With seemingly every scrap of information available online, many clients ask why it can take several days to obtain court records. They also wonder why different firms offer what appear to be the same records searches at vastly different prices.
Doesn’t a search mean, well, a search: a few clicks, maybe typing in a credit card number, and the results pop up?
That day may be coming, but it isn’t here yet. Some jurisdictions have computerized their records and offer online searches that can be as good as an in-person search for court records.
But many do not.
The danger is that even if courts offer online searches, they may not be equivalent to in-person searches. Records may be incomplete or outdated, and those shortcomings might not be obvious from the results.
The Problems with Databases
First, there are more than 10,000 different courts in the United States. Some offer very robust online access to court records with sophisticated search tools. Odds are good that the results will be as complete and up-to-date as an in-person search. Unfortunately, those systems are in the minority: many courts vary widely in the quality of results from online searches.
Second, online court records may not be current. Unless court information automatically flows into the online system, someone at the court needs to take the time to enter these records into their database. If that isn’t a priority, chances are that the most recent records will not show up in a search.
Third, each court makes different information available online. Some courts redact the information they share online, and others only make certain types of case records available online. In some jurisdictions, if you find a record using an online database, you will still have to perform an in-person search to obtain the full record.
Finally, keep in mind that not all online record searches are inexpensive. Every jurisdiction has its own fee structure. For example, the state of New York has one of the most expensive criminal record search fees, charging $95 per exact name and date of birth search, plus transaction fees.
In-Person Searches
An in-person search, while typically more expensive due to the cost of sending a person to retrieve the record, is often the best way to obtain the most recent and accurate court records.
For example, a client called us on a weekend because he suspected a staff member might have recently been arrested. We conducted an initial online search to provide information as quickly as possible, but it turned up nothing. The next business day, we did an in-person search and found arrest records that were only a few days old.
The Bottom Line
Although more court records are being made available online, the quality is inconsistent. Some jurisdictions have excellent online systems with current information, but researchers must be careful to search only those that are equivalent to an in-person search. Knowing how and when to conduct these searches may mean the difference between a missed record or FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) violation and an accurate, complete background check.
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