If your company is currently going through a hiring process, then you need to get familiar with criminal records and everything that they involve. That’s something that every hiring manager (and everybody else who is involved) must know.
If you want to properly asses someone’s background check, then you first need to get your facts straight concerning the checks report. Without it, you won’t be able to execute this the right way, which can put your business at risk.
Now, if you are relatively familiar with this term, however, you are not entirely sure what it represents, then stay tuned, because, today, we are going to provide you with some useful facts that will make some things a bit clearer.
Let’s Define It First
Before we proceed, let’s first learn the basics as far as this is concerned. So how can a criminal record be defined? It can be described as an official document concerning someone’s relationship with law enforcement agencies.
Besides that, it can refer to a person’s whole criminal history as well. Records of crimes can include things that are linked to many events, like:
- Convictions
- Arrests
- Post-conviction sentencing
- Dismissal and acquittal
- Parole violations
Furthermore, these files may contain data about someone’s physical features, along with the date of birth. There isn’t only one repository that contains every single record about those who have been convicted before. Instead, you can find criminal records in a variety of different local, state, and federal systems.
What Do You Know About Expungement?
Those who have a criminal record know how impactful (in a negative way) it can be when it comes to different areas of their life. On a more positive note, in some instances, it can be completely cleared.
The solution lies in an expungement process, which happens when information concerning your involvement in the criminal justice system is erased from a state database, or when your records become inaccessible to anyone else but law enforcement officials.
That’s at least the case in most states. Now, many are wondering, is that the situation with Pennsylvania Expungement or different laws are applied there? What you need to know is that the court in this state may decide not to expunge all crimes, however, in some situations, your criminal record may be deleted, sealed, or permitted only to authorized people.
Expungement can be filed in this state under the authority of their expungement statute, which is 18 PACSA 9122. This statute consists of a list of the events that can be eliminated if you file an expungement petition.
Just bear in mind that it’s not going to remove felony convictions or misdemeanors, which must be reviewed if you’re planning on applying for a pardon, or for potential record-sealing. Now, the next question is, what can be expunged from your criminal record?
- Details that are in relation to your arrest
- Court records regarding proceedings that are related to your case
- Criminal convictions, particularly juvenile convictions
- Details concerning the outcome of your criminal case
Is There Only One Type Of Criminal Record?
There’s a common misconception that there’s only one type of criminal record, but the truth is that there are, in fact, several types of it. For example, when it comes to New York there are four kinds of criminal records, classified by where each of them comes from.
Even though the New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services is the one that is responsible for putting together and keeping information issued by the court and law enforcement, it is not the only institution that stores the record of contact with the criminal justice system.
Below, we are going to enumerate the most common convictions when it comes to the United States, and the ones that are frequently found on criminal background checks:
- Driving while intoxicated
- Aggravated assault
- Possession of drugs
- Assault that leads to bodily injuries
- Assault of a family member
- Theft
- Evading arrest
Is Criminal Record Public?
The answer is yes. It is part of the public record due to safety and transparency, however, what you need to remember is that because of that, this record doesn’t contain every single piece of information.
What does it mean? For example, out there, you’re not going to find a Social Security Number, however, since they are public, it means that practically anyone has access to them.
There are many interesting facts that could be said about criminal records, however, this article today focused on the ones that are perceived as the most essential and that you can always return to whenever you’re in doubt about something.
