Background Screening
Comprehensive Suite of Services
Reliable Customer Care
Trusted & Compliant Solutions
Background Screening 101
Criminal Record: County Level
The County-Level Criminal Record is where you will obtain the most accurate information, as most offenses originate at the county courthouse. Edge obtains county criminal record information directly from the county and not from a database source.
Criminal Record: State Level
The Statewide Criminal Record is dependent upon counties reporting information into the state repository. Statewide searches are not available in certain states (CA, LA, MA, MS, WV) and criminal records must be searched at the county level. Additionally, some statewide searches are not recommended because of additional requirements (example – notarized forms) which significantly affects the turnaround times. Edge obtains state criminal record information directly from the state repository and not from a database source.
Criminal Record: National Federal Level
The National Federal search is obtained from the Federal Pacer Database. Federal Courts are a separate jurisdiction from county/statewide records. These courts dispose of incidences that would supersede the state level of jurisdiction with cases that may include kidnapping, large drug cases, financial fraud, bank robbery, and other interstate crimes.
Multi-Jurisdictional Criminal Database and Sex Offender Registry (MJC/SO)
Utilizing the most comprehensive private criminal history database available today, the Multi-State searches over 600 million archived criminal records from all 50 states including a National search of Registered Sex Offenders. This search covers a much wider span than possible with single location searches and clear results are returned almost instantaneously. However, it is not all-inclusive and is reliant upon jurisdictions reporting into the database in a timely manner. As required by FCRA 613, Edge re-verifies all records directly at the county where the offense occurred. Edge recommends this search as a great additional tool along with a county or state search. Some companies refer to this as the National Criminal Database search. Note this is different than a federal search and this is often confused.
