WHAT A CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK IS AND WHAT TO EXPECT IN A CRIMINAL HISTORY REPORT
Criminal background checks in the United States like Florida Criminal Background Checks are primarily pulling court records, correctional facility records (inmate records) and sex offender records. There are a few background check types that are important to understand so you know what kind of background check to order. The most common and most widely used criminal background check in the USA is the statewide criminal background check (including the Florida background checks) whose scope is the US State in which the search is being performed. Most Statewide criminal background checks including Florida criminal background checks or criminal history checks (the two terms mean the same in substance and are interchanged frequently when discussing criminal checks and criminal history reports) are instant searches, meaning you get your search results only seconds after placing your order. There are currently 46 US States that offer an instant/near instant criminal history check. Two other states offer statewide searches but they are not instant and take days to complete. Finally there are two states that do not offer a statewide criminal search and for those two states only county criminal checks are available.
County criminal checks typically take 1-3 business days to complete but when returned to you they are the most current, up to date and complete criminal record check available today. Florida background checks can be ordered by county within the State of Florida or as an instant Statewide Florida criminal background check.
You can order multiple states at a time in one search, this search type is called a multi-state search and usually is provided at a discount when 3 or more states are ordered together on the same person.
The last type of criminal background check available in the USA today is the National Criminal Background Check also known as the National Background Check. This background search includes all of the 46 instant states, private database searches, a national 50-state sex offender background check, America’s Most Wanted List Search and an International Terrorist Database Search. This background check is instant and when ordered you can expect to see your search results within seconds (maybe a minute or more if there are a lot of records being returned).
What to expect in your criminal search results: Your criminal search results, if a match is made and records are found will include criminal conviction court records. These criminal records will show current and historical felony and misdemeanor conviction records (some states and/or courts do not provide misdemeanor records or infractions). The criminal history report will give the defendant name, any alias names on file, date of birth, identification number(s) (like state identification number), physical description of the person such as tattoos, height, weight and in some cases an actual picture (mug shot) of the offender, county (including court house ID where the records are stored and jurisdiction where the offense was committed as well as place where the conviction verdict was made), county case number, charge(s), disposition and sentence.
You can also expect to get criminal search results that contain records from the DOC – Department of Corrections (usually from a prison or correctional facility). DOC records give felony and misdemeanor information on inmates and parolees. Each offender has their criminal history registered with a particular State’s Department of Criminal Justice, so if the offender spent time in a Florida Prison/Correctional Facility then Florida’s Department of Criminal Justice would maintain these records. Records returned from the DOC are from the State being searched, if you place a Florida Background Check then you would get search results from the Florida Department of Corrections (each US State has their own department of corrections). Information returned on your report includes identification number(s) (like state identification number), DCJ (Dept. of Criminal Justice), offender name, race, sex, date of birth, height, weight, hair color, eye color, unit of assignment, receive date, minimum expiration date, offense description, date, county (including court house ID where the records are stored and jurisdiction where the offense was committed as well as place where the conviction verdict was made), case number and sentence (including date and duration).
For the Sex Offender Registry Check portion of the background search all 50 US sex offender registries are searched (each state is required to maintain their own sex offender database). Sex offender information differs from state to state as each state maintains different sex offender data, however most state sex offender reports show high-risk offenders (also known as predators) and persons who have been convicted of, found guilty of or plead guilty to committing or attempting to commit sexual offenses. Sex offender reports will show the offender’s name, date of birth, physical description (and almost always a photo/mug shot of the offender), address, crime committed (along with the location of the crime), county and offense (including count). Mug shots & photos are generally available for viewing online when a match is made.