“You want answers?” “I want the truth!” This was a passionate exchange that took place between Tom Cruise as Lt. Daniel Kaffe, and Jack Nicholson as Col. Nathan R. Jessup, in the 1992 film A Few Good Men. When you run a background check you don’t just want answers, you want the truth, but are you getting the whole truth?

When you run a criminal check you assume that you are going to get all of the information on the person for the last seven years. But what if your applicant lived in more than one county, or in more than one state in the last seven years? What if they also went by a different name during that time? Have you asked your applicant for the addresses of all the places they lived for the last seven years, including school and temporary addresses? Have you verified that they have provided all names they have used? If not, you may not be getting the truth that you want.

A person fresh out of college may only have one home address, but if they went to school in a jurisdiction different from their home, part of the picture is missing. This is also true for anyone who may have worked a contract assignment in another town, or had been temporarily relocated to another location by their employer.

If you are using the person’s current home address as the basis for state criminal check, but that person lived in another state for some period during the last seven years, and they have a conviction in that other state, you may never know that record exists.

So how do you make sure you are getting the whole truth? Each type of background check offers a different piece of the picture, so take the time to understand each type of check. The most frequently used checks are:

National Database Checks
National Database checks are a good start as they cover a lot of territory. A National Database is a combination of many other databases; state, county, national sex offender, global watch list, etc. However, did you know that there are many states which do not offer a statewide check? Those states are: Arizona, California, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Even states which do offer a statewide check, and may be part of the National Database, still may not have complete information if all of the counties in the state do not report up to the state database, or if they don’t report updates in a timely manner.

State Criminal Database Checks
A State Criminal Database check covers state court/state law enforcement agency criminal record databases. This covers many counties within the state so you’ll cover more locations than with a single county check. The detail level and accuracy varies from state to state, and as mentioned above, not every state has a statewide check available. Some counties may not report up to the state level.

County Criminal Searches
County Criminal searches cover felony and misdemeanor records for an individual county. While this check is for only one location, the county checks typically provide more accurate and detailed information on criminal records. The details provided at the county level are important for confirming or ruling out records for your search subject.

Federal Criminal Checks
Federal Criminal checks cover locations within a federal district which are prosecuted under federal criminal law. These are offenses such as crimes involving drugs, weapons, fraud (mail, credit card), identity theft, tax evasion, etc.

Once you understand what each check can offer, and consider the options in relation to your company/business requirements, you can make an informed decision to choose the check, or combination of checks, that will give you the truth which you seek.

Sources:  ClearStar Service Descriptions