Federal Background Checks: A Complete Guide
Before bringing aboard a new employee, particularly someone in a position where they’re handling finances, you may want to conduct a federal criminal background check.
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Louis DeNicola
10 min read
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Criminal background checks are an important part of making informed hiring decisions and building a safe workplace. State and federal criminal background checks may be required in some situations, but a county criminal background check provides you with the most detailed and comprehensive results.
In this article, we’ll explore what county criminal background checks are, why they’re important, and how you can use the results while remaining compliant with local, state, and federal laws.
There are nearly 3,150 counties and county-equivalents in the US, and most criminal prosecutions happen in municipal or county courts. A county criminal background check searches for criminal charges and convictions at these county courthouses.
Most counties digitize their records and make them available online. Some only give researchers in-person digital access to their records, only have paper copies, or require a county clerk to assist in retrieving records.
The results of a county criminal background check may reveal the following results:
County background checks don’t reveal federal criminal convictions prosecuted at the federal level. The results also won’t necessarily show dismissed charges or records that were sealed or expunged. It’s helpful to understand the terminology in criminal background checks and how to read the results accurately. Even if they’re available, GoodHire doesn’t include non-convictions in background check results to align with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines and help you comply with state laws.
A county criminal background check generally covers at least seven years of criminal records. A longer timeframe may be available where allowed by state law. Some states, such as California and New York, limit the lookback period of a background check to seven years.
A county background check generally takes one to five business days. However, the specific turnaround time can depend on:
Some courthouses have records available online, while others don’t allow off-premise access to records. In situations where a courthouse only has physical records, you or a court runner will need to visit the county courthouse to conduct the search. Some courthouses have a public access terminal that court runners can use, while others require the runner to ask a county clerk to retrieve the records and make copies.
In response to privacy concerns, several counties across the US have begun removing personally identifiable information, including date of birth (DOB), from public court records. Additionally, criminal records rarely have a Social Security number (SSN) associated with them. Having fewer personal identifiers can make finding and correctly matching records more difficult, particularly in highly populated counties, which can impact the turnaround time.
Your background check provider’s platform, process, and data sources can also affect the timing. CRAs must verify the accuracy of the results when conducting a background check, so unexpected closures at the courthouses or technological issues with the databases may lead to temporary delays.
County background checks only look for records in the county—or counties—you request. Casting a wider net with a state background check can reveal criminal charges and convictions that are included in state-level databases.
County records are often fed into these state databases, which means you might find overlapping results. However, a county background check may turn up new records if the county isn’t connected to its state database. With this in mind, barring certain exceptions, the state background check should generally be an addition, rather than a replacement for, a county background check. Additionally, some industries may require a statewide criminal records search.
Employers can leverage third-party solutions and providers to perform county criminal background checks as a one-off search or part of a comprehensive pre-employment screening.
The criminal records check starts with a candidate’s name, date of birth, and Social Security number (SSN) trace, which reveals the candidate’s address history. These addresses help you identify which county records to search. Nationwide and state searches can also help you determine which counties to include.
Employers using a CRA to conduct screening will need to make sure they’re complying with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
You can run a personal background check on yourself if you want to find out what records exist and what employers might see. With GoodHire, you can also add comments to your personal background check to give human resources teams additional context, and easily dispute any errors or inaccurate information you find.
Organizations need to be mindful of local, county, state, and federal laws and regulations that impact when you can run and how you can use criminal background checks for employment. At a high level, you’ll want to consider:
Working with an accredited consumer reporting agency that specializes in background checks and has built-in compliance features can help ensure you’re following the latest laws and regulations.
A county background check can provide important details about a candidate’s criminal history that can be used to make a more informed hiring decision. County criminal background checks are among the hundreds of background screening options GoodHire offers employers and candidates, including federal background checks, national background checks, and state background checks. Our unparalleled access to databases and national network of professional court runners can help you quickly receive and review results—while also helping you stay compliant wherever you’re hiring.
The resources provided here are for educational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. We advise you to consult your own counsel if you have legal questions related to your specific practices and compliance with applicable laws.
Before bringing aboard a new employee, particularly someone in a position where they’re handling finances, you may want to conduct a federal criminal background check.
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The results of a national criminal background check show an overview of a candidate’s criminal history using public records data from states and counties across the country.