Criminal Checks

Doing a criminal check can be tricky.  Here are a few resources to get you started:

Zimmerman’s Research Guide: Criminal Background Checks (from LexisNexis)
Provides a quick overview of conducting criminal background checks–what you will and won’t find, as well as sources.

BRB Publications: Free Public Record Sites
This is a listing of free government public records sites, by state.  For NY, see NY State Inmate Information (includes former and current inmates).

The Virtual Chase: Art of Public Records Research
A nice guide to doing public records research with some pointers to sources.

Note that criminal records are going to be state-by-state, and what’s available will vary by state.  The best way to go about this is to figure  out the states in which the person lived and then look to see which databases are available for that state.