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Will
the persons I request background checks on know I requested
the information?
No. They do not know who has requested background checks on
them, because they are public records.
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What is your
privacy policy?
At USCriminalSearch.com we are committed to respecting and
protecting your privacy. For full details on our Privacy Policy,
click here.
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Are your
services completely confidential?
Yes. We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer outside the
company personally identifiable information that visitors voluntarily
provide in any registration or order form. The information you
provide to us is only used to better understand our visitors'
use of our services and to support related transactions made
on our site.
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Does your
site track me as I use the web?
No, but our site does use cookies, which are data files used
to communicate with your web browser. These files are used exclusively
to provide security and are not used to gather information about
users. So, when you log out, the cookies won't be saved, and
we will not share information about our users with any other
site.
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How do I contact
USCriminalSearch.com?
Just click here to contact us and
tell us your concerns, and we will be in touch with you
within 24 hours
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What
are public records?
Public Records are gathered by various offices and agencies
with the purpose of being made publicly available.
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What if I need
more information than is contained in the result?
You can check the Judicial Branch listings for the appropriate
district or county court phone numbers and addresses.
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What if the
information provided is inaccurate?
Government records can and do contain misinformation. If you
find an inaccuracy, the Judicial Branch recommends that you
write or call the applicable court.
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I'm having trouble
with my computer loading pages. I'm getting weird error messages.
Could this be my computer's fault?
Yes. The most common problems accessing our site is reported
by users with Netscape and AOL. Microsoft Internet Explorer
v. 4.0 and higher almost always work properly.
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Can I search by last
name only?
No! Our system won't accept a search without at least a first
initial.
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The subject I want
to search gave his name as "Bob". Might this name
be listed as "Robert" in your records?
Definitely! The record also could be listed as "Rob".
In such cases, to avoid having to perform multiple searches,
it might be best to search as "Rob". Since our database
logic uses "wild cards" then if you search on "Rob"
you also would get results where the first name is Robert. Conversely,
if you type in the full name "Robert" the system would
not report occurrences of "Rob". The same logic would
apply to Tom and Thomas, Rick and Richard, etc. Even last names
are searched this way, so if you don't know the correct spelling
of a last name, type only as many letters as you're sure of.
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What is the best way
to search on a common name?
The best way to search a common name is to include the date
of birth as a search parameter, along with the first and last
name. (Be sure to type the DOB like this: "MM-DD-YY").
Be prepared for hundreds of results being sent to your computer
if you search on a John Smith without including a DOB!
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If I submit a search
with the name spelled incorrectly, then I re-submit the search
with the correct spelling, will I be charged for two searches?
Yes, you will be charged for all searches submitted. As stated
in our User Agreement, it is the user's responsibility to enter
correct spellings for all searches.
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Are the records you
house in your data center considered to be "official"
criminal history records?
No. Almost every state has laws that prohibit the dissemination
of "official" criminal history records to any private
citizen or business. However, USCriminalSearch.com does have
the most comprehensive criminal records database of any Internet
site in the U.S.
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How do I determine
which record most likely applies to my inquiry?
Review the possible hits individually, by evaluating all of
the demographic information that is available. You should
begin by looking at the complete name, date of birth, SSN
and any other identifiers that may be present, such as alias
name, additional dates of birth or SSN. Do not assume that
the possible hit will always be the first or second search
results.
The Search Results Page displays the possible matches to the
search criteria that you have entered. The result of the search
could indicate that no record was found on the subject, that
a single subject matched the search criteria, or that there
were multiple possible matches.
If there was no record found, there is no criminal history on
file for the subject (based on the info provided). No additional
charges apply beyond the $29.00 search fee already processed.
If a single match occurred, the subject’s criminal history
will be returned. No additional charges apply beyond the $29.00
search fee already processed.
If more than one record matched the search criteria, you will
be presented with a choice of up to five candidates that matched.
You will then select the record(s) you would like to receive.
The criminal record for one selected candidate is included in
the $29.00 search fee.
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Why am I charged if
my search returned no results?
No record is also considered a finding of a person's record.
About 70% of the persons we have searched have no criminal record.
As we need to access the database, we have to pay the cost of
each search. Thank you for your understanding.
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The person I'm
looking for is currently in jail. Will their record reflect
that?
That depends. If the court proceedings are still in the process
and the person has not posted bail, then that will not show
up on their record. Until they are convicted, their record
will come back clear.
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I looked up someone
who I know is in prison but it didn't show up on your report.
Why?
Depending on the county, if a person was convicted outside of
our seven-year time frame, it is possible their offense may
not come up in our report even though they are currently serving
time.
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I know someone
who has been arrested in the past. Will this report show that?
Arrests by themselves do not show up on our reports. We can
only report criminal convictions. If someone was arrested and
then released without being convicted, it will not show on our
report.
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I know someone
who was convicted of spousal abuse less than seven years ago,
but that didn't come up on your report.
This may be because some crimes can fall into more than one
court category. Where they fall, depends on the state or county
where the offense took place. With a crime like spousal abuse,
it may have been reported to the family courts instead of
the criminal courts, and because family court records are
not available to us, it would not show on our report. This
does not downplay the nature of the offense. It just means
the record is stored in a different place. Another example
of this is if someone is convicted of a DUI. A DUI is sometimes
reported in traffic court, which is also not accessible to
us.
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Why did
my search return no results?
Reasons why this may occur are as follows:
- Subject has never been arrested for a serious offense.
- Subject’s record is sealed or expunged.
- Subject was arrested by a Federal agency (NCIC rules do
not allow dissemination of national or other state criminal
history information for public record/non-criminal justice
purposes).
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How
do I decide whether to run a county or statewide criminal
search?
Both of these two products involve criminal records research,
but the source of information and the focus of each search
are very different. While it is possible for both products
to yield the same case information on a subject, your chances
of finding information will be greater if you follow these
simple guidelines:
If you know or think a subject was tried for a criminal offense
in a particular county, choose county criminal search. This
is where the actual records filed in that county are hand-checked
by a qualified court records researcher.
If you know or think a subject was tried for a criminal offense
in a particular state, but don't know the county, or if the
subject has moved around a state several times, try a statewide
criminal Search. This search has a much wider geographical
focus.
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Why
should I search for County criminal records if I can search
the State Criminal Records Repository?
Unfortunately, the state repositories are databases of information,
which vary independently. Each repository relies upon the
various agencies within the state to report information to
the repository. It has been our experience that the information
is less complete than the actual court records.
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I'm looking
for someone who committed a crime in one county but is serving
time in another county. Where do I start looking?
You should search in the county where the crime was committed,
NOT where they may be incarcerated.
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Does the
county court cover all cities in that county?
That depends. Only counties with large populations or major
cities will put all courts on a "network" so the records
can be accessed by one search through one court. In this case,
the entire county reports from one court, (i.e., Cook County
only has the Chicago circuit court), making it very likely that
all criminal offenses in that county will be passed through
that court.
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What does "Deferred
Adjudication" mean?
Adjudication is an agreement between the defendant and the courts
to clear the charge from the docket. For this to occur, the
defendant has agreed to complete some sort of arrangement, such
as a fine, community service, etc. If the defendant fails to
hold up their end of the agreement, then he or she will be convicted
of the charge and sentenced accordingly. Deferred Adjudication
is generally not considered a criminal conviction.
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What does
"Disposition" mean?
A disposition is the final outcome of a criminal case.
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What does "Sentence"
mean?
A sentence is the punishment for the crime. In official terms,
it is the judgment formally pronounced by the court or judge
upon the defendant after his/her conviction in a criminal court.
The punishment can be in the form of a fine, incarceration or
probation. Depending upon the laws of a state and specific court
procedure, a sentence may be decided upon by a judge, jury or
sentencing council. The term "sentence" is only used
in criminal proceedings. In civil cases, the terms "judgment,"
"decision," "award," "finding,"
etc. are used instead.
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