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BACKGROUND CHECKS
The most important step a staffing agency can take to insure the integrity of a background check is to verify the candidate’s name(s), date of birth, Social Security number, and driver’s license number.  This verification should be conducted by examining the candidate’s documents, e.g., the Social Security card, driver’s license, green card, etc.  It is not enough to take for granted that the candidate has correctly listed this information on the application and/or release forms.  If incorrect identifying data is input, the background check will be worthless.
 

Most background checks include the following elements:   Social Security Number verifications; seven year state and/or county criminal checks conducted in all locations identified where the candidate has lived during the past seven years; national criminal file checks, including sex offender data; and DMV records. 
SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER VERIFICATION 
The Social Security Number Verification is a key component in the background screening process.  It provides information vital to the verification of the information provided on the application; it is effective in identifying holes in a candidate’s history; and is a tool that helps determine where criminal records checks should be conducted and what names need to be searched. 
The Social Security Number Verification includes information from credit bureaus and public records databases regarding the name or names, addresses, and phone numbers that are linked to the usage of a particular Social Security number. This is not a check of the Social Security Administration’s database. However, the SSN Verification does validate whether the SSN was actually issued by the Social Security Administration, and when and where it was issued.
DMV RECORDS
DMV reports can be obtained from every state, with the exception of Alaska, Georgia, and New Hampshire.  Generally, violations remain on the DMV report for three years, although convictions for serious offenses are reported for 5 years or more, depending on the state.  DMV reports are of critical importance, as they can point to substance abuse problems.  DMV checks are important in verifying the candidate’s identity, via the name and date of birth on the driving record.  Note:  when an individual is arrested, the name as it is listed on the driver’s license will probably be the name recorded on the arrest record.
CRIMINAL RECORDS
Types of Crimes
Crimes are categorized as felonies, misdemeanors, or infractions.

Felonies
Felonies are serious crimes such as rape, arson, or murder. Felony convictions result in imprisonment for a year or more.

Misdemeanors
Misdemeanors can be less serious crimes, such as petty theft. However, misdemeanors can also be more serious. A charge like assault, for example, can be either a felony or a misdemeanor. Often a serious misdemeanor starts out as a felony and is reduced to a misdemeanor through plea bargaining. When an individual is convicted of a misdemeanor and is sentenced to jail time, the period of incarceration will be a year or less.

Infractions
Infractions are minor crimes and are treated essentially like a traffic ticket. There is no jail time involved if the individual is convicted. Infractions can include charges such as public drunkenness, loitering, and most traffic offenses.  Misdemeanors can be reduced to infractions.

Types of Criminal Records
 

In the background screening industry different kinds of records are all collectively referred to as “criminal records.”  These records are not the same thing, and do not contain the same information.  The following describes the various types of records that are all called criminal records:
Arrest Records
The starting point for a criminal record is when an individual is arrested for a crime.  Arrest records are created when an individual is taken to the police station, sheriff’s department, or other law enforcement agency following an arrest.  This is where the individual is “booked” for an arrest. Fingerprints and mug shots are taken, and the arresting officers prepare a written arrest report.  Arrest reports are public records in some counties within some states.  However, they are not open to the public in many locations.
Arrest records are sometimes sent to the state criminal repository and some states send the information to the FBI.  However, if the crime is a misdemeanor the information may not be sent to the state repository, and it probably will not be sent to the FBI.
County Criminal Court Record Checks
A criminal court file is created when a defendant is charged with a crime. County criminal checks are the criminal court records on file at the county.  County criminal court records are the primary source of criminal information. Generally, criminal court records are public record. The files include meaty documents such as the criminal complaint, the disposition (verdict), and sentencing information. They might also include information about post-conviction probation violations and arrest warrants.  County criminal checks usually involve sending a court records researcher to the courthouse to manually search the records.
Where the case is filed is usually determined by seriousness of a crime.  The county courts are called by different names in different states.  They may be called Superior Courts, Supreme Courts, District Courts, Common Pleas Courts, Justice Courts, Municipal Courts, etc.  The bottom line is that felonies are usually sent to the county’s highest criminal court, while misdemeanors are usually sent to lower courts. 
It is important to understand that for employment background checks, you must cover both levels of courts if you are to obtain information on both felonies and misdemeanors.  In many counties there is no consolidated index.  As a result, two different checks must often be conducted to cover both felonies and misdemeanors.  Another very important consideration when conducting background checks is whether the lower courts in a county are consolidated.  Most background screening companies only check the misdemeanor records at the county seat.  This is not adequate, because the criminal records could be at any number of lower courts in the county.  For example, if a candidate lived in East Cleveland, Ohio the court records researcher might go to the Cuyahoga County Courthouse to search felony records at the Common Pleas Court and misdemeanors at the Cleveland Municipal Court, because both courts are housed in the same building.  However, the East Cleveland Municipal Court and eleven other municipal courts would not be included because the lower courts are not consolidated.  Therefore, a misdemeanor committed in East Cleveland would not be found. When you request a background check you need to ask your vendor whether you are really getting the appropriate misdemeanor checks conducted.
Correction Records
Correction records are records of incarceration in federal or state prisons. While correction records from prisons are available online in most states, they typically include information about the most serious criminals. Less serious crimes involve jail time, not prison, and most jail records are not available online.  Note:  most of the records included in the National Criminal File search are correction records.
Statewide Criminal Records
Statewide criminal checks provide some advantages over county criminal checks.  They are broader geographically and the turnaround times are minimal.  However, as discussed in the section on county criminal searches, it is dangerous to assume that a statewide search will include everything.  The problem of missing misdemeanors is of critical importance.  The best policy is to conduct both a statewide check and a county check where the individual has lived.
Statewide criminal records are derived from three sources: state criminal repositories maintained by state law enforcement agencies, statewide criminal court indexes available through the state administrative office of the courts, and via proprietary databases.  The records are checked by name and date of birth. 
Statewide searches can be conducted in a most states. However, data quality and currency, as well as turnaround times vary from state to state.  The checks available from the following states are reasonably comprehensive. Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.  Manual county checks should be conducted in all other states. 
National Criminal File
This check provides information from multiple criminal record sources.  The primary sources included are: multi-state sex and violent offender records; incarceration records, parole, and release records from prisons; some state and local county criminal records; Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN List) from The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC); the FBI Terrorist List; and Federal/State/Local Wanted Fugitive Lists.  The advantage to this search is that the records are available instantly.
The biggest problem with this search is the large number of false positives and false negatives. The primary reasons are:

1. The vast majority of the records do not include identifiers, such as date of birth.  Therefore, if a candidate has a common name it is likely that a huge number of records will be reported for that name that have absolutely nothing to do with the candidate. 
2. The sources that the criminal data come from only include a small percentage of the data available at the county courts and at the state, and much of the data is not up to date.   While online vendors claim that this search includes over 350 million records, the number of individuals in the database is much smaller. 

Automatic monthly updates to this database are available from some online vendors.  However, given the holes in this database, monthly updates provide little protection.  The National Criminal File search should only be used as a pre-screening tool. This search, including monthly updates, is available free of charge at http://criminalsearches.com.
 
Sex Offender
This search provides information regarding individuals who have been convicted of sexually-violent offenses against adults and children and certain sexual contact and other crimes against victims who are minors.  This search is available free of charge at http://www.nsopr.gov/.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 8th, 2008 at 12:47 pm and is filed under APNA News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.