Services

Criminal Searches

Employers are increasingly subjected to costly negligent hiring and retention lawsuits for failing to check an applicant or employee’s criminal history. Because criminal history information is a matter of public record, employers are held accountable for checking for the existence of such records. Courts have determined that criminal history checks constitute reasonable due diligence in protecting the public and other workers in the workplace.

With over 1,000,000 incidents of violence occurring in the workplace annually, employees are beginning to recognize the need to protect co-workers and clients. Criminal history records provides critical information as to whether an employee has a documented history of violence or other criminal acts.

Additionally, many service industries, such as healthcare and childcare, are being required by law to perform criminal history searches.

Which criminal searches are available in Verify?

• State-wide Criminal checks
• County or Circuit Courts
• Federal District Courts

Why County Level Checks are recommended.

• State crime files are not accessible in every state. Each state criminal authority must rely upon local and county law enforcement and court officials to provide arrest and conviction data to them. Unfortunately, these "local" sources are often under-staffed, under-funded and often do not send the adjudicated case to the State in a timely manner. Statewide crime files vary in methods to access information. Many of these methods cause long delays in response.
• County level criminal histories are public record. VERIFY provides access to all 3,187 counties nationwide. These records provide the most accurate and timely information.
• Federal District Court searches identify federal crimes that would not be contained in a state criminal repository or county courthouse.

Send mail to mcheatham@hso.net with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2006 Verify
Last modified: 06/26/06