How to Do a Criminal Background Check
Approximately 25 percent of U.S. citizens have some form of criminal record. The likelihood that any random person one might encounter on the street has been convicted of a serious crime varies considerably by location. However, even in the nicest neighborhoods in the country, wouldn?t you like to know if your neighbor is a sex predator or if your mechanic has been convicted of fraud? Finding out , ” how to do a criminal background check , ” can help to keep your family and loved ones a little bit safer.
If so, then you will want to know how to lookup someones criminal record. It turns out that there are a variety of ways to do so. And the most thorough and reliable means of establishing someone?s criminal past are often easy to access online.
Different Types of Criminal Background Records
There are four main types of criminal record: arrest records, civil infractions, misdemeanors and felonies. All four can typically be searched for online. However, the researcher must typically know in what state, county or city the person in question has lived. Furthermore, people may commit crimes in jurisdictions where they do not live, making it difficult to uncover those crimes.
All of this means that you may have to do quite a bit of digging if you really want to get the full criminal picture of a subject. But while there are many pay services that promise to deliver someone?s full criminal history, there really is no substitute for going with the primary sources yourself. And the best news is that the most serious red flags on someone?s criminal past can usually be uncovered quickly and without cost to you.
Let?s take a more detailed look at the four types of arrest records and how best to dig them up.
Why Perform a Criminal Background Check
So, you want to learn how to do a criminal background check? The first step is to recognize the four types of criminal background records that may exist for any American.
The first category of criminal background records consists of arrest records. An arrest occurs when someone is suspected of committing a crime. While it is safe to say that most arrests result in some kind of conviction, it is important to remember that all parties, even those with mugshots online, are innocent until proven guilty.
Still, as far as criminal records go, arrest records can provide you with a good place to start when researching an individual?s background. While an isolated arrest may not convey much information, the majority of people are not repeat customers at their local jail. Long arrest records tend to indicate a criminal or scofflaw lifestyle.
Secondly, arrest records are a great starting point for uncovering more detailed accounts of someone?s criminal past. That?s because every criminal conviction started with an arrest. And even many misdemeanors and civil infractions involve a booking at the county jail.
The jails of most larger cities and counties will typically have an internet-based inmate-lookup feature. These are great tools for determining why someone was recently arrested. However, inmate lookups for county jails will typically not maintain inmate and case information after the person in question is released from custody.
How to Lookup a Criminal Offender
When it comes to determining if someone has committed a serious crime in the past, there is no substitute for state inmate lookup systems.
Inmate lookups for state prison systems can vary considerably by state. For example many states use the VINElink system. VINElink is primarily a victim-notification service that was initially created to let the victims of violent crimes know when the offender was scheduled for release. But the system can provide a number of other useful services, such as telling where an inmate is housed and, in the case of indeterminate sentencing, when their custody remands to the parole board.
Other states may have more robust background criminal record search systems. For example, the state of Michigan operates the OTIS Online site. OTIS is a powerful criminal record search tool that allows users to not only reveal virtually all relevant information about inmates who are currently housed within the Michigan Department of Correction, but it also shows all those who have been convicted of a felony in the state of Michigan in recent decades.
Many states have such systems. And unlike local district court search tools, they usually only require that the researcher know what state the target individual has resided in. Pound for pound, state-run felony search tools like OTIS are the best place to start because they?ll quickly let you know if the person you?re researching has committed any serious crimes in a given state.
Background Checks for Traffic Citations
Criminal background checks can be performed for a list of traffic citations, DUI arrests, misdemeanors and civil infractions. A good place to source these public records is to look is your local district court?s website.
Researching civil infractions, lawsuits and misdemeanor crimes is generally an area where returns begin rapidly diminishing. While all of these records are technically public, many smaller towns and counties will not maintain online search tools. This means that in order to obtain these records you may have to physically visit the county courthouse in question. And this can become a major gamble unless you know for sure that the target has resided in that county for a long period of time.
If you know that the target of your research has lived in large cities, and you know the exact cities in which they have resided over their lives, then you should be able to get a very clear picture of their misdemeanor and civil criminal background. However, many people who live a criminal or scofflaw lifestyle are innate nomads. And when someone has lived in 20 different small towns over as many years, piecing together an accurate history of their misdemeanors and civil infractions can be very difficult.
This turns out to be an area where paid background services can be worth the investment as many are able to give you at least a semi-accurate picture of someone?s low-level criminal past even if they have been frequent movers and have lived in out-of-the-way places.
Criminal Background Checks for Sex Offenders
Before closing, it should be noted that one of the most important online lookup tools for determining someone?s serious criminal past, including sex offender records, are public record.
Sex offender registries, like the The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website, can instantly give you a zoomable local map view and detailed accounts of registered sex offenders in your area. In fact, for those who are concerned about their family?s safety, sex offender registries should probably be their first stop in researching people?s criminal backgrounds.
By performing a criminal background check on anyone deemed suspicious, you can finally answer the question, ” how to do a criminal background check .”
How Do I Run a Criminal Background Check For Free?
With resources like SearchQuarry.com you can run a free criminal background check online. If you reach out through the SearchQuarry.com criminal record or background check blogs you can obtain one free criminal background check. If you are interested in performing multiple criminal background checks you can sign up with the SearchQuarry.com premium member’s area and run even more detailed and unlimited background checks completely anonymously. Find out the truth about anyone!
I would like to have a free criminal background check done on myself but is there any way to find out if there active or dismissed. related criminal records, court records, arrest and warrants, incarcerations or if you have any inquiring about a criminal record being expunged
Richard a Marrell Jr.
We are happy to help you run a criminal background check in your state. For example, if you would like to know about your criminal history we in California, we can help you run a California background report with up to date information about your criminal record from state and local government public record resources.
I would like to have a free criminal background check done on myself…
Richard James Rusch
We are happy to assist you with a criminal background check James but first we need to know what this will be used for? Our criminal record resources are for online refence only and we to verify that this before providing you with any criminal background information. For example, are you looking for driving related criminal records, court records, arrest and warrants, incarcerations or if you have any inquiring about a criminal record being expunged?
Is there any active warrants for Jerry W Sanders in selmer TN.
Chad, we ran a Tennessee criminal background check and found multiple results however not all our Tennessee warrant record results include the middle name. Do you know his date of birth or age so that we can refine our results to find the criminal background record you’re looking for?
How to do a criminal background check for active warrants
Running a criminal background check on someone to find out if they have an active warrant is relatively simple. You’ll need to know the full name of the person in question as well as their state of residence and age. Then you can visit a 3rd party website like SearchQuarry.com to run a criminal background check anonymously.
Is there any active warrants for a Damien Altimari in Louisiana
We ran a Louisiana background check for a Damien Altimari and found there are no active Louisiana warrants that we could find at this time
Can i get one free criminal background check on kelley camp 31 out of midway ga
Kelley, can you also provide us with your middle name and date of birth so we can filter our Georgia criminal record results for you?
Are you sure that that Duc Tran was born in June 17th 1994? Since I am that individual and I didnt drive in UT back then. Can you cross check the criminal record of Ruston, LA as well?
Duc, unfortunately this is a common first and last name and the DOB is not listed for this specific record. That being said, it might be another Duc Tran that has these traffic citations. You might want to contact the Utah DMV to verify your driving record, which you can order online. Unfortunately that’s all the information we have at this time for you Duc.
Please do a criminal background check for Duc Tran, 26 years of age (DOB 06/17/1994). Lived in Ogden, UT and later moved to Ruston, LA
We ran a Utah criminal background check for a Duc Tran with the information you provided and we found some traffic citations but no Utah arrest records or incarcerations that we can find
Background record for Angela Sueann Mora in Colorado her DOB is 10/24/1988
Joe, we did find some Colorado criminal records, as well as an incarceration, when we ran a background check on Angela S. Mora.
Criminal background check for Crystal Earlene Freytag of Ohio, 44 years of age. Hancock county
Jordyn, we are happy to run a criminal background check on Crystal Freytag. We did not find anything recent for criminal records for this person in Ohio. Was there something specific you wanted to know about Crystal?
Possible warrant for arrest. She also moved to California so not sure if it would be under Ohio or California
Jordyn, we checked both our California warrant records and Ohio warrant records and did not find anything active for a Crystal Freytag in either of those states. Please reach out if we can be of further assistance with our criminal background check resources.
How to Lookup Someone’s Criminal Background
There are many online resources to run a criminal background check online. You will need the full name of the person in question, including middle name, their age or date of birth and their state of residence. If you use an online criminal background check resource, like SearchQuarry.com, you can do this anonymously from any smartphone or computer with an internet connection.
Angela Sueanne Mora age 31 background record
Joe, we are happy to run a criminal background check on an Angela Mora but we’ll need to know her state of residence and year of birth as well to properly filter our results. Angela has a very common name and not all our criminal background check results include the middle name and age so the DOB as well as any addresses or relative information can be useful to find the correct record for the people search service we provide.
Angela Mora in Colorado background record
Joe, we show multiple listings for an Angela Mora in Colorado with different middle names and ages. Can you verify the middle name and age so we can verify the Colorado background check for you?
Background check or criminal history for Angela sueanne mora in Colorado
Joe, thank you for reaching out about our Criminal Background Check blog. We ran a background check for an Angela Sueanne out of Colorado and did not find anything recently. Was there a specific instance that you are referring to? We can expand the search to other states if you know where to look
Can you run a criminal Background on Heather S McIntosh in carter county tn and Washington county tn
We ran a criminal background check for the entire state of Tennessee and did not find anything in our resources.
Can you see if Heather S McIntosh has an warrant
In carter county tn
We ran a criminal background check for you and found multiple Kentucky criminal records for a Heather Lee McIntosh however we don’t see any Tennessee warrants for a Heather S McIntosh.
Background check for Heather McIntosh
Does Heather McIntosh have a warrant in carter county tn
Heather, we ran a Tennessee warrant search for you and found a couple of records for different people with the same first and last name but different middle name. Can you confirm your middle name so we can verify the correct background record for you?
Need background or arrest records for cassandra luthi from washington state she is approximately 33yrs old
We are happy to do a criminal background check for you Malinda. We ran the name through our background check resources and found an arrest record, for a Cassandra Lee Luthi, from 2017 related to a residential burglary charge from Lewis county. We also show an active Washington warrant that was issued for her arrest in 2018.