Federal Criminal Record Searches

The vast majority of criminal activity falls under state penal codes and is prosecuted at the county level. The state/county search is the type included in the standard ESS package. You may wish to add a Federal Criminal Records Search to your package for a more complete background check.

"Federal" crimes are those prosecuted in a federal jurisdiction and would include offenses such as mail fraud, kidnapping, interstate drug trafficking, and certain crimes committed on federal property. While these are not common, you may want to increase coverage and better avoid applicants with dubious backgrounds.

Federal criminal records are kept at a "district" level. Less populated states have one U.S. district court, while more populated states have three or four districts. ESS is now able to search the U.S. district courts for an entire state (whether it be one district or four) for a cost of $10.00.

The average turn-around time for a Federal Criminal Record Search is under 72 hours, but there is a chance for a short delay. After five years, a district court will transfer all hard files to a regional federal records center. There may be occasions when ESS needs to access an archived file to obtain complete information. This may take 3-5 days.

 To include a Federal Criminal Record Search in your standard ESS package, simply call our Customer Service line at 1-800-473-7778, ext. 104 and talk with Christie. Or you may e-mail her at christie@employscreen.com. We will revise your order form and send you a new one right away.

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