Types

• Background searches on people include employment screening, criminal history, sexual offender history and credit history. Law enforcement agencies that conduct background searches include local police and the FBI. State governments often contract with private companies to perform background searches on people. According to the Ohio attorney general's office, background searches on people include fingerprint searches as well as records searches.
  
  

Features

• Criminal background searches on people compare fingerprints against a national database of fingerprints submitted by criminals, which can identify crimes committed anywhere in the nation. Some agencies, such as the Ohio attorney general's office's Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, accept electronic fingerprint submissions, which can speed the background search process. In addition, individual citizens can go online at any time and perform background searches for sexual offenders by name or location.
  
  

Considerations

• People seeking a background search on a potential roommate, babysitter, nanny or another service provider should allow enough time for law enforcement to perform the search and report the results. Companies certified by state governments have to perform background checks for immigration purposes. Repeated searches through multiple law enforcement agencies might be necessary over the course of long-term employment.
  
  

Misconceptions

• A background search should not be the only means of screening a potential employee or roommate, as these searches are not without fail. According to the Ohio attorney general's office, background checks can contain errors.
  
  

Benefits

• Not all people complete job applications or rental agreements with honesty; conducting a background search can yield important information for decision making when hiring a potential employee or choosing a roommate. Background searches can also increase the level of comfort, safety or security when hiring a service provider who will have contact with babies or children.
  
  

Warning

• Depending on the type of search conducted, background checks might not find crimes committed long in the past or other information such as traffic violations or suspended drivers licenses. In addition, information on convictions in a juvenile court are not usually available in most background searches. Requesting a background search on people through online companies not approved by law enforcement might not yield results that are as extensive as those obtained by local, state or national governments.