What is a Criminal Database Search?
Criminal database searches are an important part of a comprehensive background check. Only checking criminal records information in the states in which an applicant has lived or worked won’t identify criminal offenses that might have occurred while an applicant visited a different county or state.
A criminal database search can reveal convictions and arrests in other jurisdictions so that the scope of the criminal background check can be expanded to check sources in the identified additional areas. However, most criminal databases are not comprehensive, so you should not rely solely on a database search to find criminal records. Employers should supplement those background checks with other searches, such as a county criminal search where a researcher goes to the courthouse to retrieve the information.
While the multi-state criminal database that is included in our NCS packages contains information from thousands of sources in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and Washington, D.C., it is not a fully comprehensive search. The sources that report records to the database vary by jurisdiction. In one state, all counties may report records while another state may only have a few counties that report records. In addition, how often those records update also varies by state.
The database search is also used to obtain applicants’ address history to pinpoint county or state jurisdictions to search for a more comprehensive search and to validate any criminal records returned from the database search.
A criminal database search is a search of databases from a variety of publicly available information sources, including court and county records, state criminal databases, corrections information, watch lists, sex offender registries, and more, including:
- Administrative Office of Courts (AOC)
- State departments of corrections (DOC)
- County jail records
- Sex offender registries from every U.S. state, Puerto Rico, Guam and Washington, D.C.
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
- Fugitive lists at the local, state and federal levels
- Probation and parole records
- County court records
- State criminal information repositories
- State sex offender registries
- Terrorist watch lists
What Does a Criminal Database Search Reveal?
This type of search might show the following types of information about an applicant’s criminal history, including the following:
- Arrests
- Charges
- Offense types and levels
- Convictions
- Sentences
- Placement on probation or parole
- Other details
Often, follow-up county criminal verifications have to be performed for a compliant and comprehensive search.
Informed, Responsible and Expedited Hiring with NCS
Conducting a compliant background screening process that yields the information you need to make timely, informed, and responsible hiring decisions can be a demanding task without the right tools and professional support.
Ensure your hiring process aligns with legal compliance and ethical practices. Trust in National Crime Search's comprehensive pre-employment screening services, including criminal background searches, employment verification, education verification, and much more. Contact us today to discover how we can support your organization in creating a fair and responsible recruitment process.
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