There can be various reasons that a criminal history background check might return results that state “no records found.” One reason could be that the record has been expunged or sealed. In many states, a person can bring a petition or lawsuit before the court asking that the records related to a case be removed from public records or sealed. This process is usually reserved for certain categories of crimes. Not all criminal records can be expunged or sealed. The records are still made available to certain governmental officials. Also, some states, such as California, place a time limit on how long criminal convictions can appear in public records. For example, marijuana convictions for private use that exceed two years old cannot be contained in background check reports.

In some states, including California, convictions will not show up if they are more than seven years old. In some cases the information may not appear simply because of time lags in getting the information in the system or faulty recordkeeping and reporting processes. It is also important to note when conducting a criminal record background screening that there are different types of courts: municipal, county, state and Federal. At the Federal level there are District Courts and the Supreme Court. Each jurisdiction has its own rules for gathering and distributing criminal data.

Just about the only way to be sure that you have all the bases covered would be to search a criminal background check database or conduct a physical search of the records in the jurisdiction where the person has lived, which could get rather expensive.

Many background check sites would recommend that you order a county and state criminal records report. However, even if the conviction is within the time limitations of the particular state, if you conduct a search of county records but the offense occurred in a city or municipal court, you may not find the records. Also, a criminal record will not appear on a statewide search if the city did not report the conviction to the state’s repository for the data. This is why it is important to get multiple reports for a thorough search.