If you want to complete a free criminal background check, there are a couple of options available to you. You could, for instance, visit the website of the correctional facility in which someone was housed, the police department that arrested them, or the courts that trialed them. This is the most common way to get information that is 100% accurate and for free. However, it is not necessarily 100% complete. After all, someone could have been arrested, convicted, and imprisoned in multiple locations.
How to Access Criminal Records
Criminal records are a matter of public knowledge. This means anyone is entitled to view them. However, they do contain personal information. This means that most agencies will only release information if they know you actually know the individual, which means you will have to supply their name and date of birth. Without that, most states will not agree to release the information for you.
Criminal background checks are also usually conducted by employers. This is one of the reasons why they will ask for an applicant’s full name and date of birth. Additionally, the applicant has to consent to this information being searched in order to gain employment. What this means, in other words, is that a prospective employer cannot access this very personal information about you without you agreeing to it.
How to Access Records Online for Free
Searching for free criminal records is quite an easy to understand process. While you can go directly to the courts, the police department, and/or the prison, you can also approach independent companies to do it for you. They have completely secure forms in which the information you have provided is used in order to find someone. The benefit of this is that these services will check all public records, rather than just those in one area. The downside is that you have to pay for them.
The best, and most comprehensive of these services are those used by employers who regularly conduct background checks on applicants. Colleges and universities and landlords or property management agencies also frequently use these services to look into someone new. However, at the same time, they can be used by those wanting to find out about the background of their new partners, neighbors, or caregivers.
There are numerous online services that are free and offer all this information. However, you do have to question why they would do this. Hence, make sure that you look into whether there is some sort of catch for this free information. In most cases, you can use the service for free for a limited time only, or they only provide limited information and you have to pay more if you want to get everything you need.
Regardless of why you need to look into someone’s background, you need to find a completely secure site to do it. They will have an online form for you to complete and the more details you have, the more accurate the results are likely to be.