Applicant Information provides a systematic interface to the 10,000 court systems in the United States. In addition, we have investigative resources that can reach around the world.

In the United States, criminal court records are generally viewed as public records, available for inspection by anyone that asks. We have a network of court researchers that comb through local courts’ record systems for information pertaining to an applicant. In most cases, we will check a county-level court system, as this level of court handles the vast majority of criminal proceedings. Because the county courts handle the cases, their records are usually viewed as the most accurate and recent versions of the proceedings available. This is an important standard under the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.

The court researchers require personally identifying information to match against the court records. This means supplying the applicant’s full legal name, date of birth, and social security number. With this information, a court researcher will check the court index. If a possible record is found using the supplied personally identifying information, the court researcher will request a copy of the court file, which is usually stored as an actual paper file in an off-site archive. Once the requested record is delivered, the court researcher will read the court record for any information that will help identify the person in the court system.

The court researcher’s resulting information is recorded into Applicant Information’s secure, web-based information system. What you do with the resulting information is up to you after the court researcher’s work is quality checked.