A criminal record is a document that contains information about a person’s history with law enforcement. It can include arrests, convictions, and identifying information. Criminal records can be public or sealed, and are often used for background checks in employment and other situations. Some communities have registration requirements for certain types of offenders.
A criminal record, or “criminal record sheet” as it is sometimes called, is a document that provides information about someone’s history of contact with law enforcement and the legal system. The type of information in a criminal record can vary, depending on the age of the person in question and the country. Such documents are used for background checks and a variety of other activities where someone’s criminal history may be relevant.
A very basic criminal record will only contain a list of the crimes someone has been convicted of. The more detailed logs include all arrests and their results along with all crimes that have not been expunged from the log. The criminal record may also note identifying information, such as height and weight, and other information that can be used descriptively in conjunction with the subject’s address.
Juvenile criminal records are usually sealed, meaning they can only be accessed in special situations. It is also possible for adults to seal all or part of their records upon request. In other cases, however, a criminal record is public information, and anyone can access it by filing a criminal record request and usually by paying a small fee to compensate the clerks for extracting the record and providing a copy.
When people apply for a job, they may be asked to undergo a background check which will include a review of their criminal record. For a fee, employers can access a system that provides reports of this nature, or they can choose to hire people to perform background checks. Background checks are especially common for jobs where people will be handling sensitive or valuable material or working with children; teachers, for example, must successfully pass a background check that checks for signs that they may be a risk to students.
Criminal records are technically public records, which means anyone can access them. However, the layman may find the task of reviewing such documents daunting. Most people do not have access to the automated systems that collect the information and must manually request the records from the appropriate agencies; in the process they may lose aspects of a criminal record that might be important. Recognizing that some people may be concerned about specific risks, some communities have adopted registration requirements for certain types of offenders. Sex offenders, for example, often need to register, and people can search their neighborhoods to see if there are any registered offenders in their vicinity.
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