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Criminal records

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stephy382004

Guest
What is the name of your state? NY

I just filed to get information on my past criminal record just to see what the possible employer might see.
The paperwork I received requires me to get fingerprinted by a local law inforcement agency, several forms of ID to prove who I am and a considerable amount of paperwork.Just to aquire MY records.

How is it possibly easier for an employer to get ahold of this information?
When I sign the application is that a binding document to my consent? Then they call and swooosh they have it?

Thanks
Steph
 


CdwJava

Senior Member
Each state has different laws regarding criminal offender records. In some states (like CA) your criminal history is NOT available for employers to use. It may be different in NY.

EDIT: A cursory search for the information on-line seems to indicate that there is no general public access to criminal offender records in New York state.

Also, there are a number of ways to obtain the information contained in a state criminal offender record without going through the state. If a good background check is performed, the investigator will find out about the arrest and/or conviction regardless of what your record says. There will always be friends or family members that will know about the event. there will be local court or police records of the event. Records that were at one time publicly available (but, perhaps, now sealed) may have been collected by a document research company such as Lexis-Nexis or Merlin and entered in to a database where the information will come up.

So, even if your state CORI file comes up empty, it does not mean that an employer will NOT find out about the incident. But, most employers do a cursory check if any at all.

- Carl
 
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TimFinn2010

Guest
Employment Background

I live in California and have been denied 2 jobs based on my arrest record. This information IS public and available to anyone. I noticed you put "NOT" for California. I was wondering what I can do if anything. Thanks
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
TimFinn2010 said:
I live in California and have been denied 2 jobs based on my arrest record. This information IS public and available to anyone. I noticed you put "NOT" for California. I was wondering what I can do if anything. Thanks
What arrest record? And what was the source?

A person's Criminal Offender Record is kept by the CA Dept. of Justice. This record cannot (by law) be used for employment purposes. Some agencies (such as certain government offices and law enforcement) can run a person through CA and FBI CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) files to see if there are disqualifying convictions. If there are no disqualifying convictions, then a notice is returned to the inquiring agency/office that there are no such convictions.

Court records ARE public documents. And if a background check is thorough, they CAN find those records. Some companies gather these records annuwally and place them in their paid service databases (Lexis-Nexis and Merlin are just two of many). A search of these services (for a fee) can find a lot of information.

I conduct law enforcement backgrounds. And I can virtually guarantee that before I check a person's CORI files for disqualifying convictions, I will KNOW of any arrests and court cases he has ever been a part of by using other sources.

So, while the CORI files cannot be accessed by an employer, there are a number of other ways to find out the information.

- Carl
 
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TimFinn2010

Guest
They used a company called Info Mart in Georgia. They reported that I had in 2000 a domestic Violence arrest. In addition, they had a misdemeanor shoplifting charge which I have never had. I am trying to fihure out what this is and how I can take care of it. I work in retail as a manager so of course it is crucial that I take care of this mistake. I don't know how to go about taking care of this. Wouldn't the individual that said they were me been arressted for this and have been fingerprinted? Do you know any way I can approach this situation? Also, since the company they used is based out of California does this make it legal?
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
It's perfectly legal. The Company simply collects information they have a legal right to have. And it is very possible that someone with your name and a similar birthdate was arrested at one time ... whether it's a mistake or not is impossible to say without knowing WHAT the source of THAT little tidbit was.

If you want to know what CA has on you (and this is info that these agencies and employer cannot generally access) you can contact the CA Department of Justice in Sacramento and ask them what you need to do to get c aopy of your Criminal History.

And the only way you can challenge what Info Mart has on you might be to ask the potential employer for a copy of the information so that you could dispute it. However, they are under no legal obligation that I am aware of to let you have that info ... but, they might.

- Carl
 

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