employeescreenIQ encourages its clients to utilize use the most effective tools available to create a comprehensive and compliant pre-employment screening program. Critical to achieving this goal is the criminal research component of the screening process. While there are several available criminal records checks, federal district court searches are among the most misunderstood.
While there is a place for this check in any screening program, it is important to have a full understanding of this process prior to requesting this product. This article will offer examples of criminal records found in these courts, as well as discuss the advantages and limitations of this tool.
Federal district court searches are excellent options for clients looking to broaden their criminal records check to include serious offenses that are adjudicated outside of local, county courthouses. Each court contains different kinds of criminal records. Whereas crimes adjudicated in county court are typically crimes against state laws, crimes adjudicated in federal courts are considered federal offenses.
For example, an individual who sold small quantities of drugs on the street corner will usually find themselves prosecuted in county court. An individual who drove a car trunk’s worth of drugs across state lines with the intent to distribute them may find themselves in federal court. Kidnapping and wire or bank fraud are also some cases that may be tried in federal court. Because many high level financial crimes are tried here, this is an excellent tool for clients in the banking, finance, or insurance industries.
The federal court system is a separate judicial structure and has little to no connection to local county courthouses. Thus, the mechanisms for conducting this type of check are different. For example, as a pre-employment screening company, we are afforded access to the electronic PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) system, which allows us to search criminal records from 94 federal district court systems. If no criminal records are found, these searches can be finished in 1-2 days. By contrast, for county criminal searches, our researchers most likely are physically walking into one of 3,200+ courthouses nationwide to conduct hands-on research. Because of the legwork that goes into a manual hand search, these generally take 2-4 days.
There are also differences depending on the level of assistance we might need. In county courthouses, we often work directly with a court employee for clarification or additional information, as needed. The federal system, by and large, is less cooperative. Almost always, these courts dictate further assistance will only be provided via “snail” mail.
In addition, many federal hits are provided as “name matches only.” Because providing criminal records without any identifiers (SSN, DOB, DL #) violates the intent of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, our Public Records Department often has to request additional information directly from the court. While our Public Records Department can work with county court personnel to clean up any questions within a few hours or a few days, it often takes federal court personnel weeks or months to return our requests for information. Often, they cannot provide any additional information that allows us to conclusively tie possible records to your applicant, leaving us no alternative but to set the search to no record. Basing a hiring decision on a criminal record that is not clearly substantiated and directly identified with your candidate could leave you open to employment litigation.
While it is true that federal courts adjudicate very serious offenses, it would be an oversight to direct all your criminal screening dollars to just this type of search. While they do house serious offenses, conviction records such as rape, murder, and robbery are frequently found by doing a county court search. Thus, it is important to note that a federal district court search is not the best option for a client who wants to find just the most serious criminal offenses.
This tool remains a complement and not a straight supplement, to County Court searches. By a large margin, most crimes adjudicated in the United States are still found at the local county level. If these historical trends change, trust that Background Information Services, Inc. will make appropriate recommendations that maximize the value of your pre-employment screening investment.
Kevin Bachman is Vice President of Quality Service for Cleveland-based employeescreenIQ, a best practices provider of pre-employment screening services throughout the U.S. and worldwide. Kevin can be reached at (800) 235-3954 ext. 450 or kbachman@employeescreen.com.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...