The purpose of this post is to educate the reader about how to clear up a criminal background check. If you are actively applying for a new job, criminal background checks are an important part of the process. If police have ever arrested you for any offense, then these charges will very likely appear on a background check. This is true even if the court ultimately dismissed your case! Potential employers will be able to see these records and might use this as a reason to not hire you. In this post, I will cover what a background check reveals and what you can do to clear your record.
What is a Background Check?
A background check is a way for potential employers to see your criminal history. A potential employer will usually get your permission in advance to run this check. They will then submit your personal information to one of many background check services. These background check services maintain massive databases with open criminal records from across the US. If you have any pending or old cases, then they put this information into a report. They then send that report to your potential employer. The employer then uses this report to make a final decision on hiring. The background check is usually the last part of the interview process. This is because the potential employer has to spend money to get this report.
What Shows up on a Background Check?
A criminal background check will show information about your arrest, your conditions of bond, court settings, and the case result. The most common misconception is that only final convictions will appear on a background check. Unfortunately, even if the court dismissed your case, the record of the arrest will still appear. This is because the courts do not automatically erase all records of a criminal proceeding upon dismissal.
What will not appear on a background check, is the case evidence. Even if the court convicted you, the evidence used against you is not usually available to the general public. This means that even though an employer can see that police arrested you, they cannot view the body camera video or see the offense report.
Can I Clear up my Record?
Possibly. You might be able to have your case expunged or sealed if you meet certain criteria. If your case was dismissed, rejected, or you completed deferred adjudication probation, then you have the best chance to clear your background check. If you do qualify, then there are steps an attorney can take to have these cases removed from the public record. This means that they will not appear on a criminal background check.
Not all cases are eligible for expunction or non-disclosure. If the court convicted you for an offense, then you probably do not qualify. This means that if you went to jail or went on regular probation, then you are probably out of luck. These cases will always appear on your criminal history. The only way to have these old offenses removed from the public record is through an act of the legislature or a pardon from the governor.
Conclusion
If you have a case that might qualify to be removed from the public record, you need to act before your next job application. What you need to do is consult with a local attorney to see if these old cases qualify for either expunction or non-disclosure. The law surrounding these matters is very complex but a good attorney will guide you through the process. Even if you do not qualify, at least you will know and can plan how you will address the topic with employers in the future.