Essential Information Before Purchasing a Criminal Background Check

The criminal element has been around for most of recorded human history. 
Unfortunately there is a side of society that always seems to think that it is  preferable to make a living by ripping off other folks. It seems that often the most susceptible targets are those that work the hardest to make an honest living. 
While that good old cliché; "if it's too good to be true, then it probably is" will cover most situations, there are times when it doesn't quite apply. Criminals are also learning to work for smaller returns, which greatly reduces the chances for detection. 
It adds a twist to that guiding principle because often we are willing to run the risk of getting ripped off if what we stand to lose is small enough. In other words, the crooks you need to worry about are those that know that you are leery of fantastic promises.Or at least, those that keep small enough what you have to invest to achieve those promises. 
It is becoming increasingly practical to conduct a criminal background check on someone you may need to work with in some capacity.  
Modern criminal records systems are a relatively new invention, which is partially attributable to better technology, and partially to more awareness. Interestingly, modern systems of record keeping trace their roots to a former criminal and the founder of the oldest recorded modern private detective agency, Eugene Francois Vidocq. 
While there is no telling how much criminal behavior he engaged in after he started working for the law, he did make advances in fighting crime that are still used today. 
He founded and was the first director in 1812 of Surete Nationale, which eventually became the National Police of France. He introduced ballistics and footprint impressions, among other techniques, to police work. He also used forensics decades before it was officially recognized as an investigative technique. 
Vidocq's system of keeping an index card record of each criminal that crossed his path, which included physical descriptors as well as past crimes, mark the beginnings of the systems from which we can today pull a criminal background check.
There are a variety of resources that can be used to conduct a criminal background check, depending on what capacity you are doing it in. 
It may be painfully obvious, but in most cases the records maintained by law enforcement can only be accessed in special circumstances. Those circumstances where a search of law enforcement records is permitted are generally also those that require it by law. 
For other inquiries ranging from a nanny criminal background check to checking on a potential employee, there are a number of other services that will give you the information you need. 
In most cases, a good starting point is a search on the internet. There is a major caveat, however, and that is that many of the "retail" criminal background check providers are nothing more than money leeches. Make sure that you do the research to find one of the services that will give you good information and that won't leave you sorting out unauthorized credit card charges. 
Unfortunately the good ones are definitely a minority, but they are out there.  
Another source of criminal background check information is the individual states themselves. Policies on who may have what information vary from state to state, but most will at minimum have a way for you to check your own record. 

While this may not exactly be what you were after when you set out to conduct an investigation, this is a good time to remind you that identity theft has taken a turn for the sinister. Several innocent victims of identity theft across the nation over the past year have found themselves face down in the dirt explaining why they were on the loose with some pretty heinous crimes on their record. 
There are also a number of states that are considered "open records" states. In other words, they permit anyone to conduct a criminal background check on anyone else. However, in some cases you walk a fine line with what you are allowed to do with that information. Make sure to read the agreement when you access the information so you don't find yourself on the business end of a fine, or even a set of bars.  
A good example of information that is freely available to anyone across the nation, but that comes with restrictions, is the national sex offender registry. Anyone can conduct a search on the internet based on several parameters, from a name to a geographic area.  
Even without internet access, or when you find yourself needing this information away from your computer, you should be able to head in to any police station and make an inquiry. However, the agreement when accessing this information makes it clear that it is only provided for you to be informed and aware. Use it for other purposes and you could find yourself under prosecution for hate crimes.  
And finally, there are the commercial providers of criminal background check information.  They typically also provide any other information that is legally available for someone running a background check. These providers are usually not accessible to the general public. They work with organizations that have set up an account and that run a criminal background check on many individuals. These organizations can be government, law enforcement, employers, and even churches.  
Costs for a criminal background check will range from around $6 in some states for a state criminal records search, up to hundreds of dollars for a private expert assisted national investigation. A fairly typical figure for a basic felony search is $15-$30, depending on the service. 
However, additional information, especially on the national level, will drive the costs up quickly. The reason is quite simple. The cost corresponds to the difficulty of obtaining the information. The level of difficulty is determined by a number of factors from licensing, to fees for access, to just plain old legwork required to gather the records together, sort them out, and make them available.
The variety of instances when a criminal background check is going to be required of you are growing steadily. The reasons mostly have to do with the fringes of society that resort to underhanded methods, the fanatics, and in some cases the desperate. 
This age of the so called "war on terror" (a semi-ridiculous expression) means that any time you are dealing with sensitive information, explosives, or are doing anything else that could directly or indirectly hurt a lot of people, you will be required to undergo a criminal background check. Financial institutions will always require one for obvious reasons.  
There aren't many instances in which a national criminal background check of law enforcement databases is permitted, but when they are, they are also required by law. This pertains to most professions that work with children, long term care, or caring for persons that are unable to care for themselves.   
There are some cases that lag these requirements. For example, states have typically only required a criminal background check from within the state for daycare workers.  This seems rather foolish since today's population is quite mobile. 
There has been national attention in the media to instances where felons have been able to obtain jobs in daycare in a state where they had no criminal record. 
While it would be fantastic to be able to think that people can turn their life around and leave old ways behind, these people got caught because they abused the children or did something else illegal that provoked  investigation. As much as it stinks to have to sink to the lowest common denominator, anyone that works with children should have to pass a national criminal background check.  
The other side of the coin is how to protect the rights, and privacy, of the majority of people out there who have never committed anything more than a petty misdemeanor as a rebelling teenager? 
The lines are still being drawn on this one. 
There are rules, such as the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) that spell out how information from a consumer report can be used (consumer report is a broad reference to any information from a reporting agency). However, much of a person's history, even beyond criminal records, is public information and beyond common decency there is not a whole lot preventing abuse by individuals and even companies that dig it up themselves. 
As this issue gets more an more attention in the media due to identity theft, it will likely become a major political issue in the near future.  
Identity theft is a major reason that good people with no criminal history are running a criminal background check on themselves. That is because criminals aren't happy with just stealing your wallet, they use your name now too and even social security number when they are booked for a crime. 
While it seems that fingerprints would sort all this out, you have to remember that first time felons won't have any in the system yet. That means that down the road if there is a charge on your record that doesn't belong to you, it will probably mean that you will have to do a fingerprint comparison to clear your name. 
Ironically, some of the very services that one might turn to for a records search can get you into even more trouble. 
Less than scrupulous providers will take your money and give you inaccurate or outdated information back. Even worse, some common problems are taking months afterward to sort out unauthorized credit card charges, a sudden flood of new junk mail, and sometimes downright identity theft. 
The bottom line:  choose very carefully when selecting a service for a criminal background check.