Solutions / Criminal
Criminal Background Investigations
Is your national criminal search uncovering all high-risk candidates?
Nearly 60% of the companies we talk to think they’re uncovering all risks with a national search, but there’s so much more to consider. We have you covered:
Federal
State
County
Local (city, town, village)
Global: international screening
Continuous monitoring
1. What is a National Criminal Search?
- Focus: This search leverages vast national data repositories containing over 500 million records, including criminal records from various jurisdictions throughout the United States, prison information, parole/release data, and more.
- Information: Reports may include details on arrests, convictions, incarcerations, and releases.
- Benefits: Offers a nationwide perspective on a candidate’s criminal history.
- Considerations: Lacks complete U.S. criminal court records as well as current court information. A very superficial search tool.
- Recommendation: Consider using this search as a tool or indicator in conjunction with Criminal Research by County or Statewide Criminal Convictions Research for a more comprehensive level of due diligence.
2. What is a Federal Criminal Search?
- Focus: This search delves into a United States District Court’s official federal criminal history repository, providing a comprehensive picture of crimes prosecuted by the United States District Court.
- Information: Reports typically include criminal activity details, final dispositions, crime severity (misdemeanors, felonies), court event dates, and information on probation, community service, or incarceration.
- Benefits: Offers a broader perspective on a candidate’s federal criminal history within a specific federal jurisdiction.
- Considerations: This should not be confused with a National Criminal search, as described above. Typical crimes found in this search are those prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office (e.g., bank robbery, money laundering, racketeering, crimes committed across state lines, and any crime where the prosecution is brought on a federal level).
- Recommendation: For a complete assessment of an applicant’s criminal background, consistently use this search method.
3. What is a Statewide Criminal Search?
- Focus: This search delves into a state’s official criminal history repository, providing a comprehensive picture of felonies throughout each state, with misdemeanors in some jurisdictions also included.
- Information: Reports typically include criminal activity details, final dispositions, crime severity (misdemeanors, felonies), court event dates, and information on probation, community service, or incarceration.
- Benefits: Offers a broader perspective on a candidate’s criminal history within a state.
- Considerations: Limited to the courts that contribute information to the state repository. Note: Not every jurisdiction reports to state repositories—due diligence is critical.
- Recommendation: Always conduct this investigation and pair it with additional county research where jurisdictional information may not be reported.
4. What is a Countywide Criminal Search?
- Focus: This search investigates criminal records within a specific jurisdiction (often county, but varies in areas) typically revealing felony and sometimes misdemeanor convictions as well as pending cases.
- Information: Reports typically include offense date, nature of the offense, crime type, disposition date, and case status.
- Benefits: Ideal for local positions with minimal risk exposure.
- Considerations: Limited scope, as well as a common misconception that misdemeanors are always included (they’re lacking in many jurisdictions); also, will not capture information from outside searched county.
- Recommendations: Conduct this search only when a state search is not available or is missing information that may be revealed by a countywide search.
5. What is Criminal Activity Monitoring?
- Focus: This ongoing service provides near-real-time alerts when an employee is booked or incarcerated by local law enforcement.
- Information: Reports on arrests and incarcerations received from a network of sheriffs’ departments, county jails, and booking facilities.
- Benefits: Allows you to stay informed about potential employee misconduct and make timely decisions regarding employment status.
- Considerations: Not all jurisdictions actively participate in the Criminal Activity Monitoring tool. May require additional investigation to determine the impact of an incident on employment. This is a post-hire tool, and to ensure regulatory compliance, caution is recommended when using this information or taking any action based on it.
6. What is a State Sex Offender Registry Search?
- Focus: This search investigates a state’s sex offender registry, revealing relevant offenders who have been placed on the registry because of a sex offense.
- Information: Reports typically include the offender’s full name and at least two identifiers or personally identifiable information (PII), offense classification, and last known address. The level of detail varies by state.
- Benefits: Provides valuable insight for positions involving vulnerable populations.
- Considerations: Information accuracy varies depending on state reporting requirements.
Additional Services:
- National Sex Offender and Violent Abuse Registry: Provides a comprehensive review of sexual predator and offender records as reported to national registries. As with to the National Criminal Search, not all records are guaranteed to be reported, which requires users to be diligent.
- Extended Global Sanctions: Searches hundreds of domestic and international watch lists to identify risks associated with sanctions violations.
- Healthcare Compliance Search: Includes all debarment and blocked persons’ lists that should be checked to ensure compliance with healthcare laws and sanctions. This is a proprietary search of SmartHRCheqs™ and includes, but is not limited to, OIG Health and Human Services exclusions list, Department of Health Services debarment lists, FDA debarment list, and adult abuse lists.
- Enhanced Nationwide Screening: Offers a nationwide criminal search combined with multi-jurisdictional searches (a combination of state and county criminal record searches) across all 50 states, including sex offender registries.
- Fraud Abuse Control Information System (FACIS): Required minimum compliance search for organizations working with government healthcare programs; screens for exclusions and debarments.
- Global Criminal Search: Investigates criminal records in an individual’s previous countries of residence (availability subject to local laws and regulations).
Finding the Perfect Fit
At SmartHRCheqs, we get it! Every company is unique. It’s why we customize a plan that fits your unique needs. Our team of experts will work with you to determine the most suitable criminal background investigation for your specific needs and risk tolerance. Contact us today to discuss your requirements and build a hiring strategy that fosters a safe and secure work environment.
