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Home > Jobing Community Blogs > Blog Post: Understanding Criminal R...
Blog Post: Understanding Criminal Records.... part 1 of 2
posted Wednesday, October 8, 2008 9:17 AM
All criminal record background check searches are not created equal. Understanding how criminal records are kept and researched can make the difference between successfully defending a negligent hiring lawsuit and getting hit with a $1,000,000 judgment.
First, knowing the court system will make it easier to understand how criminal records can be searched. I will be using Arizona as an example, and while most states are similar, they may vary a bit in structure and terminology. There are four levels of criminal courts in Arizona : city, county, state and federal. The City Level Cities and towns, such as Phoenix , Tempe , Flagstaff or Tucson have a municipal court, also known as a city court or magistrate court. Municipal courts have criminal jurisdiction over misdemeanor crimes and petty offenses committed in their city or town. These courts have jurisdiction over a limited variety of cases and share jurisdiction with justice courts over violations of state law committed within their city or town limits. These are considered non-record courts, meaning that permanent records of court proceedings are not required. However, some courts do make a record of proceedings and it varies from town to town.
The County Level Counties such as Maricopa, Pima, Mohave or Coconino (AZ has 15 in all) have justice and superior courts; and each county, sets geographical boundaries, known as precincts, for that county’s justice courts. Generally, these precincts are larger than city or town limits and typically incorporate an entire city or town, and pieces of other communities as well. Justice courts are also non-record courts but tend to have more variety of cases and keep more permanent records than municipalities. Justice courts have criminal jurisdiction over the following:
Justice courts share jurisdiction with the superior court in certain cases. The Superior Court of Arizona is the general jurisdiction court, a statewide trial court. Each county has one superior court. This court hears the widest variety of cases and keeps permanent records of court proceedings. Among other things, superior courts have jurisdiction over criminal cases amounting to a felony, and misdemeanor cases not otherwise provided for by law. The State Level Then there are the state appellate courts that have jurisdiction to review trials and decisions appealed to them. Most appeals come from the superior court, except for death penalty appeals and some cases involving elected officials and disputes between counties, which go directly to the Supreme Court. While these courts hear appeals, the case files themselves are ultimately kept in the original jurisdiction, usually the superior court. The Federal Level Finally, there is the federal level, which is broken down into districts; Arizona has one federal district (the United States has 94 in all). These courts have jurisdiction over federal law and only prosecute federal offenses such as bank robbery, counterfeiting, interstate drug trafficking and insider trading. So, what does all of this mean when conducting criminal record searches? Find out next time in part 2.... Kevin Klimas is the founder and president of Clarifacts Inc, a privately held corporation focused exclusively on employment background screening services. Clarifacts provides nationwide service across a variety of industries including healthcare, staffing, call center and non-profit just to name a few, with clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to sole proprietorships.
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