Background Checking Yourself

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Dan Forrester

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Is it possible to background check myself?

Since turning 18 I have bought and sold dozens of firearms and probably around another dozen or so NFA weapons. Somewhere around 19 or so (I'm 33 now) I was charged with some kind of a trespassing violation. I went to court and pled "adjudication withheld" and paid a fine of $100 or so.

This has never been a problem for me purchasing firearms and the whole thing seems pretty minor. However It is always something I put down when applying for a job. I know it is still of record at the local county courthouse because I got a copy of it when I applied with the state for my professional license. My employer background checks everyone every 2 years as a standard procedure. This year on the consent to be background checked there was a box I checked to have the results sent to my house.

A few months later the results came in and there was nothing on it. I was thinking of having an attorney expunge this from my record so I no longer need to even put it there when applying for jobs. But there's no point of paying an attorney if it isn't even there.

Is there a way I can background my self to see if it comes up. I don't want to waste money on an attorney for something that isn't even there.

Thanks, Dan
 
Dan Forrester ....I went to court and pled "adjudication withheld" and paid a fine of $100 or so.
Click to expand...
Quite likley you didn't plead "adjudication withheld" because that is a sentencing term, but plead "guilty" or "no contest" to the crime you were charged with. If the jury (or court) finds you guilty it doesn't mean you are convicted, as the court can then withhold adjudication of guilt..........and you are not convicted under FL law.

Read this:http://www.longwelllawyers.com/Blog/2013/January/Withhold-of-Adjudication-the-Good-and-the-Bad.aspx
and this:http://www.ejdirga.com/expungements/what-is-conviction-in-florida.html
 
Not all background checks are the same. Some may go back just a few years, others may be much more thorough.
 
Most companies providing background check services simply purchase records in bulk. Even if a court removes the record of something likely the background check companies still retain those records.

That being said, many background checks look for specific things. A background check I underwent a few years back would have disqualified anyone who had any of a number of minor crimes within the past two years, but major crimes such as murder, sexual assault of a minor, etc., were ok if they were more than 7 years old. Go figure. They didn't come back with a complete record, just gave a yes or no. So it's likely there, just wasn't a disqualifier for that job.
 
This was almost 15 years ago now so it makes sense that it wouldn't show up. I guess enough time must have gone by that it has just fallen off a typical employer background check. But at the same time if you know specificly what to look for it can be found.

I'm just not going to even put it down from now on. Thanks for the info guys!

Dan
 
I found out it depends on who's doing the checking....:eek:
I received my state ccw and other state certs with no issues, purchased firearms too, no issues.
I bought my first NFA item (can) and the ATF had a question from 30+ years ago.....:what:
I found out the FBI was never informed of the case being dismissed. :cuss:

So, you can run a background check on yourself but sometimes things just get missed.
Keep documentation for your records of anything legal that has been settled :D it just might not be recorded.....

Lateck,
 
Dan Forrester said:
This was almost 15 years ago now so it makes sense that it wouldn't show up. I guess enough time must have gone by that it has just fallen off a typical employer background check. But at the same time if you know specificly what to look for it can be found.

I'm just not going to even put it down from now on. Thanks for the info guys!

Dan
Click to expand...
I wouldn't necessarily go that route, because if an employer doesn't care about it, they won't care. If they do care, they may well have a background check that would uncover it, and it's possible that they might be willing to look past it, but not willing to look past you lying to them about it.


YMMV.
 
Adjudication withheld means you were not adjudicated a Felon.

FL is the the land of trivial felonies. Simple trespass on a construction site, misusing a fire extinguisher (even your own?), and unless they changes it letting your tags expire . . .

Mike
 
4thPointOfContact said:
Almost any Sheriff's Office should be able to provide you with a criminal history, usually at a nominal cost.

For Florida, the information comes from FDLE and costs $24.
http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/Content...a/Obtaining-Criminal-History-Information.aspx
Click to expand...

That is what a friend of mine did. He kept coming up as a murderer that had the same name and no one would rent him an apartment. He went to the local sheriff's office and had them run a check for him so he could take it with him when he applied. Problem solved.
 
Hah! Back when my state was computerizing their police files they used an idiotically simple system; everyone with the same name was the same person as far as it was concerned.

As luck would have it, three other people in my down ot 30,000 had the same first name, middle initial, and last name as mine. And all three of them were felons. Made for a few "interesting" traffic stops and a minor flap when I asked the chief of police to sign off on a Form 4...
 
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