You want to make a key hire or close a lucrative deal. But the background check is taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r.
What’s the holdup? As we’ve noted previously, in many jurisdictions, background checks are at the mercy of the court. Court staff are responsible for fulfilling your request to search the court’s records, and they move at their pace, not yours. They also have other priorities. The result can be a long wait for information.
However, a background screening partner who knows the court structure, through experience or research, and who is willing to spend the time and effort to make a phone call directly to the court staff can sometimes make a big difference in obtaining record information faster.
Make the System Work for You
Here’s an example of the benefits of knowing how court systems work.
A client requested a background check in a mercy of court jurisdiction. As the search dragged on, we called the court. We learned that illness and vacations had caused a backup that meant at least a two-week wait.
Some background screening firms would simply tell their client that the record check was going to take two more weeks, and that there was nothing they could do about it. However, we tried to find out if we could do something to get the records faster.
In this particular jurisdiction, criminal records needed to be searched in three tiers of courts. The client wanted all three tiers searched because each contained different information. We discovered that Tiers 1 and 2 were clear of any criminal records, but the hold-up was in Tier 3.
We called the Tier 3 court, confirmed that the hold-up was due to the factors mentioned above, and were told there was nothing we could do to expedite our request.
We were discouraged, but persevered. Additional research revealed that four courthouses in the county were Tier 3 courts, all with access to the same records and information. We called one of the other Tier 3 courthouses and explained the two-week wait at the other court. After hearing how long our request was taking, the representative we spoke with at that particular courthouse confirmed over the phone that our subject had no criminal records at the Tier 3 courts.
Why was one Tier 3 court telling us to wait two weeks when the other gave us an answer on the phone?
We found out that records requests were divided among the Tier 3 courts. Our request had the bad luck to have been assigned to a courthouse that was struggling with staffing at the time. We also had the good luck to reach a very helpful court representative at another Tier 3 courthouse, who was sympathetic to our situation and willing to go against standard protocols.
A Little Knowledge Saved Two Weeks
While calling the courts will not always lead to faster results, working with a background screening firm who is willing to make that extra call and is knowledgeable about court structure can make a difference. Be sure to partner with a background screening firm that applies this spirit to all the work it does.
