The truth is that almost all information regarding one’s criminal background, from misdemeanors and DWI’s to divorce details, are matters of public record and are accessible to everyone, including potential employers. By law, these records are kept for various lengths of time, ranging from seven to ten years. There are some lines of work for which employers are obliged by law to perform background checks. This is especially true for employees working with children or the disabled. In cases where employers are authorized to run background checks, they are not authorized to share the information with any other sources.

According to the current U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines, there are several restrictions in place which forbid the use of criminal background checks as a reason for not hiring potential employees. For candidates convicted of a crime, the background check can only be used against the applicant if the crime is relevant to the position the employee is applying. For instance, it would be completely reasonable to deny employment to a job applicant convicted of embezzlement if that person is applying for a job in financial sector. But, if the same person is trying to get a job as warehouse worker, then his conviction should not be taken into consideration. Currently, there are several class action suits against employers who do not follow EEOC guidelines. A blanket policy of not hiring anyone with a felony conviction .can result in a lawsuit.

Even if an employer is legally allowed to bar a candidate with a criminal past, he or she must be given the opportunity to explain the background report before a final decision is made. This policy reduces the risk of errors , like misclassification of misdemeanors as a felony or mistaken identity. Furthermore, some parts of the country have even stricter laws. New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Hawaii have the strictest laws regarding background checks.. In Philadelphia, any inquiry regarding candidates’ criminal background must be delayed until after the decision has been made about employment. This policy allows ex-convicts the opportunity to find jobs more easily.

Sources:

http://www.nilanjohnson.com/news/are-employer-criminal-background-checks-illegal/

http://www.employerschoiceonline.com/articles/landlord-criminal-screening-illegal.html

http://www.justice.gov/olp/pdf/employmentstdssumary.pdf

Before You Start

In order to make your internet search connection,  you will need to gather the following information. If you cannot find  the information you n eed, just collect  whatever is available. You will need:

• the name
• birth date
• the state and  city
• date range
• the case number  for a specific incident.

Where to Begin

If you know a few states you want to search, this will make the process   much quicker. Knowing the city will help you zip through your research even faster. Most state web pages follow the format www.ca.gov (California), www.wa.gov (Washington), etc. Basically,  enter the two letter abbreviation followed by .gov. Look for a tab that says ‘departments’ or ‘governments’ or words to  effect. Once the page has loaded there  a city or state government page will appear.    Occasionally, you will be offered a separate link to the pertinent  courthouse.   Continue to  navigate until you reach the court’s homepage. There should be a link to trial court cases, and that is where you want to get information.. From there, you can look up anything from small claims cases, to divorces to parking tickets.

Double Checking Your Information

If you are only searching by a name, you really need to check your accuracy. Looking up someone with the name “John Smith’ will   offer many results.  To be safe, you should try to compare other details such as date of birth or social security number.   You should always read  the court details  to see if the information matches the person you are researching.

Call The Court if Needed

Whenever in doubt, or if you need  specific questions answered,  call the clerk of the court in the search area. Have the name in question on hand or the court case number that you wish to investigate.

Free Online Background Checks

Now, when a site says offers free online background checks, it means you can search a name for free and see if it produces any results. Sometimes, no results will be found. At other times, it may indicate that they have files that go with the name you submitted, or the results may list a city where that person has lived or the names of possible relatives. If you want more information , you will be charged. Each site has different levels of background information for different price levels, but a full check will normally cost around $40. I personally have never used this service and cannot guarantee how accurate the information is or how long the search will take. If you really want to use the service and are willing to pay, you may want to do a check on yourself first and see if the information is true.

Consumer Beware

If you are in a rush, $40 might be worth the time you will save. However, some of the information you can definitetly find yourself. You can search court documents for divorces, marriages, small claims cases and arrests. You can also check the registered sex offender list nationwide or for your specific state. You can also search for phone numbers and cell numbers in some areas. Some people move regularly or change their identitiesfrequently. In those cases, a background check service is probably a good idea. Before you decide on which one to use, read third party customer reviews. Some sites are operated by scam artists. If anyone promises results that are not produced, the reviews should indicated this business practice. My sister has never gotten a parking ticket and never even had a cell phone in her name. I looked her up on a number of sites and she does not ‘exist’. Look for a site that promises high accuracy, but not 100 percent accuracy.

The Easy Route

The easiest way to get a police, or criminal, background check is by asking the potential employee if they would be willing to bring the background check to the interview. A third party cannot go to the police station and request a background check without written permission from the subject of the checkup. An individual can ask for their own bacground check and get a copy. Most areas do charge a small fee for this service. If the employee is not willing to bring their own background check , you can pursue other routes.

Doing a Little Research

In most states, court documents are available online. You first need to search the State where the subject lived. Court document can be accessed from the state’s home page. Once there, you can find a link to the main court’s web page. From the court web page, one can normally search by name, birth date or social security number. If the applicant has put their social security number on their application, this is the best way to search. If not, you can always search by name or birth date but you need to be aware that the results may not be 100 percent accurate. If the person you are investigating has just recently moved to a new state, you can check the states of previous addresses. If you have no success, you have one more search option.

Online Searches

There are many agencies that do background checks online. Again, you can search by name, birth date and even previous addresses. However, if you have a social security number, that is the best way to get accurate information. Most results will give you some basic information, as well as tell you how many files they found on that person. In order to access all the results, you may have to pay a small fee, but it is definitely worthwhile. If no results come from the social security number or the name, you probably have a pretty honest person on your hands.