Plastics Recruiter - Statewide Criminal Searches

My name is Dan Regovich and I am Plastics Recruiter.

There are states that allow access to their State Police Records Repository and this is where we can get a statewide criminal search. There are advantages to the statewide criminal search, as well as some disadvantages.

When a true statewide is done, the records repository holds records for all counties within the state. So if you go to the State of Michigan to do a statewide criminal search, you are getting a state that reports from all counties within the state. One thing to be aware of is that each state does charge an access fee. That is a fee over and above what you would normally pay for a criminal search. The state charges this fee to allow access to their records systems. The advantage to obtaining a statewide criminal search is that you get every county in that state, making it a less expensive and more thorough search than just a standard county criminal search.

Another advantage to a statewide criminal search includes multiple names. Some state will allow you to search more than one last name for a candidate, or more than 1 variation of a first name. If you are checking on a female applicant, the state may allow you to search both a married name and a maiden name for the same cost. You may also search a first name, such as Robert and Bob for the same fees for some states.

Some states offer a statewide search but there may be issues with those records. A state may not have a disposition on the case, or the information is incomplete in their records. Under the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act), in order for a screening company to report those records to you, they must research the case and obtain all the missing data. This generally requires that the investigator goes to the county courthouse where the charges originated in order to verify the criminal records.

Other states may offer a statewide criminal search and yet all counties do not report to the state records repository. This is not a true statewide criminal search, and background companies who operate under the FCRA will tell you that these are not true statewide records and recommend that you defer to the county criminal searches instead.

To add to all this, you also have states that have special circumstances. Maybe they have to have a special request form that is signed or notarized, maybe they have an extremely long turnaround time, or maybe they do not accept request except through a digital fingerprint system.

Regardless of the way the search is requested, if you work with a reputable background screening company they can let you know if the states you are looking at doing criminal background checks in offer a reliable statewide search. If they do, you may find this form of criminal records search more cost effective.

Plastics Recruiter Statewide Criminal Searches

Dan Regovich - Plastics Recruiter
AJ Augur Group LLC
Mentor, OH 44060
danregovich@gmail.com
(440) 357-7600