I wanted to give you guys a short primer on how our court system works as far as criminal records are concerned. Below is a generalization of all records across the United States, but of course there are exceptions. As always if you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me at crimcheck@gmail.com

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County Court Houses: Most of the time across all states the county court houses store records and hold trials for felonies. When we search for felony records these are the court houses we go to. For instance if someone were to hire an employee and we wanted to check for felony records and we knew the subject lived in Cleveland we would search the Cuyahoga County Court because Cleveland is located in Cuyahoga County. The same goes for any city located within Cuyahoga County. Now let’s say our subject lived in a city that was located in Lorain County we would then check Lorain County Court House for felony records.

City or Municipal Courts: For the most part these are smaller courts and handle misdemeanor trials and records. For instance if a subject committed a misdemeanor offence in Berea, Ohio they would most likely go to Berea Municipal Court. The trial and records would be held there. Same thing goes for just about anywhere in the country.

Federal Courts: Federal records are kept at the United States Federal District Courts. Each state has multiple federal district courts. Federal courts handle federal crimes such as interstate crime, bank robbery, mail fraud, etc. If we were looking for records on a subject that lived in Cleveland we would check the Northern Ohio Federal District Court. If they lived in Cincinnati we would check the Southern Ohio Federal District Court.

Here is where it can get complicated. Most states have what are called criminal record repositories. As in our previous examples Ohio’s repository is kept by BCI or bureau of criminal identification. Most states have something similar and are usually run by the state police or by the state’s attorney generals office. The problem lies in the fact that the court houses and police agencies are supposed to send there records to these state repositories. Many of these agencies just don’t have the manpower or money to keep up with sending the records in and it can cause big gaps in the state databases. The state databases are notoriously inaccurate and out of date.

NCIC or FBI Records: These records are maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice and are supposed to be the most comprehensive available. Unfortunately the problems that plague the state record repositories also happen to the NCIC database. The records are outdated, inaccurate and many times just plain missing. If you were able to get a NCIC record check, be careful as it is most likely inaccurate. You would be better off checking county and city court records.

All sex offender registries are not created equal. Every sex offender registry serves a different purpose and is governed by different rules and regulations. For this reason, some sex offender registries are more effective and comprehensive than others. Other times, a certain sex offender registry will be more beneficial to you than another sex offender registry. In order to make sure your sex offender registry background check works for your specific needs, you must understand the differences that exists among sex offense registries. Read more…

A criminal record does not necessary disqualify a job applicant from a position. Federal and state laws have strict guidelines concerning disqualifying an applicant for a position, and disqualification requires careful consideration on the part of the hiring manager.<!–more–>

Ensuring compliancy with federal and state regulations begins by creating a fully developed position description that clearly identifies skills, education, certifications, and security requirements mandatory to the position. You will also need to understand your federal and state requirements for particular positions. Most states prohibit people convicted of certain specific crimes from holding occupations such as home health worker, daycare worker, or teacher.

In addition, all job applicants should be required to complete a standard application in addition to submitting a resume. A standardized job application not only ensures that you can collect the information for a background and criminal record check, it also allows the applicant to properly disclose and explain a past conviction.

When addressing a criminal record, federal and state laws require that you show reasonable analysis of the following:

• Did the candidate properly disclose their criminal record? Did your background check correspond with the information provided?
• How does the type and severity of the conviction relate to the position? Do the security requirements of the position leave your company, employees, clients, or public vulnerable as it relates the candidate’s criminal record?
• What were the facts surrounding the conviction?
• How long ago was the conviction? Has the applicant made reasonable efforts at rehabilitation?
• Was the applicant employed before and after the conviction? Is the employment history consistent with the position description and requirements?

If after this careful analysis, you find that the applicant does not qualify for the position you must document why you did not choose the applicant. Requirements for notifying an applicant about your reasons for denying them based on a criminal record vary by state.

In our last installment we discussed how to obtain criminal records and how to conduct a thorough search in the areas the subject lives.

Now we are going to discuss how to obtain driving records on your subject. For the most part these records cost money but they cost less than if you had to purchase them from a background check company or some other source.

First of all you can’t just go around obtaining driving records for no reason. Most states consider them “private” records as opposed to public records like criminal or civil records are. The federal government also has a governing document called the DPPA or the Drivers Privacy Protection Act that sets forth rules on how when and for what purposes you can obtain driving and motor vehicle record information. If you are conducting this background check for employment purposes then the FCRA applies as well. In addition many states have laws and rules that govern these types of searches as well.

For the most part you can obtain motor vehicle records if:

1) It is a requirement of employment. For example if the person is going to be a delivery driver or will be transporting materials for your company.

2) An attorney that requires the record to defend his client.

3) Insurance companies that need to determine the risk factor in insuring a client.

5) Obtaining your own record to make sure of its accuracy or defending yourself in a court case.

There are certainly other reason for obtaining motor vehicle or driving records many of them dealing with a need to determine a persons identity for legal purposes. You can read more about them in the DPPA. Of course different states may have different laws so you will have to determine those laws individually.

To obtain our record I am going to give an example on how to obtain one from Washington State.
The first thing you need to do is to determine where to write and what documents you will need.
I found the website for Washington State Department of Motor Vehicles by Going to Google and typing exactly that.

Washington State has a nice search function on their site and I then typed in “Driving Records”.
The first result was the one I needed. Each state’s website may be different so you may have to navigate around a little to determine what you need.

Washington State has a good setup that explains how, when and why you can obtain these records.

From The Site: How to get another person’s driving record
The process depends on the type of record you want. The steps for requesting a copy of a driving record are listed with each type of record below. For more information about driving records, please see Frequently asked questions

You will need to download the request form and fill it out and send in the appropriate fees.

In most cases in most states you will need to have a signed release from the subject that you are conducting the check on. As stated previously you will need a permissible purpose to conduct the check.

Now granted because of the fees these checks aren’t exactly free but it could save you some money.

Thanks for putting up with my rambling and stay tuned for our next installment on how to verify someones previous employment.

State Will Pay $550,000 In Wrongful Death Of 6-year-old

The state has agreed to pay $550,000 to remedy, as much as possible, the wrongful death of David Ryan Keeley, who suffered repeated abuse at the hands of his state-appointed caretaker before he ultimately died, at age 6, of a head injury.
The money — secured through the efforts of Keeley’s paternal uncle and administrator of his estate, Norwich resident Kenneth E. Keeley Jr., and his attorneys — will be equally divided among Keeley’s surviving siblings, a 12-year-old sister who lives in Colorado and two half-siblings.

Fletcher administration conducted illegal background checks
FRANKFORT, Ky. — In late 2003 and early 2004, while Ernie Fletcher was taking over the reins of state government, hundreds of people were applying for state jobs and appointments. State police ran criminal background checks on those folks, and many of those checks were illegal.
“My best estimate is 40, 60 somewhere in that range,” says State Police Commissioner Mark Miller. Those improper background checks were done before Miller was state police commissioner. He ordered an internal inquiry after WHAS11 News raised questions last summer. Read More

Background checks at nursing homes to get major upgrade
By Matthew Miller Lansing State Journal
EAST LANSING - Cracks and loopholes in the various employee back– ground check systems used by Michigan’s nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have occasionally allowed violent felons to slip through.
Lori Post is the person charged with filling in those cracks. She is the assistant dean for research in Michigan State University’s College of Communication Arts and Sciences. Read More