BRB's Public Records Blog

BRB Publications Launches New Web Page www.verifyprolicense.com Providing Access to State Licensing Boards

BRB Publications annouced today a new website that enables the public to verify individuals and businesses required to be licensed or have a certification or registration.

This free, new resource enables a researcher to check the representations people make to the public in day-to-day personal or business life. Users of www.verifyprolicense.comcan choose an occupation or business category, by state, to find the direct address, phone number, and web page of the licensing or certification board. The resulting screen also provides a hot link to a License Validator to verify the license, permit, and registration information for individuals and or businesses. Another valuable feature of the search is that it often indicates when disciplinary action has been taken against an individual or business. This site is updated weekly and includes over 8,000 occupations with over 4,500 "name searchable" links providing immediate results.

According to BRB Publication’s CEO Michael Sankey, "Professional occupational licensing and non-voluntary certifications and registrations are generally a matter of public record, intended to protect the public from fraud and the misrepresentations of qualifications. It is simply a smart business practice to check on those with whom you deal, particularly if strangers come into a home, or if money and property are involved."

Also, the new website is dedicated to educating the public about The Sue Weaver C.A.U.S.E. (Consumer Awareness of Unsafe Service Employment).

About the Sue Weaver C.A.U.S.E.
On August 27, 2001, Sue Weaver was brutally raped and beaten to death by a twice convicted sex-offender. Ms. Weaver’s attacker was hired through a major department store to do service work in her home. In memory of Sue Weaver, C.A.U.S.E. was founded in 2004 as a non-profit organization that brings awareness and education to consumers and employers regarding the necessity of criminal background checks on all service employees, contractors and subcontractors hired to work in or near clients’ homes. For more information about C.A.U.S.E. visit www.sueweavercause.org.

New Utah Law for Employers Using Personal Identifiers

The Utah legislation has enacted H.B. 206. The legislation prohibits employers from requesting a SSN, DOB or DL# until either 1) the time in the hiring process when a criminal background check, credit history, or driving record is going to be run or 2) a conditional offer of employment is made. In general, H.B. 206 affects employers with 15 or more employees. This means that the SSN, DOB or DL should not be indicated on the initial job application form. This is not out of the ordinary, since this procedure is common for employers who work with and are advised by a pre-employment screening agency. However, vendors who provide employment screening on occasion for their employer clients may want to make sure to supply the proper forms to an employer at the appropriate time when a background check is initiated or public records are checked.
An excellent overview of the new law is provided by the Employer’s Council (which covers Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming) at www.ecutah.org/newsampl.pdf.

Maine - Cumberland County Courts - Criminal Record Search

In Maine, the District Courts handle misdemeanors and the Superior Courts handle felonies. Recently, one of Cumberland County's three District Courts merged its criminal record division with the county's Superior Court. Records from Portland District Court - South 9 were merged with the Superior Court criminal record database. The new court is designated as the Unified Court.  A criminal record search at the Unified Court will include a search of both courts. This merger does not affect civil or probate records held by the Portland District Court. Note the two other District Courts in Cumberland County (Bridgton District Court North 9 and Bath District Court East 6) each have a separate record database. Therefore, for a complete countywide criminal record search with misdemeanors, all three courts must be searched.

About Searching for Criminal Records

There are two primary approaches to searching direct sources of criminal records – go to the courthouse or go to the state repository. There are pluses and minuses for each method.

Most criminal record searches performed by the public at the courts are “name searches.” This means a name is submitted or researched against a record docket index to determine if a record exists on the subject. Usually the DOB and sometimes the SSN is also provided or used by the requester when searching open records. Many courts provide public access terminal to search the index if they do not provide their personnel to do a look-up. A number of courts will not honor search requests by mail and certainly not by phone.

Using an exact name and a DOB gives record requesters a higher likelihood that the record found is that of the subject, opposed to name search with a partial DOB or to search with name only.

A smart researcher will search the record file and look for clues to identifiers that will confirm the record does indeed belong to the subject of the search, especially if the name is common like Williams or Smith. This holds true regardless if you are searching records at courthouses or at state agencies.

The “other” criminal records – incarceration, sexual predator, and from database vendors – can usually be searched with a name and some personal identifiers. However, if case details are needed, then an on-site search must be made at the appropriate court. Note that industry professionals generally consider these records to be supplementary in nature. They are certainly worthwhile, but professional researchers know these records should not be used as the only search source.

© excerpt from Business Background Investigations book.

New Book Reveals How Employers Can Protect Their Businesses

A 25-Point Action Plan that Audits Hiring Practices...For Businesses of All Sizes

Tempe, Arizona – August 25, 2008 - Facts on Demand Press announces the publication of The Safe Hiring Audit by Lester S. Rosen, Esq., with Michael Sankey.  Hiring new workers is a complicated task. This new book teaches business owners and hiring managers how to perform an effective evaluation of their current hiring practices, identifies necessary changes, and instruct how to implement needed changes.

Laws associated with hiring have sought to achieve a balance between protecting privacy and due diligence. Using the Audit’s action plan of best practices assists a company’s compliance with key federal and state hiring laws, thus helping keep the company out of court and the workplace safe. According to Rosen, “All companies must periodically audit their employment practices to insure due diligence and compliance with discrimination and privacy laws, and determine whether an organization is using the current best policies, practices and procedures.” Rosen added that an effective audit can help establish legally defensible practices for dealing with potentially problematic applicants.

Author Lester S. Rosen is an attorney-at-law and founder of Employment Screening Resources (www.ESRcheck.com), a national pre-employment background screening firm. He also is the author of The Safe Hiring Manual, the first definitive book on background checks and safe hiring, and The Safe Hiring Course, the only online educational course available in the U.S. specifically for the background screening industry.  Michael Sankey is the founder and CEO of BRB Publications, Inc. (www.brbpub.com), and is author or editor of over 40 publications including Public Records Online, The MVR Book, The Sourcebook to Public Record Information, and The Public Record Research TIPS Book.

More information on The Safe Hiring Audit.

Company Unveils List of 2009 Background Screening Trends

News Release:  employeescreenIQ, an employment screening company, announced its 2009 list of 10 background-screening trends at the Society for Human Resource Management's Annual Conference and Exposition in Chicago. The list is designed to provide hiring professionals with information about important screening topics in preparation for the upcoming year.  See Full Report.

Audit Your Pre-employment Screening Practices

The Safe Hiring Audit, a book available June 23rd, provides a blueprint to evaluate and improve a company's hiring procedures. Companies of all sizes can identify potential problems and insure compliant hiring practices. This essential guide provides a step-by-step action plan to evaluate current hiring practices and help businesses avoid potential problems.

• Assess all company procedures in the hiring process
• Establish legally defensible practices for dealing with potentially problematic applicants
• Developed for both the small business owners and managers of large corporations

The Safe Hiring Audit is a practical resource for business owners, HR professionals, hiring managers, and security professionals – anyone with hiring responsibilities.   It is written by Les Rosen and Michael Sankey and published by Facts On Demand Press an imprint of BRB Publications, Inc.

Click Here for more information.

Kroll Releases it's Annual Pre-employment Screening Report

Kroll has released the 2007 Hit Ratio Report, providing key statistics for the seven most common employment screening criteria, plus detailed analyses of industry-specific hit ratios for 13 additional industries. The 2007 Hit Ratio Report is derived from a sample of Kroll’s Background Screening clients across a variety of industries and company sizes.  See report.

USIS HireRight Merger

FALLS CHURCH, Va. & IRVINE, Calif. - (Business Wire) US Investigations Services, LLC (USIS), a leading provider of pre-employment and drug testing screening solutions and the largest provider of security investigations to the federal government, and HireRight, Inc. (NasdaqGM:HIRE), a leading provider of on-demand employment background and drug screening solutions, today announced that the companies have signed a definitive agreement to merge through a transaction valued at approximately $195 million.   More information.

ADP Releases Annual Screening Index

ADP Employer Services has released its annual Screening Index, a yearly evaluation of employment screening and hiring trends.  The index reports on statistics pulled from nearly 5.8 million background checks.  Two interesting stats include-

• 1 in 3 candidates have violations on their driving records
• 6% of candidates showed a criminal record over the past 7 years

View ADP’s Screening Index