59%
41%
Should an employer be allowed to consider an applicant's criminal history in making hiring decisions?
2468 votes so far
Leader:
Yes - that's important background about the candidate
Yes - that's important background about the candidate
58%
42%
Employer background checks: protection or violation?
1260 votes so far
Leader:
Protection for the company
Protection for the company
- Visit your state government's website. They are listed under many different titles, and are sometimes served by the state government, and sometimes by the state police. An effective Google search phrase is "obtain a criminal history in [your state]." Look for the URLs that end with ".gov" for the most relevant results.
- Some states will have online searches available, while some will require you to fill out and mail in a form. There is generally a fee attached for these services.
- Use a commercial people-search service. Many of the "people finder" services will include a public-records criminal background check, as well as a lot of other relevant information. While their prices can be higher, you may end up with a more complete picture than a criminal background check alone.
- Use Google. Searching for a person on Google can have mixed results, especially if the person you're searching for is named "John Smith." In that case you would want to narrow it down by city, and any other unique identifier you might have—driver's license, social security number, etc. If the person has a more unique name, such as Melvyn Snipburger, you're pretty much guaranteed unique results. Most people will lie between the two extremes.
- You may find newspaper or recorded clips about the person if a crime was recorded at some point.
- This is a very good tool for carrying out a nationwide criminal background check, as it is quite possible for the subject to have committed a crime elsewhere.
- Use a criminal background check service. Like the more generic people-search services, they do a search online for a small fee. However, they focus specifically on criminal background checks from a variety of official sources. These can especially be useful to get correct information such as current and prior addresses, phone numbers, names changes or aliases, civil records like divorce, marriage, foreclosure, private party lawsuits and a host of other identifying information.
Source: Wikihow
Check Criminal Background on Any One Living in USA
Be Safe! Check Background History of People Before Trusting
Murder In The Family: Becki Lynne Dillard murder 11/13/2009 Wright County, MO *Mother-in-law Debra Yvonne Dillard and her boyfriend Billy Joe Eastep
Video: Bernalillo County to vote on MDC overcrowding solution
Suggestions for Free and Paid Criminal Background Check Services
Overview
Free criminal background checks can be used for yourself or potential employees. Criminal background checks are especially important for screening people who will be working with public records or high security information. Find information on free criminal background checks here.
More From Zimbio
