CRIMINAL HISTORY – DEFINITIONS

County Level Criminal History Search: Daily, our personnel physically researches the available public record index at the primary county courthouse to identify and retrieve authentic court records.  This type of search is a “Felony’ criminal search always.  Where available, “Misdemeanor” criminal records are also documented in states that maintain a “Unified” court system.  Some counties have mandatory court access fees that apply Per Name to conduct a public record inquiry.  These type access fees are reimbursable with respect to each name.  Statewide Criminal History Search (where and if available): Two (2) types of Statewide Criminal History Searches are available: 1) a Court System search, or 2)an  Official Law Enforcement search.  It’s important to distinguish the two (2) types of research, since one covers the public courthouse type records in the public domain, while an Official law enforcement search is handled through the State Police, or related State level agency, and contains arrest and conviction records usually based on fingerprints.  One search alone does not equate to a conclusive result, since the aggregate database is utilizing different baselines to populate the database. A Statewide Criminal Search through the court system is giving results based on the County level court records, and this statewide system is usually maintained by the state’s “Office of Court of Administration”.  This search identifies records found through the court’s public record Name Index.  Once a Name Match is found, then other personal identifying data is used to confirm and corroborate the records found. Otherwise, an Official Statewide search, through the Official Law Enforcement agency (from a given state, when available) is performed directly through that state’s law enforcement database or central repository.  Also, each state determines the “type of record” that is disseminated.  Every state provides “conviction” records, while some states deny access to “arrest records” that did not result in a conviction.  To conduct an official state police agency search it is usually required to have the 1) Precise and Complete Name, the DOB, and the SSN Number, for the Subject Name.  It is prudent to run each type of statewide search for the best results. NOTE: Some states do NOT offer a statewide criminal search (either type) through the court system nor through the official law enforcement Agency.  In this circumstance, a County by County level search must be performed in that State.  In the end, the aggregate County Level criminal background checks are based on the Applicant’s addresses, provided voluntarily or developed otherwise from the screening activities. Federal Criminal History Search – U. S. DISTRICT COURT (NATIONWIDE): This search identifies federal U. S. District Court cases that involve crimes under federal statutory authority, Agency by Agency; i.e. Bank Robbery, RICO Drug Trafficking crimes, Illegal Sale of Firearms or Weapons, and Bank Frauds and similar Embezzlement crimes, just to name a few.  This type of research is conducted through the Pacer System and physically in-person, at the federal courthouse jurisdictions nationwide.  We check the available public record Name Index for any federal criminal record located in a particular District Court location or nationwide. Instant Nationwide Database Search: This screening task represents a national public records search using an “aggregated” database, which we call a “Capture All” search.  The instant nationwide database research includes over 300 sources of public record data, maintained at the Federal, State, and Local levels of government.  Name Matches to filings must be verified and confirmed at the original source location to assure accuracy and to meet compliance. Results from the database search will include publicly filed Criminal records, Traffic and  Vehicle Code violations (varies by state), State Level Megan’s Law violators from Sex Offender Registries nationwide, State Department of Corrections (varies by state) prisoner records, the Interpol Most Wanted Fugitives list, the U. S. Treasury OFAC Blocked Parties List, Denied Persons List, OTS Lists, the DEA Fugitive List, Debarred Contractor List, the Bank of England Sanctions list, the OSFI-Canadian Sanctions List, the United Nations Consolidated Sanctions List, the European Union Terrorism Sanctions List, the Australian Reserve Bank Sanctions List, the Comptroller of the Currency Enforcement Actions List, the World Bank Listing of Ineligible Individuals or Entities, the Department of Health & Human Services Exclusions list, the U. S. General Services Administration Excluded Parties lists, the Palestinian Legislative Council List and the FDA Debarred Parties List, for example.  So, this search tool is a comprehensive review of Federal, State and International repositories to meet compliance concerns on hiring individuals, Entities, meeting contractual obligations, and other mandatory transactional matters. National Sex Offender Registry – Department of Justice: This type of screening task is performed through the official Sex Offender Registry, maintained federally through the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) website.  This data is a cooperative effort between the State agencies hosting the public Sex Offender registries and the federal government.  This public record search is identified as the “National Sex Offender Public Website” (NSOPW).