Background checks help you make safe, informed hiring decisions for your company. You can gain a lot of information from a background screening, but one of the most important parts of the process is the search for a candidate’s criminal records. There are different ways to gain state vs. federal background check information. As an employer, it’s important to know how the different background checks work so you can create a thorough, effective background screening for every candidate you bring onto your team. To help you learn more about the process, here’s our overview of federal vs. multi-state background checks.
Federal Background Checks
Federal background checks collect records of any crimes prosecuted at the federal level. If an individual commits a crime that encompasses multiple states or districts, a federal background check will catch it. This is useful in major felonies that involve or cross into multiple jurisdictions. A federal background check can bring up records from criminal cases such as:
- Fraud
- Embezzlement
- Tax evasion
- Other white-collar crimes
- Kidnapping
- Robbery
- Illegal sales and/or purchase of firearms
- Pornographic exploitation of minors
- And other major felonies
Because crimes like these frequently cross state lines and involve multiple jurisdictions, a state or county background check won’t include them. It’s important to include federal background checks in your screening process so you can gain a comprehensive overview of your potential employees’ records and history.
Multi-State Background Checks
Unlike federal background checks, multi-jurisdictional background checks collect information about crimes that were prosecuted at a state, county, or other local jurisdiction level. A majority of prosecuted crimes exist at the state or county level, so it’s important to search these records during a candidate’s hiring process. Multi-state background checks search records of multiple local jurisdictions, allowing employers to check the records of every state or county an applicant has lived in.
Now that you know more about federal vs. multi-state background checks, PSI Background Screening is here to help you and your company with your background screening checks. By offering a screening process with background checks for federal and state, we create a thorough and detailed report for your job candidates, allowing you to make responsible, informed decisions about who you hire.