Skip to main content

Federal Criminal Checks and Importance

What Do Bernie Madoff, Al Capone and The Unabomber Have In Common? Understanding Federal Criminal Background Checks

                
Federal Criminal Background Checks for EmployersIf you’re running a criminal background check by adhering to best practices, including a search in each county to determine if your candidate has any convictions on his/her record, then you might consider your employment background screening program both thorough and accurate.
But even if your background check company conducts a thorough search, there could be another piece of the puzzle missing: what if your candidate was convicted of a federal crime?
Well-known federal convicts include Bernie Madoff, former Illinois Governor’s Rod Blagojevich and George Ryan, John Dillinger, Al Capone, The Unabomber, John Gotti and Aldrich Ames.
Unfortunately, a county criminal background check would not include these federal convictions or any others.  However, there is a good way for you to search for federal convictions without breaking the bank.
Basics of a Federal Record Search
Federal District Criminal Record Searches identify criminal activity prosecuted through the federal court system. Criminal activity prosecuted in Federal District Courts typically involves violations of the Constitution or other federal law. These crimes include tax evasion, embezzlement, bank robbery, kidnapping, mail fraud and other federal statute violations.
There are 94 federal judicial districts throughout the country, including at least one district in each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Three territories of the United States – the Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands – have district courts that hear federal cases.
And as mentioned previously, federal criminal convictions do not appear in state or county felony and misdemeanor court record searches. Therefore a federal district search is imperative if such records are needed. Each state is comprised of several federal districts.

How Is the Search Conducted?
As with a county criminal background check, the best way to know where to conduct your search is by conducting a Social Security Number Trace which reveals each address where someone has lived and what names they may have used.  The trace will also reveal the federal districts that are associated with those addresses.
The best practice is then to search each federal district under each name revealed.  This is done through the federal court’s PACER system.
The good news is that PACER searches can be conducted within a matter of minutes.  The bad news is that the only identifier used in the system is the person’s name.  Well, I’m sure you can imagine what happens when your top candidate’s name is John Smith, for instance.  That’s right, you have to follow up on each potential record to assure the record actually belongs to that person.  Unfortunately, that can delay the process, but any reputable background screening company will do the heavy lifting on your behalf.
Who Can Benefit From a Federal District Search?
The short answer is that anyone can benefit from this search.  As mentioned, it is an inexpensive check an in most cases can be completed in a short amount of time.  And while, we have seen greater widespread use of this search in the last several years, there are some industries and job responsibilities where it is more prevalent.
For instance, many of those in regulated industries such as healthcare, financial services, insurance and transportation utilize this search.  We’ve also seen a greater adoption of this search by those who conduct business with state and federal governments.  Beyond the industry trends, we tend to see consistent usage of the federal district criminal search for positions which include financial responsibilities: Accountants, CFO’s, Controllers, etc.
Now that you’ve added a federal district search to a thorough county criminal background check, you can rest easy knowing that you are doing everything to arm yourself with the information you need to make an informed hiring decision.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Workplace Violence...Are you and your staff protected??

Workplace Violence: It Can Happen Anywhere HUMAN RESOURCES ARTICLE 08/04/2016 Varying degrees of workplace violence can happen anywhere, and at any time. According to  OSHA , nearly 2 million American workers report having been victims of workplace violence each year, yet many more cases go unreported. While there’s no standard or regulation applicable to workplace violence, OSHA does have a  General Duty Clause  that it enforces, which states among other things that each employer “shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death of serious physical harm to his employees.” While workplace violence may happen anywhere at any time, it may also be instigated by anyone. Violent behaviors may come from a white-collar employee, a blue-collar worker, or a third party–such as customers or an employee's partner. What are some common factors or wa...

The Importance of Background Checks for Companies

The Importance of Background Checks for Companies BY  SAMANTHA ACUNA  - on March 14, 2018 In order to protect the company from various potential risks, a  background check  is considered an imperative pre-employment screening step before making a hiring decision. Most of the times, companies assume that the applicants are telling the truth on their resumes. Most of the times, applicants are honest but there are few areas where they can hide the truth from you. To ensure that your company is hiring the right person, a background check needs to take place. What is a Background Check? It is a comprehensive review of a person or any other organization’s commercial records, financial records and most important of all, criminal records. A background check can include education, employment, credit history, criminal records, license record, etc. There are various background check services providers that can get you all the information o...
Monday, May 6, 2013 4 Reasons Why Small Businesses Need to Use Background Checks Many Small Business Owners think Background Checks are just for “the big boys”. Maybe it is because as a small business owner you mostly hire “people you know”, or you think that Background Checks are just “too expensive” for your Small Business. Neither of these arguments are true. Using Background Checks is actually a cost-effective and sound business strategy for any Small Business. Here are 4 Reasons Why Background Checks and Small Business make Great Partners: Small Businesses have a Limited Budget for Hiring and Training: Most Small Businesses operate on a tight budget. Your resources are split among the many costs associated with running your businesses - payroll, insurance, utilities, and more. Wasting any of your funds on hiring and training the wrong candidate is bad business. Using a Background Check as part of the hiring process can help eliminate some o...