What is the name of your state? New York.
Hi. I pled guilty to a violation, a non-criminal offense, 9 years ago.
My violation record is filed in the criminal court in the city of NY. This is a lower court which files violations and lower-level misdemeanors. (The upper court like the county and/or supreme court files the more serious misdemeanors and felonies).
Because NY and the city area is such a big place(62 counties total), as of 7/03 the NY state Office Of Court Administration (OCA) had expanded from a 13 county search (previously $16 per county searched) to a statewide search. The fee is now a flat $52 and covers all county/supreme courts as well as the lower courts in the 5 boros of the city. For some reason many of the lower courts outside the city are not included in this search but my record is included because it's within the city. Supposedly as of 7/2003 individual county clerks are no longer doing searches and just refer requesters to the new OCA database. So the bottom line is that if an employer went directly to the new OCA database, they would obtain my record. However, if the employer used a reporting company, the record would not get reported because of NY reporting laws (only criminal convictions can be reported, not violations).
I believe the cost of this search ($52) is the most expensive in the nation.
I have browsed many many background reporting companies and have found that some companies have stopped doing the NY state OCA searches because they're too expensive. Other companies ARE using this OCA search and simply charge the client the $52 fee plus their normal fee for doing the search. Yet other companies are using an older database which runs from 1985 to the present and includes records from the upper courts (serious misdemeanors and felonies). Others just make a search of the NY state Dept of Corrections(DOC) data that contains information about felons who have spent more than a year in jail.
My question: What do you think the odds are that an employer will use the new $52 OCA search to do background checks? Would an employer that has hundreds of employees pay $52 per employee to run a check? Or would they use the DOC or other database that starts in 1985?
Any opinions on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again
RLRL
Hi. I pled guilty to a violation, a non-criminal offense, 9 years ago.
My violation record is filed in the criminal court in the city of NY. This is a lower court which files violations and lower-level misdemeanors. (The upper court like the county and/or supreme court files the more serious misdemeanors and felonies).
Because NY and the city area is such a big place(62 counties total), as of 7/03 the NY state Office Of Court Administration (OCA) had expanded from a 13 county search (previously $16 per county searched) to a statewide search. The fee is now a flat $52 and covers all county/supreme courts as well as the lower courts in the 5 boros of the city. For some reason many of the lower courts outside the city are not included in this search but my record is included because it's within the city. Supposedly as of 7/2003 individual county clerks are no longer doing searches and just refer requesters to the new OCA database. So the bottom line is that if an employer went directly to the new OCA database, they would obtain my record. However, if the employer used a reporting company, the record would not get reported because of NY reporting laws (only criminal convictions can be reported, not violations).
I believe the cost of this search ($52) is the most expensive in the nation.
I have browsed many many background reporting companies and have found that some companies have stopped doing the NY state OCA searches because they're too expensive. Other companies ARE using this OCA search and simply charge the client the $52 fee plus their normal fee for doing the search. Yet other companies are using an older database which runs from 1985 to the present and includes records from the upper courts (serious misdemeanors and felonies). Others just make a search of the NY state Dept of Corrections(DOC) data that contains information about felons who have spent more than a year in jail.
My question: What do you think the odds are that an employer will use the new $52 OCA search to do background checks? Would an employer that has hundreds of employees pay $52 per employee to run a check? Or would they use the DOC or other database that starts in 1985?
Any opinions on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again
RLRL