Criminal history record information
Criminal history record information (CHRI) is a compilation of a person's interactions with the criminal justice system, primarily used for investigations, sentencing, and background checks. These records typically begin with personal identifiers such as names and dates of birth, followed by detailed accounts of arrests, charges, and court outcomes. While criminal history records are essential for various purposes, they generally exclude juvenile court information and specific non-criminal matters, like mental health treatment or parking violations.
To ensure accuracy, these records are often linked through fingerprint identification, recognizing that multiple individuals can share similar identifying details. Over time, access to CHRI has evolved, transitioning from a confidential status to being available for background checks related to employment, firearms purchases, and volunteer positions, especially in sensitive areas like childcare. However, legislative measures in some jurisdictions have placed limitations on how and when these checks can be performed, reflecting an ongoing balance between public safety and individual privacy rights.
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Criminal history record information
SIGNIFICANCE: Criminal history records are widely used in investigations, sentencing, licensing, background checks, and other purposes.
Typical criminal history records begin with the names, dates of birth, sex, and other identifying characteristics of persons arrested by the police, followed by listings of subsequent instances in which the persons came in contact with the criminal justice system. For example, the first event on a person’s record might be an arrest on June 1, 2022, for vehicle theft, showing which law-enforcement agency arrested the suspect; the next event might be a dismissal of the charge of vehicle theft against that person on June 11, 2022, showing which court dismissed the charge.
Normally, records do not include information about arrests and dispositions that occurred in juvenile court. When juvenile cases have been waived to adult court, however, the adult court disposition does appear in criminal records. Criminal history records also do not contain intelligence information on their subjects or entries about parking violations, drug abuse treatment, mental health treatment, or similar matters.
As several people may have the same name and be born on the same date (or criminal offenders may lie about their names or dates of birth), criminal history records are accompanied by a positive identification of the person, normally fingerprints. Arrests that occurred in different cities, counties, or states are linked though a computerized interstate identification index operated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The information from different states may be combined into a single FBI criminal history record or stored in computers in the different states, ready to be combined electronically upon request. Linking records in different states for the same person is facilitated by automated fingerprint identification systems.
A person who was never arrested does not have a criminal history record, even if the FBI or a state agency has a copy of the person’s fingerprints from an employment background check or for another reason.
Originally, criminal history records were considered highly confidential, and access was restricted to employees of criminal justice agencies for specified purposes, such as trying to find perpetrators of crimes or prosecuting and sentencing offenders in accordance with law. Beginning in the 1990’s, state and federal legislation facilitated access to criminal history records (or selected portions of those records) for a variety of purposes, including background checks of applicants for purchase of a firearm, employment related to public safety, or volunteer work involving care of children or the elderly. Sex offender registries, which are completely available to the public in some states, are separate from criminal history records.
In the 2020s, the ability to do a criminal background check on another person was limited by law in some states. For example, in 2021, the federal government instituted a policy that criminal history checks could not be conducted on new job applicants or federal contractors until after a formal job offer had been extended.
Bibliography
“50-State Comparison: Limits on Use of Criminal Record in Employment, Licensing & Housing.” Restoration of Rights Project, ccresourcecenter.org/state-restoration-profiles/50-state-comparisoncomparison-of-criminal-records-in-licensing-and-employment/. Accessed 25 June 2024.
"Improving Criminal History Records for Background Checks." Bureau of Justice Statistics, May 2003, https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/improving-criminal-history-records-background-checks-national-criminal-history. Accessed 25 June 2024.
“Privacy, Technology and Criminal Justice Information.” Bureau of Justice Statistics, July 2001, bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/pauchi.pdf. Accessed 25 June 2024.