Criminal Background Checks

Criminal background checks is something that was rare a decade or so ago and only used by law enforcement agencies. But today it is different. Many people, in law enforcement and in other areas, are now performing these criminal background checks on a regular basis.

Criminal background checks are required when needed for specific positions such as government workers, security personnel, law enforcement people, childcare workers and many other occupations. Many times these specific checks are coupled with credit checks which make it more comprehensive and round out the search.

Criminal background checks results, when gotten by a company, university or the government, are usually retained for a specific period of time which is pre-determined. And according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 30% of businesses fail because of lack of getting or retaining these searches and hiring people who are not qualified or have a criminal history.

Many countywide criminal backgrounds checks are done onsite of who you are ordering the search from. Industry standard is that there they go back seven years and check for misdemeanor and felony records. But beware of a small snafu. An individual might have been arrested a dozen times for the same offense, but if they’ve never been convicted, it will not show up. This law is in place to protect innocent people who have been wrongly arrested. And although we agree with that policy, when you do criminal background checks it’s important that you understand that.

When looking for statewide criminal background checks, obviously you must know the state in which the person resides. These results are obtained through every State Police Department and the State Offices of each one respectively. Again, please keep in mind that reporting policies differ from state to state so sometimes these reports are not fully updated and can be inaccurate.

Federal criminal background checks are always and only conducted by the United States Federal District Courts. They will have all the cases that have been convicted because of a prosecution by the United States Attorney’s Office. Most of the time this will deal with cases that have been scrutinized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and may have had to do with a crime against the Unites States including treason. When you do criminal background searches such as this, it will include every Federal District Court in the United States and its territories.

Criminal background checks have become a very important part of life. In today’s day and age you cannot take a chance with babysitters, nannies, employees and the list goes on forever.