NY and Federal Criminal Background Check
NY and Federal Criminal Background Check
If you are looking to obtain an NY or Federal criminal background check there are myriad of options on the internet. Unfortunately almost all of the services offered online are are unofficial. The data is compiled from various questionable data sources. Clients often ask which official court records can we obtain on their behalf. We generally obtain there separate criminal history reports to ensure we have a complete criminal background check. The first criminal background check we obtain is the FBI criminal history summary, the second is either a NY criminal background check through the New York State Office of Court Administration or through the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services and the third one is the individual certificates of disposition for any town or village courts in New York State for sealed records. A criminal background check is referred to as a rap sheet. A rap sheet meaning a record of arrests and prosecutions.
Federal Background Check
A criminal history summary offered by the FBI is a nationwide report on your criminal history. The criminal history summary lists all of the arrests and the dispositions for any fingerprints that were submitted to the FBI. The name of the agency that submitted the fingerprints to the FBI, the date of the arrest, the arrest charge and the ultimate disposition of the arrest.
An official federal criminal background check can only be obtained by you, or your attorney. The common reasons our office sees for these requests is the following:
- Personal review by the client
- To challenge information listed on the criminal history summary
- Adopting a child in the USA
- Adopting a child from outside the USA
- To live in a foreign country
- To travel in a foreign country
- To work in a foreign county
- Immigration issues
- Work in law enforcement
We work with an FBI-approved channeler to obtain criminal history reports for our clients. A FBI-approved channeler is a private business that has contracted with the FBI to obtain criminal history reports and to deliver them to the applicant. If there is no criminal history, then you will receive a report that says no criminal history exists. If there is a criminal history then you will receive the summary
To obtain your criminal history from the FBI you will need to submit an official fingerprint card which is called FD-258 along with an application form.
FBI Fingerprint Card FD-258
In lieu of doing traditional fingerprinting you can also utilize live scan. Live Scan is a fingerprinting technique in which law enforcement and/or private businesses can capture an individuals fingerprints and palm prints electronically.
The FBI criminal history application form will require the following information:
- Last name
- First name
- Middle name
- Date of Birth
- Phone number
- Height
- Weight
- Eye color
- Hair color
- Place of birth
- Whether you are a US citizen, or legal permanent resident. Please note, if you are neither the request needs to be submitted directly to the FBI.
New York State Background Check
In New York State, there are two official ways to obtain your NY criminal history. The first one is through the New York State Office of Court Administration.
The New York State Office of Court Administration can obtain a New York State criminal history report. This criminal history search is based on an exact match name and date of birth. This report will detail any open and pending criminal matters in New York State as well as any convictions. The NY criminal history report will detail cases from New York County Courts, New York Supreme Courts, New York City Courts, New York Town Courts and New York Village Courts. The information on the New York Town and Village Courts are generally very limited.
I generally recommend that in addition to the above FBI criminal history report and the New York State criminal history report, and individual obtain a certificate of disposition for each town or village court in which there was an arrest or a sealed disposition. This will provide a comprehensive official criminal history check.
A second method to obtain a New York criminal history is through the New York Division of Criminal Justice. Both an individual and their attorney can obtain a criminal history through this method. Your fingerprints will be needed to conduct a record review.
Todd A. Spodek is NY Criminal Defense Lawyer with Spodek Law Group P.C. Please call us at (888) 997-4123 for a free consultation on any criminal matter.