Criminal Background Checks for Employment

Discover the advantages of criminal background checks powered by technology and expertise.
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Hire with Confidence

You're building a strong, authentic culture at your organization. That's why you're careful about the people you hire. Sterling's criminal record checks, identity verification, and other background screening solutions — powered by our proprietary automation technology — will give you the confidence to take the next step and bring those top candidates onto your team.

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How to Choose and Use US Criminal Background Checks

Criminal background screening in the US is complex. With many different sources and options, how do you know you’re using the best criminal checks for your company?
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6 Steps for Effective Criminal Background Checks

Maximize the quality of your background checks and get a clearer view of your candidates by learning the top 6 steps for an effective criminal background check.
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Start with Identity Verification for Faster, More Accurate Results

When Identity Verification is used before the background check for employment, you get more accurate, faster results. Learn how.
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Why Sterling?

Our clients benefit from an intentional blend of cutting-edge technology and strategic human touch, showcasing the strength behind our criminal background checks for employment.
Faster Time-to-Hire
Reduce background criminal check turnaround times by up to 50% while increasing search accuracy through Sterling’s focus on advanced fulfillment systems. ~90% of our US searches leverage automation in combination with a strategic human touch for faster, high-quality criminal background check results*.
  • Direct online access to ~90% of US background check criminal records via our CourtDirect technology*.
  • Increased automation across the end-to-end employment criminal background check process via our SmartData technology – from matching candidate data to determining reportability and applying your order rules*.
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~90%
US criminal searches completed with automation.*
90%
US criminal checks completed in the first day.*
70%
US criminal checks completed in first hour.*
* Sterling Corporate Stats, 2023
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Common Questions

Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about US criminal background checks.

A criminal background check for employment may report on a candidate’s criminal history, including felony criminal convictions, misdemeanor criminal convictions, and pending criminal cases.
No. In the US, there is no reliable single resource for performing a nationwide criminal record check for employment purposes. The FBI database, which may come the closest to a national criminal search, requires employers to have statutory authority to request records. Instead, criminal records are dispersed across more than 3,200 counties and county equivalents and 94 federal judicial districts.
The best place to find US criminal records is in the county courts where the candidate has resided, worked, or studied. A trusted background screening partner like Sterling usually offers multiple services to help employers identify and search places where candidate records might be located.
Usually, background checks report seven years of criminal records. Depending on the local state guidelines and the job, a background check may report more years of criminal records.
Partnering with Sterling for our background screening saves time for our recruiting team, ensures accuracy  for our clients, and improves our candidate experience through Sterling’s mobile Candidate Hub. Sterling’s  fast turnaround times and easy-to-use platform has enabled our clients to onboard faster and with quality  candidates.”

Softworld

So much of our reputation as a fine dining and hospitality brand relies on our ability to hire dependable and trustworthy employees. Sterling understands the current competitive employment landscape and the importance of a positive candidate experience. They have helped us create a process that is simultaneously efficient and effective at identifying quality team members for our restaurants.”

Sizzling Steak Concepts

Sterling has been our trusted background screening provider for many years, and they’ve enabled our team to meet the hiring demands of our high-growth organization. Sterling’s expertise, consultative partnership, and intuitive technology has helped us to optimize our internal hiring process while also ensuring our candidates have a great onboarding experience. Sterling’s support team is highly supportive, responsive, and they work hard to provide excellent service.”

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More Thorough Results

We cast a wider net when searching for records in a criminal background check for employment. When Sterling’s three powerful locator tools are used together, they help identify more places to search for criminal history records, resulting in a more thorough criminal check.
Sterling identifies the address history associated with a given Social Security Number (SSN) using an extensive database of 10,000+ sources. These results broaden the scope of a background check to include locations of residence (and names, if requested) beyond what the candidate has disclosed. Alias names also may be identified upon request. Learn more.
The Enhanced Nationwide criminal service searches State, County, and Corrections criminal record databases to locate additional jurisdictions where a candidate may have committed criminal offenses. Prior to reporting, possible felony and misdemeanor convictions and pending cases are verified against primary source court records to validate the record.
Locator Select queries over 2,400 jurisdictions for bookings and criminal activity, covering most of the incarcerated population in the US, locating additional places where a candidate may have criminal history records. Prior to reporting, possible felony and misdemeanor convictions and pending cases are verified against primary source court records to validate the record.

Industry Expertise at Your Fingertips

We cover every aspect of screening from start to finish for over 50,000 clients globally. We help structure screening programs to align with the pre-employment background check requirements of your industry as well as the specific positions you hire for. Our deep knowledge of industries and background check compliance regulations enables you to confidently compete for talent.

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Improved End-to-End Employee Criminal Background Checks

Our key services and technologies enable us to provide unique and powerful solutions for your pre-employment background check program. Our six-step process to create a criminal background check for employment allows us to enable industry-leading turnaround times, accuracy you can trust, and a balanced approach of automation and human touch for an improved screening experience. 

Cloud-based technology delivers fast and convenient identity verification before a background screen, increasing the accuracy of your background check results

Criminal Locator

Sterling has three locator tools that uncover the courts and jurisdictions to search

CourtDirectTM Technology

Conduct a primary source search of the courts identified in the previous Locate step for criminal records. Assess the court record for completeness

SmartData Technology

Validation that PII retrieved from court records matches the PII provided by the candidate. Check record reportability per state and federal guidelines

SmartData Technology

Applies your reporting criteria, if needed, to provide only the information you need to make a decision

Assemble the background report and deliver it for your use in the hiring decision process

Services Tailored to Your Needs

What makes a valuable background check, and how are Sterling’s criminal background check services different? Our robust suite of background check services are designed to fit your specific business requirements and provide the best criminal background check experience possible.

County Court Record Searches are available in 3,200+ counties in the United States and identify potential criminal history such as felony convictions, misdemeanor convictions, and pending cases in the jurisdictions provided by the candidate or identified based on Social Security Trace or other locator services (e.g., where they have lived, worked, or attended school) within the past seven years at minimum.

search pulls primary source data from federal and state sources for exclusions, sanctions, debarments, and disciplinary actions against health care professionals and entities in all 56 US states, districts, and territories. FACIS sources include federal agencies, such as the Office of Inspector General (OIG), the System for Award Management (SAM), Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Clients can search one specific state, or all 56 US jurisdictions for Medicare and Medicaid exclusions or suspended providers.

The Federal Court Search identifies federal crimes that are prosecuted in the federal district courts and include convictions and pending cases for charges such as international/inter-state drug trafficking, kidnapping, and other federal-level crimes. Sterling can obtain federal records from all district courts throughout the US and related territories.

The Extended Global Sanctions Search examines records worldwide sourced from foreign governments, courts, regulatory enforcement, law enforcement agencies, and other public and proprietary data sources around the globe. Data sources are subject to availability and applicable reporting restrictions. This search reviews restriction, sanction, and exclusion records maintained by US and international legal and regulatory enforcement organizations and public sources and includes sources containing information from thousands of Watchlists and Sanctions, as well as the Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) database.

Sterling searches through the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW), which includes registered sex offenders in 49 States, US territories, the District of Columbia, and participating Indigenous tribes. Please note that reporting in Nevada is not permitted.

A State Search is a search of a state’s repository or state police records for a criminal background. It can provide an alternative source for criminal record information in a state.

The Global Criminal Search locates records in countries and/or territories based on the candidate’s self-disclosed address history, excluding US and Canadian sources, and may include various levels of courts, police records, or other sources of information. Records are reported in accordance with regional and local laws and regulations, as well as other restrictions that may be imposed by the source. Major coverage areas include Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Asia Pacific (APAC).
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The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons is commonly referred to as the terrorist watch list. OFAC administers and enforces economic sanctions programs primarily against countries and groups of individuals, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers. The sanctions can be comprehensive or selective, using the blocking of assets and trade restrictions to accomplish foreign policy and national security goals. As a service, the results are subject to availability and applicable reporting limitations.

Consists of a multi-jurisdictional search of court records, incarceration records, prison/inmate records, probation/parole/release information, arrest data, wants and warrants, and county court criminal records from jurisdictions which can be accessed and verified through automation and without incurring access fees*. Additionally, this service includes any changes on the DOJ NSOPW registry. Please note that state access fees will be passed through to the client where records must be validated.

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Achieve More with Sterling

Partnering with Sterling helps you mitigate risk and gain a clearer view of your job candidates. With our tech-driven solutions, you can: 

  • Gain direct digital access to more US background check criminal records.
  • Effectively manage risk with our technology-enabled compliance tools.
  • Add Identity Verification first to capture improved candidate data, accelerate hiring, and achieve more accurate results.
  • Obtain faster criminal background check results using end-to-end automation technology so you can start new hires sooner.

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Whether you want to rethink your employment background check program or simply need enhanced criminal background checks for more informed hiring, we can help. Click the option that best describes you.

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