Criminal Record Sources

These are hands-on researchers for hire who visit government agencies in-person and perform name searches or document retrieval services. The vendors listed are members of the Public Record Retriever Network (PRRN).

Search firms provide record access services on a regional basis. They may go directly to government agencies, use the services of the local retrieval firms, or use online gateways and distributors. The vendors listed with a full profile are members of the Public Record Retriever Network (PRRN).

Sometimes called Distributors - collect criminal record information in order to build their own proprietary in-house database products. Gateways do not build their own database but instead provide a highly sophisticated, electronic direct link to existing databases at other locations. Some gateways use data extraction (also called screenscraping). See the Article on Data Extraction, found in our Reference Library available with a subscription.

Access to and use of criminal records provided by pre-employment and tenant screening firms are subject to provisions in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

The gold standard is the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a very complex and convoluted law. There are four groups affected by this law. In addition, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has placed additional guidance on the use of arrest and conviction records by employers.

A number of states have placed additional restrictions on employers and vendors that go beyond the regulations associated with the FCRA. What happens if an employer from Ohio hires a person living in New York to work at an office in California? Which state’s regulation on the use of criminal records applies..and what are these regulations?

Perhaps the most significant local regulation is that related to the Ban-the-Box movement. This law essentially requires an employer to wait until a job offer is given (or perhaps at a different point in the application process) before asking the applicant if he or she has a criminal record.

About Compliance Regulations Involving Criminal Records

There are many regulations regarding the access and use of criminal records. These laws affect not only the use of criminal records by end-users (such as employers), but may also impose restrictions on the vendors who disseminate these records. Because regulation of criminal records can be the result of federal, state or local legislation, jurisdictional issues and the complexity of the laws, themselves, can be daunting - placing employers in legal jeopardy.

Most users of records in the private sector are employers. Hence, much of this section is devoted to a discussion of how employers and the record vendors supplying records to employers are regulated by compliance laws. While an in-depth discussion of Compliance Regulations Involving Criminal Records would be beyond the scope of this free-view web page, the resources provided should get you off to a good start.