Millions of people fall victim to crime in the US every year and a good percentage of them are of a violent nature at that. Little wonder that Criminal Records have become one of the standard items in background checks today. People conduct criminal record search for all kinds of reason and purpose and by far the number one factor for it is safety and security. It's well documented that a significant percentage of crimes are committed by repeat offenders so realistically, it pays to be on the look out for people who have had run-ins with the law.

Like other public record categories, criminal records are readily available and are so mandated by law. They can be obtained from various resources: governmental enforcement and security agencies, commercial record providers, public information centers such as libraries, volunteer organizations and welfare associations and even free content sites over the internet. They are a great source of information about people with criminal past.

Criminal record search is widespread. It can even be compulsory. For example, many states require that appointment dealing with children, elderly or handicapped and certain sensitive positions in finance, security and so forth are checked for criminal records. A good conduct endorsement of 'no record found' from an official search by law enforcement authorities may be required for adoption, immigration or education abroad also. Other common uses are in recruitment screening, police work, legal and security undertaking and, privately, for precaution or just plain old snooping.

Although somewhat touchy and controversial, criminal records are inherently public information. Courtrooms where offenders are charged, tried and convicted are constitutionally open to public and media. There are legislations like the CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) laws to foster balance between public information and personal privacy but given the digital information age and the internet, it's tough. Having that said, there are laws governing the use and treatment of information derived from criminal records.

There are generally 3 basic classifications of criminal offense namely traffic, misdemeanor and felony. Traffic offenses are the least serious and felonies are the worst. These criminal records can be requested free of charge from the government which is conventionally tasked with the Police Department. The FBI is another option but procedures and bureaucracies is a turnoff. Other sources of free criminal records are NCF (National Crime File) and the NCIC (National Crime Information Center) but their information tends to lack depth. County level information is the most original and updated but there are thousands of counties in the country. As such, this avenue is feasible only if the particular location of crime is known.

Of late, commercial record providers have joined in the fray. The top ones have very distinct advantages over the governmental sources. Users are protected from any violation in obtaining or utilizing the information and these membership sites have access to both public and private databases and proprietary network. The industry being so immensely competitive, their fees are also very reasonable bringing great value for money.