Background Check Basics

Criminal Background Check Basics
If the basic tenet of the Hippocratic Oath Is "First, do no harm" then perhaps the first guiding principle of Human Resources Managers is "First, make no bad hiring decisions". In that connection, the first line of defense employed by businesses to protect their employees, their assets and the public is a criminal background check. While the cost of a reasonable criminal background check can be less than fifty dollars, most businesses know the cost of a "Bad Hire" is incalculable. The question then always becomes "How do I conduct the best background check for the least money"?
The Basics
This is sometimes hard to believe, but there simply is no single data base that allows an employer or a background check company access to all of the criminal records in all of the states. Even the NCIC, which is a criminal data base available only to law enforcement agencies, is not a complete data base of criminal records. Reporting of records to the NCIC is dependent on the states or other courts forwarding the data. It is often not current (as much as two years behind for some states) and rarely has current disposition information.
Multi-State Criminal Background Check
This is the closest thing to a national criminal background check data base that is available to employers and has become the standard primary background check requested. The results of this report are available instantly and should always be the first report ordered. This report usually includes about 80% of the criminal records from 46 states that have been reported by the three thousand-plus counties to the various state data bases. This report usually also includes a check of the sex offender registry in most or all states. Please note that, if the sex offender failed to register, he may not show up in this records check. Moreover, the following important data base searches are often a part of the multi-state criminal background check. OFAC Blocked List (Terrorist Watch List-Office Of foreign Assets Control) INTERPOL Most Wanted- DEA Fugitive List Denied Persons List Debarred List OTS List- (Office Of Thrift Supervision) Bank of England Sanctions List- European Union Terrorism Sanctions List- NSOSFI - Canadian Sanctions List- Australian Reserve Bank Sanctions List
I would certainly recommend that any criminal background check begin with this search, since it casts the widest net available.
State Wide Criminal Background Checks
What results can we expect when ordering criminal background checks from individual states who supply the national database? Compared to the multi-state criminal background check, many criminal records from forty five other states as well as a check of the offender registries are not being checked. The data contained is often late, incomplete, or simply not reported from the originating court. Besides being somewhat expensive, even the primary state law enforcement agency's criminal records data is often incomplete. We have seen many examples where employers regretted relying on the state's law enforcement agency data base. Records that were simply not included as a part of the state law enforcement data base were easily found by plaintiff's attorneys in the county records of the employee accused of assaulting another employee or a member of the public. They likely used the same employment application that was now a part of the proceedings and simply had the criminal records checked in the offending employee's prior counties of residence. The theory of negligent hiring cases is partly based on "if you could have known, you should have known." You may be sure the employer wishes they had checked those same county records. Most background check companies would agree with our experience, which indicates that the quality and the content of the records from state agencies is significantly lower than for records obtained directly from the originating court records. Remember, the data in state repositories is second-hand information gathered from various courts and police departments statewide. Some states have statutes that require various criminal justice agencies to report criminal records to the state repository but this is still not done on a complete and timely basis. This is particularly true in cases where the record is an arrest only with no conviction. Often, even felonies and misdemeanors that have been pleaded down to much lesser charges are simply not reported by the counties at all. Nonetheless, any employer would want to know about these charges. Many state record administrators have stated that they estimate that no more than 70 to 80 percent of all criminal data from the police and county criminal courts was actually ever reported to the state criminal record center.
County Criminal Background Checks
No matter what other searches are ordered, we always recommend that, as a minimum, an employer add a search of the county or counties where the applicant has lived for the last several years. The results from these searches are usually provided within 24 to 48 hours For the reasons outlined above, searches in those courts of origin are a critical element of any background check. County superior or felony-level court, which is usually located in the county seat, is the most commonly searched. This court contains the records for the felony-level cases that originate in that jurisdiction. A manual county felony search at that location will reveal the following records: Felony charges that were pleaded down to a misdemeanor conviction. (except in some cases domestic court charges are never reported if probation terms are satisfactorily completed) Felony charges that resulted in a felony conviction and bench warrants issued by that court. Cases that are still pending final action for all cases.
Up-to-Date information
The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires that, before information may be used adversely in employment decisions, it must be verified as the most up-to-date and recent information available. Clearly, a county criminal background search in one or more counties is the only possible way to comply with this requirement. Even the FBI web site says "A record provided to the subject for personal review contains only information maintained by the CJIS Division and may lack dispositional data and/or arrest records that are maintained only at the state level.

http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cjisd/backgroundchk.htm?cm_sp=ExternalLink-_-Federal-_-DOJ

Conclusion
While background checks have become a routine part of the hiring process, the importance of a quality criminal background check should never be underestimated.

A company's future is in its employees' past

Larry 7777 www.national-employment-screening.com

30 years experience in commercial insurance, bonding, risk management and employment screening.

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