New York Criminal Records

As required by the Freedom of Information Act in 1966, criminal records are made available to the public. One of the states in the US that has made such records open to the public is New York. The State Of New York Criminal Records are accessible through the Division of Criminal Justice Service.

There are several reasons for accessing criminal records in New York. Nowadays, employers would prefer to do a background check on interested applicants. By doing so, employers can make a better decision and can prevent possible problems in the office. The criminal records of babysitters and caretakers are also being checked by parents. This way, the parents do not need to worry about the safety of their children. There are those who would refer to criminal records to check the background of the person they are living with.

The Employment Background Check would determine if a person has been convicted of a crime before or not. In New York, the document would indicate the details about the crime and arrest of the individual. Misdemeanors and felonies along with the sentence given to the person are also indicated on the document.

One can request for the criminal record in New York through the office of the Division of Criminal Justice Services. The accomplished request form has to be submitted to the office in order to get a copy of the document. The person requesting for the criminal history will be asked to provide two identification cards when processing the request. Basic information about the person whose records you are searching for is needed such as the person's name and aliases. Requesting for the record is free, however, due to the tedious process that one has to go through in order to get the needed document; one is required to pay a corresponding amount. The whole processing time could take up to several weeks since the file has to be searched on the archives.

The New York Division of Criminal Justice maintains the database for the criminal records of the state. The retrieval of the file would cost $61.50. Only authorized persons are allowed to request for such documents. The Internet is another way to search for criminal records.

The use of the Internet to search for criminal records is easier and hassle-free. There would be no need to wait for weeks to get a copy of the criminal history of a person. There are fee based websites that allow users to do a free search before they can avail of their charged service. The free search, however, only gives out an overview of the criminal history of an individual. Fee based websites are connected to several databases thus providing a detailed and accurate information about the person.