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National Criminal File Record Search 

Reveal more places to search for possible criminal history using our robust proprietary database search of millions of records from across the U.S. 

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Gain More Thorough Criminal Searches

The National Criminal Record File check searches First Advantage’s robust proprietary database of criminal records, collected from sources such as courthouses and court repositories, state departments of corrections, and administrative offices of the courts, to locate additional places your candidate might have criminal records. Choose the right solution for you:

Searches our proprietary database of millions of U.S. records using the candidate’s provided name for potential matching criminal records that can be further researched.

Searches our extensive proprietary database of U.S. criminal records using the provided name plus aliases or developed names associated with the candidate for potential matching criminal records that can be further researched.

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Why Use the National Criminal Record File Search?  

The U.S. does not have a single public national criminal records database. Instead, records are stored in over 3,000 courthouses – making a national criminal record check unpractical.

Our National Criminal Record File search acts as a ‘pointer,’ identifying potentially matching criminal records from across the U.S. Records found are researched further to determine reportability.

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Why Our Partners and Customers Trust First Advantage1

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Why First Advantage?

Our advanced fulfillment systems can help accelerate the turnaround times of your background criminal record checks. Approximately 90% of our U.S. criminal searches utilize intelligent automation to speed up the entire employment criminal background check process1.

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Common Questions About National Criminal Record File Searches

With over 3,000 unconnected courthouses, searching all courts across the U.S. is costly and time-consuming. A more effective strategy is to search First Advantage’s proprietary National Criminal Records File database of millions of records from across the U.S. This can help identify additional locations with criminal records potentially associated with your candidate. When records are found, they can be further researched to determine if any reportable history can be included in the results.

No. The National Criminal Record File search should always be used with a county criminal record search. This ensures that when a potential record is found, further research can be conducted through the county check to determine if the record is complete and up to date.

The criminal records in First Advantage’s robust proprietary National Criminal Record File database are collected from sources such as courthouses and repositories, state departments of corrections, and administrative offices of the courts across the U.S. New records and updates are added daily to our database.

Typically, when conducting criminal record checks, companies focus on places where a candidate has lived, worked or attended school. This practice overlooks records in neighboring areas or places where a candidate may have traveled. A National Criminal Record File search helps locate additional places where a candidate may have potential criminal records.

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Whether you want to rethink your employment background check program or need enhanced criminal background checks for more informed hiring, we can help.

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Sources 1 First Advantage as of 12/31/2025

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