Background Screening

Federal Criminal Records

The ability of private companies to conduct national criminal record checks is an urban legend like the alligators in the sewers of New York. Only law enforcement can do this - no private company can. The police check criminal records through the FBI's National Crime Information Center or NCIC, which is the national repository for criminal records. There are specific statutes that make accessing or attempting to access these records by other than law enforcement agencies, a violation of the law.

Misinformation and confusion swirls about criminal records and makes the waters murky. Companies claiming they can do instant national criminal record checks cause most of it. Television has also done its part by showing super cops with computers instantly retrieving records that are apparently spinning around somewhere in cyber space. Many people, based on the number of phone calls we receive, are convinced it's that easy to check someone out.

Here's another fact: Not all records are computerized and not all computerized records are complete. Some court systems have records sitting in back rooms in cardboard boxes, and many record systems haven't been kept current due to shortages of money and people.

A quick primer on criminal records: Criminal records are divided three ways: local, state and federal, and local and state records are not mixed or cross indexed with federal records. These are separate and distinct record systems. As an example, bank embezzlement is a violation of federal law and it is prosecuted in U. S. District Courts. The resulting conviction is recorded in the federal system, not in local or state records. Searching state and local records will not disclose federal convictions, and the reverse is also true.

So, where do the criminal records you receive come from? Depending on the depth of the search, they are obtained by combining local, state and federal records. This is not a perfect system, but if the searches are done correctly, when the records are combined with the other background information gathered, a good hiring decision can be based on the results.