How To Obtain A Criminal History Report?

Employers, landlords and many other places  perform criminal background checks.  These checks are easy to do.  The State Department of Justice, police station or local sheriff’s office  are usually where criminal records are housed.  All states keep their criminal records in either a hard copy format or in a database.

Purchasing your background check can be done online or in person.  If you have committed a crime in another state you’ll have to speak to that state to see how to order the criminal background check.

Application Process

As soon as you figure out where the records are stored in your state, you will have to get an application to request your criminal background check.

The Criminal History Report Application will ask for the following information:

• Name,
• Address
• Driver’s license number
• Fingerprints
• Social Security Number.
• Application fee ( Usually $18)
• Some form of identification

After submitting all of the necessary documents to the state, it usually takes a couple weeks to receive your background check.

If you do not have the time to fill out an application and submit all the necessary documentation, you can always hire a professional company that does background checks to obtain it for you.  Of course this method will be more expensive.

Inspecting Your Own Record

Once you receive your criminal background check record, you need to review it carefully.  If you do have a criminal record, you can hire a lawyer to try to seal your record or expunge it from your record.