Does anyone know what shows up on a criminal background check

viking611 · Jul 7, 2009

say for employment purposes. A complete criminal background check will show what??? Is it run nation-wide? Is it specific to the state you are working in?

I've never been convicted of anything and only have been arrested once in my life for a 'drunk and disorderly' (imagine that!).

Problem is, I never took care of it because I wasn't going to travel back to that state to go to court....meaning...there is a warrant issued. Will that show up? or will it just show that i was arrested for that offense.

FullWageredMan · Jul 8, 2009

Usually they do city/state wide background checks. If it is Government/Military or some security type job. They will do a national background search. It could show up aswell if this is a border state.

texansfan · Jul 8, 2009

A criminal background check should show any arrests made in the U.S. imo. However, with that being said, a "drunk and disorderly" sounds like what I would call a "Class C" violation here in Texas.

That means it's comparable to a traffic ticket and that it would only show up locally.

GilRenard · Jul 8, 2009

From my experience...generally, they are usually only run in the state where you currently live. Criminal records are kept on a state by state basis unless you violated a federal law. Very fragmented. Going further, some municipalities don't share their records with the state, etc, etc.Now, if you actually once lived in the state where the violation occurred they might check it, but I doubt it. Sometimes they will check your previous addys and run those states too, but it would increase the employer's costs quite a bit. If you had a drunk and disorderly, it was quite likely a muni offense, and might not show up in any case.

Mindware · Jul 8, 2009

I'm no expert but i'm pretty sure misdemeanors and felonies and such show up on your record. Also, depending on what class misdemeanor it is, it'll show up forever or for certain number of years.

Crum333 · Jul 8, 2009

viking611 said:
say for employment purposes. A complete criminal background check will show what??? Is it run nation-wide? Is it specific to the state you are working in?

I've never been convicted of anything and only have been arrested once in my life for a 'drunk and disorderly' (imagine that!).

Problem is, I never took care of it because I wasn't going to travel back to that state to go to court....meaning...there is a warrant issued. Will that show up? or will it just show that i was arrested for that offense.

I had my identity stolen in Colorado - criminally, not financially. I think it happened after losing my wallet in a cab after the bars. I was doing volunteer work for Denver Public Schools when the administrator called me at work and told me I couldn't be around the kids. I have never been arrested or even had a traffic ticket. I went to the school district and they showed me a 5 page rap sheet full of felonies and misdemeanors linked to my name and social. I had to go to the C.B.I. and have a fingerprint test done to show I wasn't the same person. I'm supposed to carry a piece of paper with me stating I've had my fingerprints examined and am not this dude. I have to show it when applying for jobs, and it even came up when I got pulled over for the first time a couple weeks ago. This happened about 6 years ago, and it's still haunting me today. I eventually forgot about it, and failed to mention it to a few potential employers - pretty sure it cost me a couple of job offers.

louisvillekid · Jul 8, 2009

Crum333 said:
I had my identity stolen in Colorado - criminally, not financially. I think it happened after losing my wallet in a cab after the bars. I was doing volunteer work for Denver Public Schools when the administrator called me at work and told me I couldn't be around the kids. I have never been arrested or even had a traffic ticket. I went to the school district and they showed me a 5 page rap sheet full of felonies and misdemeanors linked to my name and social. I had to go to the C.B.I. and have a fingerprint test done to show I wasn't the same person. I'm supposed to carry a piece of paper with me stating I've had my fingerprints examined and am not this dude. I have to show it when applying for jobs, and it even came up when I got pulled over for the first time a couple weeks ago. This happened about 6 years ago, and it's still haunting me today. I eventually forgot about it, and failed to mention it to a few potential employers - pretty sure it cost me a couple of job offers.

damn , that is crazy shit right there. I guess i've been lucky. I've lost or had stolen my id's in the past, i know years ago my first license had my social # on it and i lost it.
But i've had credit reports over the years and the only thing on them is shit i've done.

about to O.Q. , whenever employers have said they were going to run a background check, i've always received a copy of the report from Frankfort(the capitol), all mine has is some old ass drug charge that has never been expunged, but it was dismissed in court anyway, yet it still shows up on it.

i lost a job once cause they came back and said i lied on my application. I was like, NO, it asked if i had ever been convicted of a felony, and i was like , if you read the report it says i was charged with a felony , but it was dismissed in court. they said it still didn't matter, that i still lied.

beejmi · Jul 8, 2009

Background checks typically criminal history (felonies and misdemeanors) credit and motor vehicle. I dont think arrests show up. On the criminal history people think "stuff goes away" (it doesn't)

quantumleap · Jul 8, 2009

There are a couple different ways to do a background check. There is a simple one where you can just sign a paper or you can get your fingerprints taken. If you get your fingerprints taken then even convictions that have been expunged or pardoned will show up and of course arrests will show up too.

Here in California it is against the law for arrests to show up 7 years after the fact for simple background checks for employment unless you are going to be in contact with children in which case any arrest will show up.

Each state is different. If you are really concerned I would suggest contacting an attorney for the state/s in question.

JackStraw77 · Jul 8, 2009

Try to cross the Canadian border. They hassle people where charges aren't even filed. If your arrested and the case is dropped they still will give you a hard time. They operate like Roger Goodell. You don't have to be charged with a crime. Just arrested and they will deny you admission. I'm not talking DUI either. It could be anything. In Canada every US citizen is guilty even without a trial. This has been ongoing since 9/11. We give Canadians a hard time crossing into the US and they retaliate and become even bigger pricks. One day they may need the US tourism dollar again and then they will understand how the criminal justice system operates.