County Criminal Record Searches

County criminal record searches are the best first option for those seeking background information on prospective hires. Starting at the county level affords you several advantages over starting at the state or federal level. Not only are your costs lower, but your results are likely to be more relevant and up to date.

When you opt for county criminal record searches, you're not merely combing an existing database. Rather, you're paying for the services of a court researcher whose job it is to go back through old dockets and indices to match your request with extant records. If your subject has recently been charged with or convicted of a crime in that county, your search will turn up this information, even if it's only days or weeks old.

Complications of County Criminal Record Searches

While county criminal record searches can provide employers and private detectives (or just everyday citizens) with valuable information, they should not be looked at as a one-stop solution. There are simply too many judges, justices, magistrates, municipal courts, and county courts for a single search to cover them all. Mostly, county criminal record searches start at the top--those courts that oversee the most serious trials and hearings--and then trickle down from there.

If initial findings turn over scant substantive information, the search may continue at lower courts that hear cases of petty theft, vandalism, and other misdemeanors. How far you descend through the court system really depends on how badly you want or need the info you're after. For a lot of employers, it's enough for their subjects to pass the first (and most stringent) test. They typically don't care if their subjects have tiny skeletons in their closets.