Federal Background Check

There are many factors that go into getting the best criminal background check for the money. As an investigator I typically like to employ a "layering" effect when building a criminal background check for a client. A layering effect is composed of three distinct and unique searches. A County Criminal, an instant Single State Criminal and a Federal Criminal comprise the structure of the layering effect. As you can see, I am working from the smallest jurisdiction to the largest. County, State and Federal jurisdictions are the typical hierarchy found in criminal background checks. Contrary to popular belief, these jurisdictions typically do not communicate with each other. If a crime is committed on a county level, there is no way it will appear in a Federal Criminal search and vice verse. However, if this same crime is committed on the county level, it may appear on the state level, but only if it is a felony. Misdemeanors are rarely reported to the state level, thus the advent of the layering effect.

Now taking into account the past address history results from the SSN Trace and the geographic data gleaned from the applicants employment application and/or resume you can start to build your criminal background check. When you impose a 7 year limit on geographic activity you are using a generally accepted time frame and practicing fiscal responsibility for yourself in not checking out addresses that are 20 years old.

If the applicant has lived in more than one state, I would suggest substituting an instant Multi-State Criminal for the instant Single State Criminal. You will get better coverage, plus the Multi-State Criminal includes the Multi-State Sex Offendrs search. However, a caveat exists with the Multi-State Sex Offenders search. A Multi-State Sex Offenders within a state jurisdiction will only pull results for that jurisdiction if the state has provided a Date Of Birth (DOB) in its sex offender data. Therefore we recommend you also conduct a non-instant Single State Sex Offenders search that concentrates in a specific state. As of (01/04/10) the following states do not provide DOB's: AZ, HI, IN, LA, MA, NE, NV, PA, SD, TX, VA, WA, WI and WY.

My contemporaries may disagree with me, but including a Federal Criminal search is relevant and a sound business practice. I agree that very few crimes are committed on the Federal level, some estimates are only 2%, but I would rather not have the client take the chance. I remember a background check for a client many years ago, where the applicant was convicted of a Federal Felony to distribute two tons of marijuana. Yes, two tons of marijuana. I remember this background check distinctly because it was the one time that 2% equaled 2 tons and solidified to me that the layering effect works as intended.

Remember the courts are looking for whether or not an employer conducted a "reasonable" amount due diligence of as it relates to their background checks. Of course the word reasonable is always subject to legal interpretation. However, I would rather go into court knowing that as a company, I employed a methodical approach to conducting a criminal background check while maintaining fiscal responsibility, instead of skipping a step to save $17.60 for a Federal Criminal search.

Is the layering effect infallible, of course not, but it is the best methodology for the money. For more details, see The "Perfect" Background Check.For further details please See A Federal Criminal Background Check click here