California Free Public Criminal Records

By Ben Kingsley


There are many reasons why one would want to do a background check on a person or of oneself. Immigration processing or visa application for one needs a verification or background check to determine the person's history. In licensing and certification,one also needs to present a background check. In most cases, background checks are done to determine the applicant's eligibility for employment. Although this might sound unfair, it is quite logical especially if the employer does not want any trouble. The State of California criminal records though are restricted so one needs to be in the law enforcement or one of the authorized agencies to access it. However, doing a personal background check is allowed by the State.

For Californian residents who are out of state they can submit manual fingerprint cards to the Record Review Unit for personal background checks. The first thing one would do is to download the State Summary Criminal Record and follow the instructions. Completely fill in the details and find a local authorized fingerprint agency. Cheques and/or money orders are accepted. Mail the application form together with the payment to the California Department of JusticeRecord Review Unit. For California residents, one should download the Live Scan Form application in the government's official website. The form is in PDF format and includes instructions on how to process your application form. Fill in the details completely and go to the nearest local police department authorized agencies for fingerprint scanning.

The processing fee of $25 is mandatory though the operators can also charge certain fees from the applicants. The fees are used to cover the rolling of the fingerprint image only. Agencies that are tagged with the "BNR" code will only process agency applicants so it is important to check the fingerprint agency before heading in. Applicants should present a valid ID with photo for their application to be processed by the operators.

During background checks, one would find out if they have a clean record or if they still have a record, whichthey can request for "sealing". In California, residents have the option to seal or destroy criminal cases made against them. Those who are eligible under the Penal Code 851.8 include (a) people that were arrested but have their case dismissed (b) arrested but no criminal charges were filed and (c) acquitted by the California jury trial court. The sealing and destruction of the criminal records are on a case-to-case basis meaning that each motion is specific to a single arrest or case. Once the person is found to be eligible for the sealing, they may petition the law enforcement agency for relief or the court. Sealing of records can take up to three months and personal appearances are determined by the county where one resides.

Those who are convicted can also have their records expunged. Under the Penal Code 1203.4, the state will not clean the records but would affirm that the applicant has served the terms and conditions set forth in the conviction. The expungement would also allow the applicant to apply for state licensing and gain employment.

For those individuals or employers who want to do background checks, checking through online search companies is by far the best option especially if one wants to check whether an individual has any arrest records or criminal records that might affect their work.




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