Saturday, October 26, 2013

Arrest Records California

By Ben Kingsley


Procuring criminal and arrest records in California can be done through requesting access from the Department of Justice or from the California Attorney General. Both agencies work hand in hand in recording and maintaining arrest and criminal history records. However, access to such records is restricted by law to legitimate law enforcement purposes and authorized applicant agencies only. Individuals, on the other hand, have the right to request a copy of their own arrest or criminal history record from the Department to review for accuracy and completeness. Requests for the same records from third parties will not be catered and processed.

To receive a copy of your arrest or criminal history record, you must submit fingerprint images and pay a $25 processing fee to the Department of Justice. All California applicants should provide Live Scan fingerprints. You have to use the Live Scan form, check the record review as the "Type of Application", enter "record review" on the "reason for application" line, fill out all your personal information, and take the complete form to any Live Scan site for fingerprinting services. Fingerprinting services are available to most local police departments, sheriff's offices, or any public applicant Live Scan site.

In California, doing a background check can be quite difficult as the state has imposed various rules with regard to procuring arrest or criminal records of any individual in the state. Unfortunately, only private citizens are allowed to request information about their own criminal history records, while outstanding warrant information is often made available to the public. A warrant does not mean that an individual is guilty of committing a crime; it means that they are being accused of committing one. Only those with valid reason, such as employment, can request access for such records through courts.

California has many special rules for conducting background checks. In California, all background checks are referred to as "investigative consumer reports" unlike other states and under federal law, where background checks are generally referred to as "consumer reports". If you are an employer and you wish to perform a background check on an applicant, be informed that a new law in California has changed the requirements for the background check disclosure that employers must provide in order to conduct background investigations in California.

If you are an employer who wishes to conduct a background check on your consumer, you have to provide a written disclosure, on a separate document, to your applicant or employee whose background you are trying to scrutinize. You have to state in the disclosure that a report may be obtained; the acceptable reason of the background check; the fact that the report may yield information about the consumer such as his or her name, address, reputation, mode of living, personal characteristics; and reporting agency's telephone number in case the consumer wants to review or verify the information provided by such investigative consumer agency.

Since it can take much effort and time to obtain criminal or arrest records in the State of California especially if the purpose is for a background check, you can try hiring the service of several online record providers. Online record providers, like any other service providers may have their own databases which can be accessible anytime you need to. Just see to it that the online service provider you have chosen to hire is legit and will provide you with accurate results. Doing the search online can save you time, money, and a lot of effort thus making your plight in obtaining the desired record possible in an expedient and easy way.




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