Criminal records searches are amongst the most popular type of records lookup performed on the Internet - with millions of people trying to perform one of them every year.
However, if you're looking to find out the details of someone's criminal past, it's essential that you're able to locate the correct details in the most reliable way.
Many people struggle to locate reliable and up to date criminal records - but if you use the steps outlined below, you'll be able to locate a range of important background information for any US citizen.
Performing a criminal records check is a lot like looking up a company in the Yellow Pages - you need to know where to look and what to look out for.
Most people who aren't experienced with criminal records lookups are not so because they simply don't realize what they are looking for.
Criminal records are basically documents stored by the government about you at certain times of your life.
These records are not labelled "criminal" records, but are kept in different categories, such as court records, Sheriff's department records and the like.
This means that when you try and identify someone's 'criminal' records, you need to look up all the public records that mention any potential criminal activity they may have had.
There are two ways to find out someone's criminal background.
The first is to use the official government websites for the various records that you require.
For example, the court system for your state will store a series of records about someone, as well as the likes of the Sheriff's office.
The free way to find out criminal records is to search through these websites one-by-one to locate any past instances of criminal activity.
To do this, just search for your state's homepage on Google - (type "<> homepage") and then try and find the various records sites it will have.
This will allow you to search for someone's past criminal details...
but will take some time and may not give you all the records you require.
The second, and most popular, way to find out someone's records online is to use what's known as a "professional" records lookup website.
These sites are extremely popular now, thanks to the way in which they allow you to instantly create an up to date, reliable report for anyone in the USA.
These sites work by purchasing all the data from the various court houses, sheriff's offices and other places in the US, in order to compile it into a central searchable database.
You can use one of these sites by searching for the name & location of someone, and then getting a report from the site for that person.
This report will detail all the records & information that they have - including all the possible criminal activity they've been attributed to in the past.
This secondary type of lookup is much more reliable, effective and up to date than the official government sites method - allowing you to quickly identify all the information you require in one search