Criminal records

SIGNIFICANCE: Criminal records allow police agencies and courts to know the histories of criminal suspects’ and defendants’ violations of laws and are often used as sentencing tools in evaluating convicted persons’ eligibility for probation and parole.

Local, state, and federal law-enforcement agencies and courts all compile criminal records. Effective national coordination of criminal records is now a clear goal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other law-enforcement agencies, but there are still holes in the system of record keeping that make it difficult to track mobile offenders, particularly low-level misdemeanants.

Data Collection

The FBI has national responsibility for the compilation of criminal records. These records are stored at the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) division, which is headquartered in Clarksburg, West Virginia. The CJIS is now the world’s largest fingerprint repository; it cooperates with both national and international law information agencies. In the late 1990s, CJIS had more than 200 million fingerprint cards on file. In the twenty-first century, that information is contained in the Automated Fingerprint Identification System.

Although submission of records to the CJIS is voluntary for state and local law-enforcement agencies, data submission increased during the late twentieth century. The CJIS also receives the fingerprints of aliens who seek permanent residence, naturalization, and asylum in the United States, as well as the fingerprints of Americans seeking to adopt children abroad. Alien residents who are convicted of felonies are automatically deported if found, and aliens with serious criminal records cannot be admitted to the United States legally.

In some states, state law requires those arrested for felonies and class A and B misdemeanors to be fingerprinted, and two sets of fingerprint records are made so that both local authorities and the state bureau of investigation can maintain appropriate records. Juveniles charged with offenses that would be felonies or class A and B misdemeanors for adults also must submit fingerprints. Minor misdemeanors slip through the cracks of states’ recording systems. According to a 2022 report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the fifty US states, District of Columbia, and Guam had more than 114 million criminal records on file in 2020.

Private and Public Use of Criminal Records

In addition to law-enforcement, court, and corrections use of criminal records, private citizens increasingly seek access to criminal records. Employers must know whether they are hiring individuals with criminal histories that raise serious concern about their fitness to deal with vulnerable populations in day-care centers, schools, summer camps, and nursing homes.

If an employer fails to do a background check and hires an employee whose record would have indicated that he or she posed a potential threat, the employer can be sued for negligent hire. Specialized search firms have proliferated to meet employer needs to learn of potential employees’ criminal histories and other potentially damaging background information. Potential employees must often sign a consent form agreeing to a criminal record check or forfeit further consideration for employment even in low-level jobs.

Law-enforcement agencies use criminal records to track offenders over time. While juvenile records were once sealed when juvenile offenders became adults, many states now make them available to courts sentencing former juvenile felons for adult crimes.

Prosecutors and courts use criminal records in determining how serious punishment should be for particular crimes. In some states, first-time offenders may be granted a diversion that keeps them out of the criminal justice system if they accept responsibility for their offenses and honor restitution and other conditions imposed on them. The successful completion of diversion leaves persons with no formal criminal record, although prosecutors have access to records that indicate who has been granted diversions. Judges in many states use mandated sentencing guidelines that impose sentences for specific offenses based on the severity of the offense and individuals’ prior criminal records. Judges must justify departures from a recommended sentencing range.

Coping with a Criminal Record

Former offenders find themselves severely handicapped by their criminal records. In addition to losing voting rights and the right to bear arms, those with felony convictions are barred from obtaining many occupational and professional licenses in most states. Sometimes criminal background checks are required for health care workers who deal directly with patients, and some states have passed laws that revoke the teaching certificates of public school teachers with felony records. Some states have a formal process called “expungement,” through which persons who can demonstrate that they have been rehabilitated can have convictions for most crimes removed from their records. Expunged records are not totally destroyed, however. In addition, expunged records can be reopened if further offenses are committed.

Bibliography

Bureau of Justice Statistics. Improving Criminal History Records for Background Checks. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, 2003.

Goggins, Becki, and Dennis A. DeBacco. " Survey of State Criminal History Information Systems, 2020." Bureau of Justice Statistics, December 2022, bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/survey-state-criminal-history-information-systems-2020. Accessed 25 June 2024.

Niam, Edward, Jr. “Do You Know Who You Are Hiring?” USA Today Magazine 125 (July, 1997).

Sontag, Deborah. “U.S. Deports Felons but Can’t Keep Them Out.” New York Times, August 11, 1997.

Vail, Kathleen. “Privacy Rights Versus Safety.” American School Board Journal 184 (April, 1997).