Employers are not bound to conduct an employment background check in all cases; however, federal and state laws make a criminal background check compulsory for jobs that require interacting with children, the infirm, and the aged.

This is precisely where some background check services outshine others. I recently found my way to SentryLink from Greenbelt, Maryland and (not trying to sell their service) was much surprised . . .

by the comprehensiveness of their services. They offer the services most people want at prices most people can afford — a nifty idea, given today’s questionable economic environment.

Employers can win or lose cases that arise when someone is fired on the basis of an unfavorable criminal check, depending upon the circumstances.

So, when reputable companies conduct such searches, they need to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which requires an employer to get someone’s written authorization prior to having an outside for-profit entity conduct a background check.

Furthermore, the Act requires employers to tell an unsuccessful job seeker or a discharged employee that the unfavorable report is the reason for the adverse action and to inform the individual of the name and address of the entity furnishing the report.

As most employers already know, this is simply a part of conducting legally defensible background research for job purposes; those who are still unsure about the process are strongly advised to check with a reputable company before putting themselves on the line.

Many services use misleading claims regarding their Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) compliance, creating serious legal risks for employers who use them. SentryLink, on the other hand, is a member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners and of the Better Business Bureau.

The list below consists of criminal background information companies. All vendors are listed in alphabetical order along with and their web address.

A Criminal Background Check provides information people need to make intelligent, informed decisions about the individuals they allow into their lives. For example, a criminal background check can reveal pertinent information about the adults in children’s lives. An online background check includes information found in a public record search, including any relevant county records with the convenience of the internet. The process of going to the courthouse to perform a criminal background check, to look at county records as part of a public record search has changed with the rising prevalence and importance of the internet. Now the online background check has replaced the physical act of conducting a manual background check.

This particular list is part of an entire section of information provided on this website to do with various record information categories. The information categories are listed at the end of this post.

A Few Tips on Searching criminal records

All states have a central repository of criminal records of those individuals who have been subject to that state’s criminal justice system. The information at the state repository is obtained from local county, parish, and municipal courts as well as from law enforcement. Records include fingerprint files and files containing identification segments, and notations of arrests and dispositions. Although usually housed in the Department of Public Safety, often is the State Police or other state agency that maintains the central repository.

Most states make this repository available to the public, but there is a high degree of non-uniformity regarding what information is released and to whom. Consider the following:

- 21 states release criminal records to the general public without consent of the subject;
- 20 states released criminal records to the general public with a signed release from the subject;
- 16 states required statutory authority to access their records.

For those who are quick with math (57 states?), please note that some states have two types of criminal records they release.

By far, the vast majority of criminal records used (outside of law enforcement) are used for employment purposes, generally referred to as pre-employment screening or background checks.

criminal records and Pre-employment Screening

A background screening is not meant to stop an individual who has a criminal record in the past from being hired. The purpose of a background screen or background check is to enable employers to verify the information presented by job applicants, determine if applicants are being truthful about their past, and really are they say they are (not someone with a false ID or even a terrorist).

State and federal laws are very strict about what employers can and cannot ask or use when making hiring decisions. The following statistics pertaining to state restrictions on criminal record use by employers:

- 19 states prohibit the use of arrest records (i.e., non-conviction records);
- 5 states prohibit the use of misdemeanor convictions;
- 13 states prohibit the use of expunged or sealed records;
- 4 states restrict the use of records based on time periods;
- 2 states limit the use of first offense records.

The federal regulations concerning the use of criminal records by employers come from the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). If you are an employer, ordering criminal records on potential employees, or a pre-employment screening company, it is imperative that you become familiar with this law.

According to Derek Hinton, author of the criminal records Manual, “. . . there are three main areas in which the FCRA can affect an employer ordering criminal records:

- Releases: with notifications must be made and permissions granted from the subject of the search.
- Arrest vs. convictions, seven-year rule: What information can appear on the report, and what must be suppressed.
- Aged public record for employment purposes: When the vendor databases records, what additional notifications to the subject must be performed.”

National criminal record Search

“Ah ha,” you may say, “. . . There is no need to search the state and county agencies. I can find a national criminal record search on the Internet for as little as $15.00.”

If you are an employer and rely on such a search as your sole criminal record check, you could very well be exposing your company to a negligent hiring lawsuit. The reality is that there is no such database available to the public. End of story.

Alacourt.com
Appriss, Inc./ VineLink
Background Check Information
Backgroundchecks.com
Background Information Services, Inc.
Background Records Search
CaseClerk.com
ChoicePoint, Inc.
Circuit Court Express
CoCourts.com
Confi-Chek
Court PC of Connecticut
CourtSearch.com
Criminal Information Services, Inc.
Data-Trac.com, USCrimsearch.com
DCS Information Systems
Doxpop

iDocket.com
InsightAmerica
Judici
MegaCriminal Database
Merchants Association - MAF
Motznik Information Services

OPENonline
Oso Grande Technologies, Inc.
Querydata.com
Rapidcourt.com - NC Recordsonline.com
Rapsheets.com
Search Company of North Dakota, LLC.
Tenstar Business Services Group
Tracers Information Specialists, Inc.
TransUnion Vantage Data
US SEARCH.com
USIS Commercial Services
Virtual Docket, LLC.
XPOFACT

Here is a current list of all the categories of public & private record information companies provided on this site:
- Address and Telephone Numbers
- Aviation
- Bankruptcy
- Corporate/ Trade Name Data
- Credit Information
- ConvictedCriminal Information
- Driver and/ or Vehicle
- Education/ Employment
- Environmental
- Foreign Country Information
- Genealogical Information
- Licenses/ Registrations/ Permits
- Litigation/ Judgments/ Tax Liens
- Military Service
- Patents
- Real Estate/ Assessors

Related terms: employment background checks, employee screening, employment background check, doctor background check, employee background check, employment history search, background check for employment, cross check service, background check employee, corporate intelligence, employment eligibility verification, pre employment screenings, corporate identity research, employment background search, pre employment background check, employee background checks, employment eligibility verification form, employee screening services, verification of employment, employment background screening, employment history check, Employment Background Check, Criminal Background Check, Background Check, PRE Employment Screening, PRE Employment Background Check, Background Screening, Background Search, Employment Screening, Tenant Screening, Criminal Background, Employee Screening, Employment Verification, Background Investigation, Criminal Check, Employment Screening Services.

In this video, the telemarketer calls and the guy who answers (a police detective) tries to put the telemarketer through a criminal background investigation, under the suspicion that he has something to do with the dead guy . . . oh, I didn’t mention there was a dead guy in this video? Oh well, it’s long story, just watch!

This one’s a clear winner!

Though most professionals, and probably more of the general public, would think the need for background checks is anywhere from unnecessary to overly intrusive, the more they’re conducted, the more it appears the practice is quite helpful.

Has the need for instant criminal background checks increased in recent years? Perhaps. Has this had anything to do with 9-11? Probably, but in the case of health care professionals, as with teachers, coaches, priests, tax attorneys and other professionals — the need has been less for reasons relating to the risk that one of them might be planning a mass murder, and more to do with the risk that they might act contrary to the better values of their profession (usually for reasons of personal gain).

Either case makes strengthens the case for employers to do criminal background checks on their employees, for the sake of their professions and even moreso, for the sake of the general public.

Running criminal background checks on physicians (or any other professional) can raise difficult questions… Should events from 5, 10, 15 years ago be considered? What if the charge is not related to their profession? What about issues where the facts may be in dispute? If the matter is deemed serious, does that mean denial of professional memberships and/or privileges, or is some lesser action sufficient?

Difficult issues; and, deliberately closing one’s eyes to available data is a risky option. We will take up this issue in another article, and I will provide an example of how background checks and other questions relating to professional ethics have been handled (and enforced) in the field of public management, my professional area.

This precautionary step is a great screening tool for employers who hire people who work with children. Recently, I have come across a few news articles that involve people who work with children who have a criminal record. Not everyone who works with children is required to have a criminal background check. This is a very disturbing trend and many school districts and childcare providers are taking steps to assure that their employees check criminal background before going into the field.

In addition to the criminal background check, many employers are requiring that employees have a clearance check that involves a history of child abuse. This is another screening tool that is essential for people who are going to work with children because it checks for crimes specific to children. A person may not pass a criminal background check because he was caught shoplifting when he was eighteen. The person may be a model citizen and he may be very good with children, but he will probably not secure a position because of the criminal background check.

Recently, I had to be fingerprinted to complete clearances for the University of Phoenix online education program. The state of Arizona requires teachers to have a fingerprint clearance in addition to the traditional criminal background check. I wasn’t concerned about the results of the fingerprint background check, but I did have to take my five-month-old daughter to the police station so mommy could get fingerprinted by the local police.

For some reason I did not give a second thought to the criminal background check, but the fingerprint clearance gave me bad dreams. I guess that it had to do with having to take a baby to a police station or just good old-fashioned guilt, but I kept dreaming that the fingerprints came up in an investigation for a major crime. The dreams were really disturbing and I told my husband that I must have a guilty conscious. He thinks that it has to do with the realization that the Federal Government makes the fingerprint clearance and I’m beginning to see things on a larger scale.

Maybe the guilty dreams have to do with the fact that no one is perfect. We have all made mistakes and we have all had to face the consequences for our mistakes. Passing a criminal background check is no problem for a law-abiding citizen like me, but passing a fingerprint background check seems to strike me on a more personal level. After all, a part of me is literally cleared through the state. I guess that I realize that I am not perfect and I should feel lucky to have an opportunity to touch the lives of our children through my career.

Background checks aren’t perfect, of course. They can’t absolutely predict future behavior; the Blacksburg killer may well have passed one, for example. No gun law, however, can claim to prevent future acts of violence. The universal check would be valuable because it would restrict access by those who go to private sellers knowing they’d fail the check at a gun shop. The checks don’t keep people with clean records from becoming violent. But they keep those with criminal backgrounds from evading the national instant criminal background check system (NICS) we have in place now.