The Truth About Fingerprint Checks

Fingerprint checks are required by the state for many industries, education for instance, and are thought of as one of the most reliable ways to screen job candidates. And with mandatory fingerprint checks in place in many states, people have no choice but to buy into this misconception. And when I say, “buy into this misconception," rest assured that you are paying for it. The state of Washington, for example, charges $45.75 for fingerprint background checks. If you think that is bad, in the state of New York fingerprint background checks can cost up to $102. So with costs that high, surely fingerprint checks are the most comprehensive, accurate way to screen applicants. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

In truth, it is an unreliable, faulty way to vet new employees. Issues include:

·         An incomplete FBI database that is missing as many as 50% of its criminal records

·         Irregular updates to fingerprint-based records that cause the information to be far from current

·         An inclusion of arrest records that, according to the FCRA, are not to serve as a basis for employment decisions without a conviction based on that arrest

·         Unlike a background report from a consumer reporting agency based on personal identifiers (Name, DOB, SSN, etc.), FBI reports do not allow the individual to challenge the results

An example of an FBI rap sheet

So with this many problems, how is it possible that states and municipalities are still passing legislation requiring the use of this defective method of employment screening? Well, that all boils down to legislators who do not understand the inadequacies of this method of screening. Until legislators are made aware of these shortcomings, many industries are forced to continue use of this inaccurate screening procedure.

If your company is not a part of an industry that falls under the umbrella of state-mandated fingerprint checks, we recommend a criminal background check that uses personal identifiers to match convictions, and only convictions, to the right individual. This method of screening is FCRA-compliant, more accurate, and more reasonably priced.

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S2Verify is an NAPBS-accredited process innovator in the application of integrated hiring solutions and employment screening technologies. S2Verify’s services cater to the needs of organizations that rely on employee and volunteer information that is comprehensive in scope, delivered quickly to key managers, and easy to read, understand, and use by authorized personnel. Headquartered in Atlanta with Operational Support Centers in Miami and Chicago, the privately-held company specializes in providing a customizable yet fully integrated, best-in-class set of applicant tracking, drug screening, and criminal background checks that address business and consumer needs either poorly met or not met at all by leading, nationally-branded providers of mass-market background screening solutions. The focus on addressing shortcomings in the background screening industry attributed to S2Verify’s inclusion in the Inc. 500’s list of fastest growing companies in the United States.

Texas House Bill 1188 Limits Liability

Texas House Bill 1188

This bill limits the liability of employers, general contractors, premise owners and third parties for hiring employees with criminal convictions. It was introduced in February of this year, and it will take effect on September 1, 2013.
HB 1188 states that no legal action can be taken against an employer who negligently hires an employee with a criminal record. Now before you consider calling off background checks to cut your costs, be aware that there are many exceptions to this bill.

Exceptions-

An employer may be sued for negligently hiring an employee:

I. who has committed a criminal offense while performing duties similar to those expected to be performed in the course of employment

II. who has committed an criminal offense under conditions similar to those expected to be encountered in the course of employment

III. who has committed murder, capital murder, indecency with a child, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, and/or aggravated robbery

Even with this law in place, you may still find yourself answering for the actions of your employees. Continuing to screen your applicants will protect your company and its reputation, as well as save you from a legal nightmare. The cost of a law suit is much more than the cost of a criminal background check, so don’t put your company at risk.

Click here for House Bill 1188 in its entirety.

Public Records - Legal Action Dealing with Access

Oswego, NY -- An Oswego business owner is in the process of suing Oswego County Clerk George Williams, contending he is breaking the law concerning searches of public documents at the clerk’s office.
Aaron P. Smith, owner of APS Information Services, says Williams does not allow the public to search Oswego County Court and Supreme Court indices, which include names and disposition of criminal cases. He said Williams has his employees perform the searches so he can charge fees.

Smith, who has been in the document search business for 16 years, said of the six counties in which he does business, Oswego is the only one where the clerk operates this way.Smith works for national background-screening companies charged with making criminal background checks of people, who for instance are applying for jobs, renting apartments or working on military contracts. He does searches in Onondaga, Oswego, Jefferson, Erie, Niagara and Monroe counties.

Oswego County Attorney Richard Mitchell said Williams has not yet been served paperwork regarding the lawsuit. Smith’s lawyer, Scott Chatfield, of Marietta, said the case will be argued Nov. 10 in state Supreme Court in Utica. Chatfield quoted an opinion issued by Robert Freeman, executive director of the state Committee on Open Government, that says state regulations “have specified that when records are accessible, they must be made available for inspection, and that an agency cannot charge for the inspection of records.”

“Only when copies of records are requested are fees charged,” Chatfield said.
Smith said if he goes to one of the other five counties to search a criminal index on a subject, he would do the search himself, get the information he needs and leave. In Oswego County, Smith would not be able to search the subject’s criminal index by himself. A county clerk’s office employee would do the search and then charge Smith $5 for each two-year period searched.

Smith said he spends from $2,500 to $6,800 a month for searches in the Oswego County Clerk’s office. That is a cost he incurs in no other clerk’s office.

“It’s extortion,” Smith said. “He’s creating this revenue stream for the county and then walking in and saying ‘look how wonderful I am.”

Deputy County Clerk Georgiana Mansfield said Williams had no comment on the legal action.

In a letter to Smith’s lawyer dated Oct. 11, Mitchell said “although you contend your client is prevented from using the County Clerk’s office, that does not appear to be the case.

"Williams has faced some controversy of late stemming from hiring a company to manage county documents.The county Ethics Board investigated him twice.

 Once was to determine if he was an employee of Info Quick Solutions, of Clay, one of the companies interested in the document management contract. It is owned by a friend of Williams. He was found not to be employed by IQS.The other involved Williams and his deputy clerk for operations eating at a Fulton restaurant with IQS representatives right after presentations by IQS and other potential vendors were made to the legislative committee. The board found that while Williams and his deputy did not break any laws, dining with the IQS personnel constituted “an appearance of impropriety.” The FBI also has been examining the relationship between the county clerk’s office and IQS and has subpoenaed 10 years’ worth of county clerk records.

© 2011 syracuse.com. All rights reserved

"Statewide Background Checks Miss Records"

Many companies think that a statewide background check is more complete than searching the counties that an applicant has lived and/or worked.   "In some cases, that is not correct." Bill Whitford, CEO of S2Verify.   "Many states are not on a unified court system and rely on the county to report the records to the state.   However, in many instances, this simply does not happen."

It is important to understand each state and then determine if a statewide is the best search.   That is why companies need to contract with knowledgable and experienced Employment Screening companies, like S2Verify.   We are amazed at the lack of knowledge among prospects about what they are ordering and how it impacts their business.  

In one instance, one of our competitors was selling statewide searches and using a database.  However, they weren't informing the company that this was a database search.   In fact, they were offering a statewide search in states like CA that don't offer a statewide search. 

Here is an article that proves you need to be knowledgeable about each state.

Texas background checks let felons slip through cracks in surprising numbers

Stephen Dean

, Houston Page One Examiner

September 29, 2011 - Like this? Subscribe to get instant updates.

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If employers or even police run a criminal background check, thousands of convicted felons could be given a clean slate because of widespread failures at courthouses throughout the state, according to a new state audit.

Courts and prosecutors throughout Texas are supposed to quickly submit convictions for arson, burglary, and more serious crimes but the report by the Texas Auditor's office finds more than a-quarter of the arrests are not showing up on state background checks because local police agencies and county courthouses are not sending that data to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

That means if one felon is convicted, the state database won't include it for months because the local police and courthouses are letting it sit on a shelf for months before sending it to the state to be included in the DPS crime database.

That means if that criminal is applying for a job driving a school bus, or trying to enter the military service, or applying for another sensitive security position, a background check won't show the conviction because the most comprehensive statewide crime database doesn't know about it.

Most background checks, especially those by private employers and small government agencies, do not check records at the local level.   They won't scour every single courthouse where an applicant has lived, but instead rely on each state's centralized database of all criminal convictions.

Local police and sheriff's departments are also required to submit information for arrests made for certain crimes, even if the person hasn't been convicted yet.   Those are among the crimes not being reported to the state, according to this report.

Today's audito report digs into all arrests made statewide in 2009 and it found that more than a-quarter of the crimes had still not been reported to Texas DPS as of January of this year.

In a February 2006 audit, 71-percent of the crimes were being reported by prosecutors and courts.   This time around, those agencies reported 73.68 percent of the arrests made in 2009.   That's only a slight improvement.
The audit explains,

"Data in the DPS's Computerized Criminal History System is not complete, and users may not receive a reliable result from criminal history background checks that are conducted based on the data in that system."

Even though Texas law requires prosecutors and courts to send that data in within weeks, DPS has no authority to slap a fine or any other punishment for agencies that are letting its criminal convictions sit on the shelves for months or years.

"A significant number of prosecutor and court records are not reported to DPS, which impairs the quality of information that DPS uses to conduct criminal history background checks,"the report continued.

Here's a serious illustration of how bad it is:
State background checks are standard when a new inmate arrives in the state prison system, but when 1,634 inmates showed up for prison or probation in November 2010, they had clean records.

That's right, convicted felons on their way into prison were listed as having no criminal record in the state DPS crime database because the local authorities hadn't yet submitted the information as they're required to do within days.

Some are required to be submitted within 7-days and others must be submitted within 30-days, but it's not always happening at all.

Today's report urges DPS to improve the timeliness and accuracy of the records it receives from local authorities, but it didn't say how that should happen since DPS is powerless to issue fines or any other sanctions for it.

The Tarrant County District Attorney's office is listed as failing to submit records, and the report points out that the Harris County District Attorney's Office and the Harris County District Clerk are also both falling short on submitting details of cases to the state crime database.

Each office said the reason this is happening is because some criminals don't have state identification numbers attached to their records, which causes them to slip through the cracks. If the state ID number is attached at booking or later before trial, they are automatically sent in when there is a conviction or other disposition.   If that number is missing, it just doesn't happen like it's supposed to, they said.

They also blamed courts for failing to submit some paperwork about the disposition of some cases.   Without that paperwork, those agencies don't know there's anything additional to report to the state.

Between September 1, 2009 and November 30, 2010, there were 65,424 arrest records submitted to DPS that could not be properly matched with their crimes or the outcomes of their cases.   That means an arrest may be listed without a conviction, or even that a person may be listed as having one charge against them when they really had 5 serious charges against them.

For those 65,424 incomplete records, the audit says local agencies submitted erroneous data or incomplete data for felonies and misdemeanor crimes.   Those all affect how a person shows up on a criminal background check.

DPS agreed with the findings of the audit and promised to work on holding meetings with local government officials throughout Texas to make sure they know how to submit timely and accurate data on crimes.
About 80% of the information is being submitted to the state electronically, while the rest are mailed or faxed.

The audit listed these hard numbers between September 1, 2009 and November 30, 2010:

• Of the 1,115,469 of the crimes that were required to be reported within 7-days, 84.25% actually were (amounting to 939,802 crimes)
• Of the 959,892 crimes that can be reported within 30-days,  76.48% were reported  (or 734,138 crimes).

But the criminal background checks face another problem, according to this audit.


Even when local police and prosecutors do submit the arrest or conviction information, DPS is sometimes reporting a two-month backlog in entering the data into the database if it comes by mail or fax. Staffing and budget cuts are getting the blame.