Where To Get Criminal Background Check / Best Background Check Services
May 10, 2020
A background check is a useful tool when you want to verify the credentials of a potential hire. As an employer, conducting a criminal background check on future employees is an excellent way to ensure that your future hires not only have a clean history, but will be a positive influence on your workplace.
Navigating through the endless options of internet searches and “free” background checks can leave you confused about which is the best choice for you. To help, here are a few places that will assist you with your criminal background check:
Free Online Searches
“Free” online background checks are prevalent, but are rarely what they seem. Not every courthouse, state or municipal, shares its records online. Your searches could be accessing outdated database information. This means that the final report you receive may be missing crucial pieces of an employee’s history, such as very recent criminal infractions. These online searches also frequently misreport criminal records on people who do not have a record, which could cost you an excellent new hire. Using this faulty information can have legal repercussions for your company as well.
The inclination to go online and use a “free” search is understandable. These searches are fine for the purpose of simple curiosity. However, for a business decision you should seek alternative options.
County Superior Court or Sheriff’s Office
You can start your search by visiting your local superior court. The court clerk or any centralized office of law enforcement will likely be able to provide you a criminal record search report for that county, as infractions should be archived and accessible. The office clerk may conduct the search for you for a fee.
However, this criminal search will be limited to the county of that court’s office. If any criminal activity occurred in another county, it won’t be discovered. Make sure you visit the correct offices when starting your search.
State Superior Court or Sheriff’s Office
In many cases, a county search isn’t sufficient to perform a successful background search. Widening your scope to include multiple counties is ideal. For this criminal search, you may go to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The State Bureau of Investigation can search of criminal information for all crimes committed in your state. However, not all of the state’s departments of public safety, police forces, and courts contribute criminal record information to a centralized state database. This type of search will give you a broader range criminal search; however, the state’s database is often incomplete or not fully updated.
A Third-Party Background Check Service
Obtaining a criminal search isn’t difficult. From free online criminal searches to government record sources, criminal background checks are fairly accessible. But as an employer you need more than criminal records; you need accurate information. Government-based background checks can lack in certain areas. A third-party screening service will offer numerous additional services that government services are not be able to provide.
Third-party background check services provide an accurate criminal record search. You want to ensure that you are finding all criminal records associated with your applicant; however, you also want to make sure that all the records you find are actually associated with them and not someone else.
Third party background check services have the expertise and experience to know the depth and reliability of court and state criminal record searches.
These services handle criminal history checks from all levels and databases across multiple states. Third-party screening companies can also conduct drug tests, credit checks, social media searches, and other reliable resources for vetting your potential job candidate. Screening companies even have the resources necessary to conduct post-hire screening.
Find the Right Service
By knowing the criminal history of any potential employee, you can mitigate the risk of your company being involved in a future crime. Hiring decisions can make or break a company, so get to know the people you are considering by vetting them thoroughly.
There are cases where you only need criminal information for a background check and others where you may need a thorough employee screening process. You might choose the versatility of a professional screening service or prefer the simplicity of going to your local court.
It is important to find the right background check service for your business, so you can hire the best candidate for your company. Make sure you find the service that best fits your company’s background check needs.
Where To Get Criminal Background Check / Best Background Check Services
Tags: Where To Get Criminal Background Check, Best Background Check Services