school by providing uncompensated service and who may periodically be left alone with students — before the volunteer is left alone with a student. Volunteers who are not screened may not be left alone with a student or access student records.
Missouri Revised Statutes § 210.493
RSMo § 210.493Requires employees, contractors and volunteers with access to children at licensed residential care facilities and child placing agencies — and, at license-exempt residential care facilities, every adult living on the property and anyone with unsupervised contact with a resident — to submit fingerprints to the Missouri State Highway Patrol for state and FBI checks, plus sex offender, Family Care Safety Registry and child abuse and neglect registry searches in each state lived in for five years. Fingerprints are valid for five years.
13 CSR 35-71.015
13 CSR 35-71.015 (revised eff. June 30, 2025)Last amended effective June 30, 2025; covers licensed and license-exempt residential care facilities and child placing agencies.
Who Must Be Screened in Missouri
!Legally Required to Be Screened
- •School 'screened volunteers' who may be left alone with students in any public school or charter school (RSMo § 168.133)
- •Volunteers with access to children, plus all employees and contractors, at licensed residential care facilities and child placing agencies and at license-exempt residential care facilities (RSMo § 210.493, § 210.1263)
- •Child care staff members, including volunteers who care for or supervise children or have unsupervised access to them, at licensed, license-exempt and registered child care facilities, except church-controlled facilities without federal child care funds (RSMo § 210.1080)
- •Volunteers at licensed or certified marijuana facilities, who must hold a state agent identification card before volunteering (19 CSR 100-1.070(2)(A)); fingerprinting applies only if a statute directs it
- •Staff and volunteers 18 or older at overnight (residential) camps, before starting (RSMo § 210.1700, effective August 28, 2026)
Types of Background Checks Required in Missouri
How to Get Background Checks in Missouri
$5 per check — a national criminal database search, sex offender registries in all 50 states and an SSN trace, with human FCRA review when a record needs it. It never replaces a check Missouri law requires.
Start Free Today →Volunteer Screening in Missouri: What You Need to Know
Missouri’s school volunteer rule (§ 168.133; screened-volunteer language added in 2019, revised in 2025) is one of the more detailed state statutes specifically defining 'screened volunteer' and imposing a pre-clearance requirement before any unsupervised student contact. The 13 CSR 35-71.015 regulation was last amended effective June 30, 2025. Missouri’s Family Care Safety Registry, operating since 2001, screens care workers against eight Missouri-only lists but does not require unpaid volunteers to register. Since August 28, 2026, Missouri law bars reporting arrests or convictions once a full pardon or expungement is known, enforceable by the Attorney General (RSMo § 610.143).
Compliance Tips for Missouri Nonprofits
- 1
Under RSMo § 168.133, a 'screened volunteer' is broadly defined — if your school volunteer might ever be left alone with even one student, treat them as a screened volunteer requiring a criminal background check before being left alone with a student.
- 2
For residential care facilities and child placing agencies, DSS tells the facility only whether an applicant is eligible or ineligible, and fingerprints submitted under § 210.493 stay valid for five years — keep each eligibility letter on file.
- 3
13 CSR 35-71.015 was last amended effective June 30, 2025 — re-read the current rule before updating your residential-care background check policy.
- 4
Volunteers who will never be left alone with students (e.g., classroom parent helpers always supervised by a teacher) are not 'screened volunteers' under § 168.133 and do not legally require a check — but best practice is to screen them anyway and document your supervision policy.
- 5
Volunteers at a licensed marijuana facility must be 21 or older and hold a state agent identification card before volunteering (19 CSR 100-1.070(2)); the rule does not require fingerprints unless a statute directs them.
- 6
Child care volunteers who care for or supervise children or have unsupervised access must receive a DESE eligibility determination before starting, and again every five years; since July 1, 2026 DESE no longer pays the fingerprinting fee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Missouri require background checks for my nonprofit’s volunteers?
Only for volunteers in specific roles or settings; no Missouri rule covers every nonprofit. Missouri has no general volunteer background-check mandate. Checks are required by sector: child care staff members, including volunteers who care for or supervise children or have unsupervised access to them (RSMo § 210.1080); volunteers with access to children at licensed and license-exempt residential care facilities and child placing agencies (§ 210.493); public and charter school “screened volunteers” who may be left alone with students (§ 168.133); and, from August 28, 2026, staff and volunteers 18 or older at overnight camps (§ 210.1700).
How long does a Missouri volunteer background check take?
Official state checks: DESE must decide child care checks within 45 days (RSMo § 210.1080); MACHS name searches usually return immediately but can take 10–14 business days; FCSR was processing online registrations about three days after submission in September 2026. VolunteerBadge's national criminal search returns most results in minutes; a record that needs human FCRA review can take up to about 72 hours.