进行犯罪背景调查为雇主和公众提供了许多好处，包括创建一个更安全的工作场所、降低因疏忽招聘诉讼的风险、减少员工盗窃等。但是，确定要进行哪种类型的犯罪背景调查可能具有挑战性。
在某些情况下，雇主可能会因为不了解某些类型的犯罪背景调查的局限性而在不知不觉中将自己置于风险之中，或者可能会根据其计划的目标进行错误类型的背景调查。
例如，犯罪历史记录的报告可能会受到您选择的搜索深度或适用的联邦或州报告限制的限制。但是，当犯罪涉及性犯罪时，您可以通过搜索国家性犯罪者登记处来获取有关申请人注册为性犯罪者的最新信息。在另一个示例中，当您将犯罪背景调查限制在特定州或地理区域时，您可能不会发现在另一个地区犯下的罪行。
除了犯罪记录报告的差异之外，美国还有众多的司法管辖区和不同类型的司法管辖区，而且这些司法管辖区之间通常互不联系。
因此，为了帮助确保更彻底的犯罪背景调查，雇主可能需要考虑不止一种犯罪历史调查。
一些可用的刑事、民事和违禁方信息来源包括：
县犯罪记录：在美国 3,400 多个县法院之一中发现轻罪或重罪。
州犯罪记录：从州警察记录或州犯罪记录数据库（如果有）中了解在申请人居住的州内犯下的罪行。
国家犯罪记录：国家犯罪记录搜索可以帮助识别申请人在旅行时犯下的罪行，或发现隐藏在雇主不想检查的县数据库中的数据。应该使用国家犯罪记录搜索来补充传统的本地搜索，因为并非所有市政当局都可以及时参与或提供记录。可能的记录在报告之前在源头进行验证。
联邦犯罪记录：搜索在联邦法院起诉的犯罪记录，例如逃税、欺诈和挪用公款、邮件和电汇欺诈等。
禁止和受限方搜索：这些屏幕列出了您不能雇用的个人，因为他们是已知的恐怖分子、洗钱者、毒品走私者、非法武器贸易商或受经济制裁计划的约束。少数政府机构保留了一份禁止和限制的个人和实体清单。
性犯罪者登记处搜索：进行州或全国范围的搜索，以了解申请人是否是注册的性犯罪者。
联邦破产记录：确定已裁定破产案件的个人，这些案件可能揭示财务管理不善的倾向。
驾驶记录：用于识别有不安全驾驶记录的个人，以限制企业风险。
民事上级和下级法院：确定涉及产品责任、违约、小额索赔等诉讼的个人。
国际：雇主可能希望审查国内雇员的外国背景或对其全球办事处进行国际搜索。
criminal background checks provides many benefits to employers and the public including creating a safer workplace, reducing the risk of negligent hiring lawsuits, reducing employee theft, and more. However, determining which type of criminal background checks to conduct can be challenging.
In some cases, employers may unknowingly be exposing themselves to risk by not being aware of the limitations of certain types of criminal background checks, or could be conducting the wrong types of background checks depending on the goals of their program.
For example, the reporting of criminal history records may be limited either by the search depth that you select or by applicable Federal or State reporting limits. When the crime involves a sexual offense, however, you may be able to obtain current information about an applicant’s registration as a sex offender by conducting a search of the National Sex Offender Registry. In another example, when you limit criminal background checking to a particular state or geographic area, you may not discover crimes committed in another region.
In addition to the differences in criminal record reporting, there are also numerous jurisdictions and different types of jurisdictions across the United States,and the jurisdictions typically do not communicate with each other.
Therefore, to help ensure a more thorough criminal background check, employers may need to consider more than one type of criminal history check.
Some of the available sources of criminal, civil, and prohibited parties information include:
County Criminal Records: Uncover misdemeanors or felonies among one of the more than 3,400 county courts in the US.
State Criminal Records: Learn about crimes committed throughout an applicant’s state(s) of residence from state police records or state criminal records databases (where available).
National Criminal Records: National criminal records searches can help identify crimes committed by the applicant while traveling or uncover data hidden in county databases where employers did not think to check. National criminal records searches should be used to compliment traditional local searches, as not all municipalities may participate or provide records in a timely manner. Possible records are verified at the source before being reported.
Federal Criminal Records: Search records of crimes that are prosecuted in federal court such as tax evasion, fraud and embezzlement, mail and wire fraud, and more.
Prohibited and Restricted Parties Search: These screens list individuals that you cannot hire because they are known terrorists, money launderers, narcotic traffickers, illegal weapons traders or are subject to an economic sanctions program. A handful of government agencies maintain a list of prohibited and restricted individuals and entities.
Sex Offender Registry Search: Conduct a state or nation-wide search to learn if an applicant is a registered sex offender.
Federal bankruptcy records: Identify individuals that have adjudicated cases of bankruptcy which may reveal a propensity for financial mismanagement.
Driving records: Used to identify individuals with unsafe driving records to limit corporate risk.
Civil upper and lower courts: Identify individuals that have been involved with lawsuits including product liability, breach of contract, small claims and more.
International: Employers may wish to review the foreign background of a domestic hire or conduct international searches for their global offices.
