criminal background screenings

When hiring an employee or screening a volunteer, the first step is to confirm the individual’s identity by conducting a Social Security Number (SSN) Search. This search provides full name and/or alternate names used, dates at listed addresses, age/date of birth, and available phone information. This is an investigative starting point that provides a more complete background search when combined with a County Criminal check in the counties lived for the past 7 years. (NOTE: Information from the Social Security Administration is not used in this report).

*Turnaround Time: Instant  

 An extensive report that includes a multi-state search of criminal records. This search accesses over 400 databases and 200 million files containing criminal records from participating:

• State Repositories and Archives
• County Courthouses
• Administrative Office of the Court Records
• Sex-Offender Registries
• Department of Corrections (DOC) Files
• Traffic violations and infractions involving warrants

*Per the FCRA, when using this report for employment permissible purposes, it’s only used as a locator search to provide locations of possible records and not the actual case information (must be verified). This report should not be the sole source of criminal information.

*Turnaround Time: Less than 24 hours 

COUNTY CRIMINAL SEARCH

 Based on the candidate’s address history, the County Criminal Search is considered the most accurate and comprehensive criminal background search. Clear Hire utilizes a team of researchers to access criminal records directly from the courthouses in the county(ies) you are requesting. We utilize public access terminals or “hand pulled” criminal searches to directly examine county criminal felony and/or misdemeanor court records, rather than using an aggregated criminal database. Our system will auto-populate any counties lived for the past 7 years, based on the SSN Trace results pulled prior.

*Turnaround Time: Average 1-3 days based on County  

STATEWIDE CRIMINAL SEARCH

 Administrative Office of the Court (AOC) Report or Law Enforcement Repository. Accesses the statewide criminal repository, if available, in a given state. Statewide Criminal Searches provide access to public criminal records from the applicable state. Search results may include felony, misdemeanor, and/or traffic-case information. The type of data and number of years of information will vary state to state. It is important to know that not every county may report to the state level, leaving voids; the two exceptions are Kentucky and New York, which provide data from every county in their respective states. This report should not be the sole source of criminal information.

*Turnaround Time: Varies by state, average 1-3 days 

FEDERAL CRIMINAL SEARCH

 Reports the records of crimes committed against Federal criminal laws. This information is not included on a county or statewide record, (i.e. bank robbery, interstate theft, kidnapping, etc.). This report is especially relevant for screening management and executive candidates for white-collar crimes. Federal Criminal results are name match only, and there are no additional identifiers available in these files

*Turnaround Time: 1-3 days 

 NATIONAL SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY

The national sex offender registry search is critical for professionals and volunteers who will interact with youth or work in childcare, education, healthcare and human services environments. The search includes sex offender registration records from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Guam & Puerto Rico. Please note that the types of crimes that require registration vary by state. Therefore, not all individuals convicted of a sex crime in one state may be included in another state’s registry.

*Turnaround Time: 1 day 

SELF-SCREENING PACKAGES

Clear Hire provides our clients the opportunity to perform accurate, comprehensive background screenings using our easy online 

"Self Screening Packages". 

*Turnaround times vary by state