Nationwide Criminal Record Database Search
A Nationwide Criminal Record Database Search is a comprehensive search that provides access to the largest criminal database available with millions of offense records. It is a valuable information resource that may identify convictions in jurisdictions not identified in a Social Security number trace or Credit Report, especially if the subject did not reside in the county and it does not appear in their address history.
It is important to first note that there is no such thing as a truly complete, fully automated national index of criminal records in the United States. This is a misconception that has been proliferated in large part by websites claiming to offer free, instant, criminal searches in all fifty states.
Because no federal law imposes standards for collecting, indexing, and using criminal records, the quality of records varies greatly from state to state. In addition, not every jurisdiction has an automated index set up, requiring hand searches for criminal (and civil) cases.
What areas then, does a nationwide criminal record database search cover?
It covers court records in thirty-one states (although not every county in each of those states is covered and many records are historical), department of correction records in forty-two states, and arrest logs in twenty-two states.
A nationwide criminal record database search can still be very useful in identifying criminal records that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. In cases where budget is an important factor, a relatively inexpensive nationwide search can identify records in jurisdictions where the client may not have requested a county specific criminal record search.
Further, performing county specific hand searches in each jurisdiction where an individual has resided with a search period covering the entire time they resided in each jurisdiction can be prohibitively expensive and time consuming.
Court records are available from:
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- New Jersey
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Department of Corrections records are available from:
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Arrest log records are available from:
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Montana
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Washington
- West Virginia
Additional records and new jurisdictions are added regularly, making this search increasingly viable at indentifying criminal records.
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