Criminal Background Checks

There are four different kinds of records, all of which are referred to as "criminal records."

1. Arrest Records. Law enforcement records of arrests.
2. Criminal Court Records. Local, state or federal records.
3. Corrections Records. Prison records.
4. State Criminal Repository Records. Statewide records made up of arrest records, criminal court records and correction records.

The four different kinds of criminal records come from different parts of the criminal justice system. When someone is arrested, the arresting agency completes an arrest report, which becomes an arrest record. Then, the defendant is arraigned and tried in criminal courts. These records are referred to as criminal court records. At the conclusion of the trial, the case will either be dismissed or the defendant will be convicted.

When a conviction occurs, there are several possible sentences. For example, the defendant may have to perform community service, pay a fine or might be placed on probation. Sometimes the defendant will be sentenced to incarceration. When an individual is incarcerated for a misdemeanor, they will be sent to jail, rather than state prison. If, however, it is a felony conviction, the defendant may be sent to either jail or prison. Generally only the most violent felons, serious drug abusers and repeat offenders are sent to prison. Records of imprisonment in state prison are called corrections records. Arrest records, criminal court records and correction records are sent to the state criminal repository.

Nationwide Criminal Records. There is no such thing as a nationwide criminal records check. Contrary to popular belief, criminal background checking is a complex type of research and much about the field is changing.

Other than the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC), no truly nationwide database of criminal records exists. Moreover, the NCIC, available only to law enforcement and government agencies, contains as many holes as Swiss cheese.

Citations for misdemeanors, for example, often escape the FBI database. This happens because misdemeanors are filed directly with the criminal court in the relevant jurisdiction. It is then up to the court to send the information to the state repository, which in turn transmits it to the FBI.

Nonetheless, the NCIC represents the closest thing to a national database of criminal records in the United States. Unfortunately, lawyers and their clients do not have access to it.

Lately, the National Criminal File (NCF), a database available in several varieties by Internet vendors has entered the scene, purporting to be a viable alternative to traditional criminal background checking.

Too many gaps exist in NCF data for most lawyers to recommend it to clients or other lawyers as a thorough criminal background-checking tool. To the vendors' credit, they document or warn about the gaps. But who reads the fine print?

Much of the data in the National Criminal File comes from state corrections agencies for participating states (perhaps 35 - 50). This means if your investigation involves a former felon, convicted of a violent crime like rape or murder, or a repeat offender of serious crimes, then the database may have information about the crime. But if the subject of your research served time for theft in a county jail, it's likely that your search of this database won't uncover it.

Interestingly, corrections records also often exist in free or low-cost databases available at the state agency's Web site.