About those criminal records...

A check of criminal records is standard procedure when due diligence research is conducted on an individual. However, even in this age of instant access to digitized information, old fashioned investigative techniques usually must be relied upon for the research of criminal records. This segment will discuss how criminal records are maintained and how they are retrieved.

The Mythical Comprehensive Nationwide Criminal Records

There is no such thing as a nationwide criminal records check available, to the public for employment background screening purposes.. The FBI maintains a database called the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), which is not truly nationwide and does not include most misdemeanors. Many records never make their way to the NCIC because the records must be sent from the county to the state and from the state to the FBI, and frequently there are breakdowns in the process. Nevertheless, the NCIC database is the closest thing that we have to a national criminal database, and it is far more comprehensive than a proprietary National Criminal Profile Report. The NCIC is only available to law enforcement agencies while in the investigation of a crime, and generally does not include the final disposition of the cases it contains. It was not created for employment background screening and it is not suitable for that purpose; in fact it is a federal crime to access the NCIC under false pretenses. The NCIC contains only specific crimes and does not generally contain the final disposition of the charge.

Criminal Records Background Check There are thousands of separate criminal indexes maintained at the county, parish, township, and city levels throughout the United States To conduct a nationwide search would require accessing each individual index. Recently, proprietary databases have been created to access that information in its’ raw format. Because of the very nature of these databases they are NOT compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) as a primary tool for hiring decisions. They also seldom contain a date-of-birth, making the records found “name-match-only”. What role these database searches do play is as an “indicator” for searching for criminal records beyond the address of record of the applicant.

For compliance with the FCRA, any records (hit’s) found within these database searches must be cross-checked with an onsite county courthouse record search. When common names are involved, this could be difficult, time consuming and expensive. The HireSafe product is called the National Criminal Profile Report, which is used as a supplement to the onsite county courthouse search or as a “pointer” to locate criminal records beyond where the address history suggests to look.

“Facts do not cease to exist just because they are ignored.”
Aldous Huxley

There is another serious problem with the all database criminal records --the data is “stale.” Typically these databases are updated only every six months, or even less frequently. For this and other reasons, the National Criminal Profile Report alone is not compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) for employment evaluation purposes. HireSafe offers the National Profile Report with the understanding that it is to be used only with a FCRA-compliant search, as a tool to throw out a geographically "wider net" than a county criminal check. Furthermore, many records found within the NCPR do not contain a secondary identifier such as the subjects’ date of birth, making positive identification difficult with common names.

The National Criminal Profile Report does comply with FCRA when used simply as a pre-screening locating tool to "generate leads" and when records found are verified in their local county courthouse for accuracy. It is this purpose alone that HireSafe utilizes the NCPR.

DON’T BE FOOLED! Using database criminal reports ONLY is NOT legal for employment or tenant suitability purposes.

There are NO commercial database searches that contain sufficient information for employment or tenant suitability decisions for California based companies and residents. ALL CRIMINAL RECORDS FOUND IN DATABASE SEARCHES MUST BE FIRST VERIFIED BY COUNTY COURT RECORDS PRIOR TO TAKING ADVERSE ACTION. The employer is legally responsible for violations of this state law, and fines can be heavy. The employer is legally responsible for violations of this state law, and fines are heavy.

White Paper

Criminal Record Checks

Expand all

Statewide Criminal Checks

It is possible to search statewide for criminal records in 38 states. From a practical perspective, a count level check may be a better option even though a particular state may have a publicly available statewide index, as it may take weeks or months to receive the information. Also, the state criminal indexes receive their data from the counties. If a county fails to report criminal data to the state, the statewide index may not be complete. The most thorough approach is to search at the county level in the counties where the subject has lived.

Statewide searches are available within 3 to 5 days in: AL, AR, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, IL, ID, IA, KS, KY, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NJ, NC, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TX, UT, VA, WA and WI. However, some of these states may require a signed release and do not provide a complete history of felonies and misdemeanors.

A word of warning about statewide criminal public commercial public records vendors claiming to provide statewide criminal records are actually providing statewide inmate searches, and calling them criminal searches. If the subject has been placed on probation, released from prison, or is sentenced to the county jail rather than state prison, the search will yield a “no record.” Prisoner locator services are available free from the states’ corrections or prisons departments, and online inmate locator searches for several states can be found at the Corrections Connections site. Visit the States & Counties page for more detailed information.
County Level Criminal Checks

Checking for criminal court records at the county level is the primary method used by HireSafe. The county courthouse is where the record originated, and therefore represents the logical and accurate starting point. The information is current, which is a requirement of the Fair Credit Reporting Act for employment evaluation purposes. In some counties felony and misdemeanor records are maintained in a combined index, in others felonies and misdemeanor records must be checked separately.
The Bottom Line

There is no substitute for a tightly focused county criminal court search conducted in the locations where the individual has lived. A county criminal check should be requested in conjunction with a Social Security number verification, which identifies the counties that should be searched for criminal records.

The net is smaller, but it is tightly woven and directed where the applicant has most likely left a record that needs to be investigated
Criminal Justice System Basics
There are four different kinds of records, all of which are all referred to as "criminal records."
The four types of criminal records originate from different parts of the criminal justice system. When someone is arrested the arresting agency completes an arrest report, which becomes an arrest record. Then, the defendant is arraigned and tried in criminal courts. These records are referred to as criminal court records. At the conclusion of the trial, the case will either be dismissed or the defendant will be convicted.

When a conviction occurs, there are several possible sentences. For example, the defendant may have to perform community service, pay a fine, or might be placed on probation. Sometimes the defendant will be sentenced to incarceration. When an individual is incarcerated for a misdemeanor, they usually will be sent to county jail rather than state prison. In a felony conviction the defendant may be sent to either county jail or state prison. Generally only the most violent felons, serious drug abusers, and repeat offenders are sent to state prisons. Records of imprisonment in state prison are called corrections records. Arrest records, criminal court records, and correction records are sent to the state criminal repository.
How Records Are Recorded

Crimes are usually divided into three categories; (1) Felonies, (2) Misdemeanors and (3) Infractions. Within these categories can be subdivisions, levels of severity, etc. Generally, a felony is a crime that is punishable by a sentence of 365 days or more in jail, or death. Common felonies include: murder, theft, burglary, serious drug possession and distribution, weapons charges, rape, kidnapping, robbery, assaults, etc. A misdemeanor generally is an offense punishable by a sentence of less than 365 days in jail, and includes minor theft, minor assault, some forms of drug possession, harassment and serious motor vehicle violations. An infraction is usually a “ticket” type of offense where resolution is either paying the fine or appearing in a lower court. Infractions are not reportable offenses for employment purposes unless the case is escalated into a misdemeanor.

It is not possible to simply "plug in" someone's Social Security number into a criminal records database and find all the criminal convictions pertaining to that individual. Criminal records are indexed by the name of the defendant. Therefore, getting the correct spelling of the name is critical to obtaining accurate results. If the person had a former name, that name should also be checked. In those jurisdictions where the clerk of court will be performing the research, a full date of birth is usually required.

While the majority of jurisdictions have computerized their criminal records, most do not allow offsite access. Therefore, a researcher must be physically dispatched to the courthouse to search the public access terminals. Many courts do not even offer public access terminals, as they have not developed systems that separate public records data from nonpublic records. Therefore, the researcher may have to submit the request to the clerk and return in a day or two for the results. The court may provide access to its criminal docket index (often in books or microfiche). However, the index usually contains nothing more than dates, case numbers and names of defendants. If the subject has a common name many records will be found for that name that has nothing to do with the subject. Therefore, all case files found on the index with the same name must be examined for a match to date of birth, and sometimes Social Security number or driver's license number. It will also be necessary to examine the case files to determine the charges and the dispositions.

In many locations the only information available is name of defendant, case number, and date. Penal code violations may or may not be listed and disposition is rarely included. If a record is found a court runner will still have to be sent to the courthouse to find out whether the record is relevant to the subject and the disposition. Therefore, the county criminal court records searches available via most online commercial public records vendors should be regarded only as a tool to rule out the existence of a criminal record.