Criminal Records Search

There are many new regulations for hiring people to insure the safety of the existing employees as well as individuals that your company may serve. Criminal records search is a key way of making sure that the employees that you are hiring are being honest on their employment applications. It is important to understand how the criminal records search is completed to insure that the full record of the individual is explored.

Each state offers a criminal records search, but each varies greatly regarding what is checked. Make sure you thoroughly explore what the agency you are using checks. Privacy rights of individuals need to be protected through this process and as a result the forms used for completing the search need to have specific releases and information on them to make sure that all bases are covered. There are also local criminal record searches that can be completed, but these searches are only as thorough as the technology of the department that is completing the search for you. The bottom line is that you need to do research prior to sending out the forms.

As an example, if an agency is in the process of licensing a home and individuals to provide foster care a number of criminal records search forms need to be completed. Forms need to be filled out for everyone living in this residence that is over the age of 16 years. This includes college students that spend time on weekends, breaks and summers in the home. Criminal records search forms also need to be completed for anyone that provides respite care for the foster care provider. The form should include all the addresses that the individuals have lived in for the last five years. This is done to insure that if a crime has been committed in a different law enforcement jurisdiction it will show up on the report that is generated as the result of the search. Many states have central data bases that include all areas in that state, such as the bureau of criminal apprehension, however their records are only as complete and accurate as the agencies reporting to them. If you are dealing with an applicant that has multiple addresses in several local jurisdictions it is best to do a criminal records search for each jurisdiction. By doing this you will insure that recent crimes will be listed in the reports that you receive.

The internet also provides a variety of criminal records search services. Some people use theses search services to check out individuals that they are dating or even their new neighbors. For this reason it is important for people to protect their privacy by being careful how much information you share with new acquaintances. For some of the search services you only need to type in the full name and date of birth of an individual to access private information.