How to Obtain Criminal Checks


Posted on May 4, 2012 by admin | in Background Check

County/ State and Federal Criminal Records:

Searching for criminal records in the US can be time consuming. The most comprehensive criminal record search is the FBI fingerprint based search.
Absent of an occupational license or statutory requirement, most household workers are not required to submit to a fingerprint FBI criminal record check.
The next best search is the on-site criminal court house search. Any pre-employment company that does a significant amount of annual volume will
employ local researchers or vendors that are capable of searching over 3400 US courts. An excellent reference for the do-it yourselfer or nanny agency is BRB publications
“Record Retrievers” or the Sourcebook to Public Records:

Another option is to search online records. Go directly to the county website and check to see if they have online access to criminal records.
Use caution with this type of searching as the site may be outdated or may not be updated on a regular basis.
Also, most county sites only provide a docket sheet with no access to actual and full case file. This is why it is important to have a records
retriever directly to the courthouse and pull the entire file.The publisher of the above two books maintains an excellent source of county/federal
courthouse links on their website BRB pub. Go to BRB.

Statewide Criminal Records

Of the 50 states and DC, 40 states do offer searches of their repositories, however there are severe limitations, some require a specific form or notary.

Cross Reference Chart for Statewide Criminal Conviction History
Turn-around includes approx. time between request and return
State Input Required   Turnaround
Alabama Name, DOB   1 – 2 days
Alaska Name, DOB   1 week
Arizona   not available  
Arkansas Name, DOB, SSN, Specific release   2 – 3 weeks
California   not available  
Colorado Name, DOB, SSN   2 days
Connecticut Name, DOB 2 – 3 days
Delaware Name, DOB, SSN   2 – 3 days
District of Columbia not available
Florida Name, DOB   2 – 3 days
Georgia Name, DOB (required); SSN, Race, Sex (if available) 2 – 3 days
Hawaii Name, DOB   1 – 2 days
Idaho Name, DOB, Specific Release   1 – 2 weeks
Illinois Name, DOB, Race/Sex   2 – 3 days/4 – 6 weeks *
Indiana Name, DOB   3 days
Iowa Name, DOB, Sex   1 week
Kansas Name, DOB, SSN   Name, DOB, SSN
Kentucky Name, DOB, SSN, Address   2 – 3 days
Louisiana   not available  
Maine Name, DOB   1 – 2 days
Maryland   not available  
Massachusetts Name, DOB, SSN   3 weeks
Michigan Name, DOB, SSN   2 – 3 days
Minnesota Name, DOB   3 days
Mississippi Name, DOB, SSN   3 days
Missouri Name, DOB, SSN   3 days
Montana Name, DOB, SSN   2 weeks
Nebraska Name, DOB, SSN   2 weeks
Nevada   not available  
New Hampshire Name, DOB, SSN, Notarized release   2 weeks
New Jersey Name, DOB   2 – 3 days
New Mexico Name, DOB, SSN   1 – 2 days
New York Name, DOB   2 days
North Carolina Name, DOB   2 days
North Dakota Name, DOB, SSN, Release, Address   2 weeks
Ohio   not available  
Oklahoma Name, DOB, SSN   2 days
Oregon Name, DOB   2 – 4 days
Pennsylvania Name, DOB, SSN   2 days/2 – 3 weeks *
Rhode Island Name, DOB, SSN   2 days
South Carolina Name, DOB   2 days
South Dakota Name, DOB   1 week
Tennessee Name, DOB   5 – 7 days
Texas Name, DOB   2 – 3 days
Utah   not available  
Vermont   not available  
Virginia Name, DOB, SSN, Original notarized state release   15 – 17 days
Washington Name, DOB   2 days
West Virginia   not available  
Wisconsin Name, DOB   2 – 3 days
Wyoming   not available  

For further statewide caveats, see BRB article http://www.brbpub.com/articles/crimsurveymay2006.pdf

California employers may be able to submit their applicant through a government operated system named Trustline. See Trustline for more information.

New York Applicants are required to go through the states NYOCA for criminal records.
Direct access to the OCA requires a certain amount of volume so a casual user may have to search this source through pre-employment
screening agency that has an account in OCA. As of 01-1-2011 the cost/search is $65.00.
The search includes 62 NY counties. http://www.courts.state.ny.us/admin/oca.shtml

When a county has to be searched via on-site it is best to go through a record researcher or company that searches these records.
Most screening firms use both record retrievers and employees to search the courts.

Federal District Courts:

Most of this data may be accessed via the governments Pacer system. However, it is recommended to use a record retriever to access these records to ensure accuracy and the information is current.
For new users the system may take some time getting used to as there is a slight learning curve.
Records are federal district only which include criminal, civil, appellate and bankruptcy.

http://www.pacer.gov/

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