What Shows up in a Criminal Background Check? Your Full Guide

Cindy Ellis - January 24, 2023

Criminal background checks are an often-required part of pre-employment screenings and identity verifications when you apply for certain opportunities. However, these reports can be confusing and nerve-wracking, especially if you aren’t too sure what exactly shows up in a criminal background check report.

Our article aims to help you understand more about the content of these essential information reports and what to expect when someone requests a criminal background check from you.

What Are Criminal Background Checks?

Criminal background checks are personal history reports that focus on any criminal offenses that might be found in your history. These checks are used to evaluate someone’s eligibility for a job or other opportunities, such as certain professional licensing or volunteer programs, and they typically take place before any hiring or appointment decisions are made.

Criminal background checks are an important step for employers and companies that want to maintain positive reputations, protect themselves and their employees from a potentially unsafe hire, and complete their legal requirements, as some states or employment positions do require criminal background checks are part of the hiring process.

Who Typically Requests a Criminal Background Check?

Employers and other companies that hire individuals for paid or unpaid opportunities are the most common requester for criminal background checks. This is done to screen the individuals that are being offered positions in the workplace.

Other individuals that might request criminal background checks are those screening potential roommates, those hiring help off of third-party websites, and individuals who might want to review their own criminal background for information purposes.

It’s important to note that proper authorizations and acknowledgment of a criminal background check report are usually required by state law. In order for an individual to review your criminal background history, you will have to sign a document or give other written acknowledgment and approval of this, as well as approve the scope of the items that the individual will be reviewing your report for.

Most companies or employers will state in the application for a certain position whether or not background checks are required and specific disclosure laws that apply to your jurisdiction and the company’s policies.

Information Found in a Criminal Background Check

Plenty of information may be found in a criminal background check about previous criminal offenses and other sentencing information. Below, we give you a basic overview of the type of thing that you can expect your criminal background check to show.

• Criminal convictions, including misdemeanors and felonies, that belong to the person the report is being pulled on
• Sentencing information related to the criminal offenses listed including fines issues, probation and parole information, or imprisonment time served
• Relevant details about the court cases surrounding convictions, sentencing, and settlements
• Dispositions or court opinions
• State, county, or federal criminal offenses might be shown depending on the scope of the criminal background check and how in-depth it is
• Sex offender registration may be visible, when applicable, on a criminal background check
• Traffic violations such as DUIs and major traffic offenses that resulted in a court case and convictions are often visible on a criminal background check

It’s important to keep in mind that different states have varying laws on what can and can’t be shown on a criminal background check. This includes varying disclosure laws surrounding how far back a background check looks, the type of offense eligible to be listed on a report, and how a criminal background check is requested.

That being said, any records that have been expunged or sealed from your criminal record will not be visible to employers or any other individual that requests your criminal background report. Sealed records are only visible to certain law enforcement and legal professionals in special circumstances; once records are sealed, they are inaccessible to the general public.

Does Other Personal Information Show Up in a Criminal Background Check?

While most criminal background checks focus on misdemeanors, felonies, and other convictions that may have resulted in sentencing, fines, parole, or probation, there is a good chance that other personal information will also be included in your criminal background check. This personal information provides context to the report and allows employers to review your background history as a whole.

Personal information that might be a part of your criminal background check report includes name and identification information, employment and education history, address and location information, and professional licensing information. In most cases, the person requesting your criminal background check report will be required to detail if this information will be included and reviewed as part of the criminal background check process.

What Do Employers Look For on a Criminal Background Check?

When employers or other individuals are reviewing your criminal background check, they are looking for items that might potentially interfere with your ability to perform the job you are a candidate for. This includes items like multiple DUIs or traffic violations in jobs that work with heavy machinery and vehicles or felonies, and sex offender status when it comes to jobs that work with vulnerable populations.

Individuals that review your criminal background report are also looking for notable items such as criminal offenses that weren’t previously disclosed or information that doesn’t match up with the information listed on your resume and application. Keep in mind that you might not legally be required to disclose information about your criminal offenses before submitting a background check report, but if you are directly asked and then intentionally misled someone, this could result in an issue.

What Information on a Background Check Can Employers Use?

Individuals that are reviewing your criminal background check report are only legally allowed to use certain parts of the information to determine your eligibility; this scope will typically be communicated to you as part of the authorization request for them to review your history.

Information about your gender, sexual orientation, race, or political standings, among a few other items, is illegal to utilize in hiring decisions. If you believe that this type of information has been used to disqualify you from an opportunity, your next steps are to collect evidence of this and reach out to a legal professional.

Will a Criminal Record Decrease Your Hiring Chances?

Many individuals believe that if they have a criminal record, their chances of being hired by any company are zero. However, that is becoming further from the truth these days as many states and companies work towards creating a fairer hiring process.

While a criminal record might disqualify you from some positions or opportunities depending on the offenses on your records and how long ago they occurred, you might be surprised by the number of companies willing to listen to context about potential criminal offenses on your report or overlook minor offenses committed ages ago that have no bearing on your ability to complete a job in your current state.

How Long Do Criminal Background Checks Take?

How long a criminal background check takes depends on a variety of factors such as the level at which the report is viewing criminal offenses (such as state, county, federal, or international), how in-depth the criminal background check report is going, and if there are issues along the way such as multiple names and incorrect information.

In general, criminal background checks that are completed for high-security positions and within the federal government will be more intensive and take longer to turn around, potentially up to a week. International background checks might also take up to a week or longer to complete.

Basic criminal background checks carried out by employers or companies as part of the pre-hiring process generally take anywhere from a day to a few days to complete. County and state-level criminal background checks will be faster than a federal check in most cases.

How Far Back Do Criminal Background Checks Look?

Different states have varying laws about the disclosure of information on criminal background checks; how far back your criminal background check goes depends on these state-specific laws.

That being said, most state and federal criminal history checks will review records that are between seven and ten years old. After the prescribed time length, some items, such as basic misdemeanors or civil issues, might drop off of your report except in cases of in-depth search.

Other items like felonies, violent crimes with serious convictions, and sex offender status are likely to be visible on your criminal background check report indefinitely no matter what state disclosure laws state.

Are Criminal Background Checks Expensive?

Criminal background checks range in cost depending on the agency completing the report and the type of criminal background check. Basic state or county-level searches are typically cheaper, with more in-depth criminal background checks and federal or international reports being more expensive.

In general, you can expect to pay between $10 and $70 for a criminal background check, not including potential access fees or other fees that a reporting agency might ask for to complete this process.

In most cases, you will be expected to pay for your own criminal background check report once it is requested by an employer, and you will need to get this report completed and turn it in or use the designated third-party source an employer requests.

Occasionally, employers or companies will pay for this report to be done. It’s important to double-check what is required of your during the criminal background checking process so you know exactly what to expect.

Evaluating Your Own Criminal Record

Staying informed of your own criminal record and background information is one of the best things you can do to prepare for a criminal background check. To do this, simply search public court records or use an online search tool to locate all of your background history information.

From there, you can review publicly available information about you and take steps to correct information that might be incorrectly listed, double-check all of your identification and personal information history, and work to gather the information that provides context on items employers might see as notable.

Once you’ve completed these steps and made sure to research what your state’s specific laws say about the disclosure of criminal records and the authorization of criminal background checks, you’ll be ready to apply to any opportunity out there and ensure that fair hiring practices are followed.