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US State and County Criminal Record Checks 

Primary source searches of local county court records where an individual has lived, worked or attended school are widely regarded as the gold standard for US criminal searches. State criminal record searches can expand a search to include records in a state repository, rather than just a single county. 

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Gain the quick, thorough insights you need for informed hiring with our technology-enabled state and county criminal record checks, supported by our proven market expertise.

Run criminal record checks in locations that appear in the candidate’s address history for your specified look-back period. Our standard county court criminal lookback is seven years.

Our court integrations give us direct digital access to many state and county criminal records, covering ~90% of our US criminal record searches1. We report a minimum of 7 years of records, depending on availability and applicable laws.

Identify additional search locations beyond those submitted by the candidate, including locations from education and employment verifications, using our options that help expand the scope of your searches.

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Build an Effective Program for Your Unique Needs 

There is no single, combined database for locating criminal records in all 3000+ US counties and county court equivalents2. Searching all of them simply isn’t practical. With so many options for locating county criminal records, it’s essential to partner with a market leader that has proven expertise. We can help you build a screening strategy that provides the insights you need to hire with confidence.

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Why Our Partners and Customers Trust First Advantage1

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Why First Advantage? 

Our advanced fulfillment systems will accelerate turnaround times and enhance your background criminal record checks. Approximately 90% of our US criminal searches utilize intelligent automation to speed up the entire employment criminal background check process1.

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State and County Criminal Record Check FAQs

The US does not have a public ‘national criminal records database’ that includes records from all county courts. Searching all 3,000+ unconnected US county courthouses2 would be both costly and time-consuming. At First Advantage, we can help you build a program that meets your industry and unique company requirements, giving you the insights you need.

First Advantage searches 7 years of records, depending on applicable local, state or federal reporting laws1.

You can find US state criminal records most effectively in the local county courts or the state repository of criminal records corresponding to the candidate’s residential, work, or school address history. A reliable background screening partner like First Advantage typically provides various services to help you identify and search locations where criminal records may be found.

A state criminal record search can look for criminal record results in a state criminal database which may include records in more locations than those counties where the candidate had previously lived. In many states, these repositories include criminal records from all counties. At First Advantage, these searches are often faster due to our digital access to many states.

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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 December 2025 | 2 World Population Review, 2026

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