What's in a criminal record?

There are three major types of criminal records: county, state and federal. All three are available through EBI. There are also two major levels of criminal records, felony and misdemeanor. Both levels are included in EBI's standard criminal record searches.

Felony records.
Felonies are crimes sufficiently serious to be punishable by death or a term of a year or more in state or federal prison. Felony cases are generally tried in circuit and superior courts.

Misdemeanor records.
A misdemeanor is a lesser crime punishable by a fine and/or up to one year of county jail time. Misdemeanors are tried in the lowest local courts, such as county court. Typical misdemeanors include petty theft, disturbing the peace and simple assault and battery. Some crimes can be charged either as a felony or misdemeanor depending on the circumstances and at the discretion of the district attorney.

How are they searched?
Criminal history records are stored in courts at the county, state and federal levels. EBI retrieves these criminal court records through actual on-site courthouse searches. EBI's proprietary network of courthouse researchers covers every jurisdiction throughout the United States and includes coverage in Canada and other international locations. Our more than 2,700 courthouse researchers are experienced law enforcement officials, court clerks, paralegals, private investigators and background research professionals. Our field researchers are carefully selected, trained, tested, and supervised, and their information is subject to regular audits.

What's the difference?
County court records are often referred to as local level records. Municipal courts, lower courts and district courts are usually limited to trying misdemeanor cases and conducting probable cause hearings in felony cases. The felony trial court is the next tier, commonly called the circuit court or superior court. EBI's county criminal record searches consist of searches of misdemeanor and felony records in all county, municipal, lower and district courts as well as circuit and superior courts.

State records.
Each state operates a central criminal history record repository that receives case-processing information contributed by law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, courts and corrections agencies throughout the state. These repositories compile the information into comprehensive criminal history records. These records are made available to criminal justice personnel, and, in some states, non-criminal justice agencies that are authorized by law to obtain the records for purposes such as employment screening and occupational licensing.

EBI has identified the states whose repositories offer the highest quality statewide records. Those states not offered by EBI do not meet our standards for accuracy, turnaround time, timeliness, adequate identifiers and thoroughness, or have restrictions regarding public access.

EBI offers the following state-wide records:

To view a sample PDF of a Criminal Record report, click here.