A criminal background check refers to the process of probing a person’s criminal history to find out if the person has been involved in any criminal offense in the past. This kind of background search, which is conducted before employment, is often done on employees, baby sitters, teachers, nursing home staff, tenants, and other people that you are going to work closely with or are going to invite inside your home. It can dig up information such as arrest history, incarceration records, sexual offenses, felonies, misdemeanors, Federal charges, warrant check, civil records, and so on.
Professional Services
Online, you will find several paid services that you can hire to conduct a criminal background search on some. There are also brick-and-mortar companies offering background check services. If going for the online route, be wary of those that use “free service” as a marketing strategy. They will do the background search free of charge but require you to pay for the information gathered so in essence, the background search is not really for free.
Do-It-Yourself
One option would be to do the background check yourself. This can be a complicated matter but if you are up for it, you need to gather several documents. Some of the initial documents that you need to gather are: identification information (full name, date of birth, Social Security number, address history), public records (certificates on birth, marriage, divorce), financial documents (real estate ownership, vehicles search), and court records that pertain to federal and civil judgments, tax liens, evictions and bankruptcies.
Criminal Records
For a more thorough criminal background check, you will need to gather information from the Local and County Criminal Records, National Department of Corrections and Sex Offenders databases and State Criminal Courts. Doing local and county checks will allow you to access criminal records for any crimes committed within the immediate jurisdiction. This is where address history comes into play. Consider the past residences of the person when doing local and county searches to avoid missing offenses committed in other jurisdictions.
At the State Criminal Courts, you will get hold of documents on arrests and convictions of the individual. Other records available for public use include municipal criminal records, arrests and court warrants, OFAC Patriot Act Search, FBI Most Wanted and Sex Offender Records. You can use these documents to do a more comprehensive search on an individual.
Conducting a background check is not a simple task. If you are going to do it yourself, it would be wise to consult with a lawyer to ensure that you are in the right track.
