A criminal record or rap sheet is a generic term used to describe a compiled record of crimes that a person has committed or has allegedly committed. Generally in the United States, state and federal authorities maintain databases listing arrests, prosecutions, and/or convictions of an individual over an indefinite or definite period of time.
Background checks are becoming more controversial as more and more employers use them to screen out applicants with criminal records. In 2001, the Maine House and Senate approved a proposal to abolish a law subjecting all school employees to fingerprinting and criminal background checks. Applicants arrested for felonies or crimes involving dishonesty are particularly likely to be denied employment for sensitive positions. By U.S. federal law, even if there is no conviction, a criminal record ordered through a commercial vendor may bring up an arrest history going back indefinitely. Although it is technically illegal to deny employment based solely on an arrest record with no convictions, it is difficult to prove that the reason for the denial of employment was solely related to the arrest record. Another concern is that, in a situation in which an applicant has an arrest record for serious crimes and one conviction for a petty offense, an employer can use the petty offense as an excuse for denying employment even if that person was innocent of the crime. Despite the obstacles to employment in the corporate world, many people with criminal records become self-supporting by starting their own businesses or finding an employer through organizations such as Offender Aid and Restoration.
The American government maintains criminal history information through various databases and repositories. Furthermore, state governments and the private sector have created additional databases which may also be used to search a person's criminal history nationally.
National Crime Information Center The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) manages the official national criminal history database through the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). The NCIC stores information regarding open arrest warrants, arrests, and dispositions regarding felonies and serious misdemeanors. A serious misdemeanor is defined as a misdemeanor with a potential jail time of one year or more, thus excluding minor offenses such as drunkenness.The Interstate Identification Index – known in law enforcement circles as Triple I – and the wanted person index are components of the NCIC.
National Driver Register While not officially a criminal history repository, the National Driver Register (NDR), operated by the Department of Transportation, maintains information on drivers regarding convictions of driving under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances, failing to render aid at an accident involving death or injury, and knowingly making a false affidavit or committing perjury to officials about an activity governed by a law or regulation on the operation of a motor vehicle. Additionally, the NDR contains information on traffic violations resulting from a fatal automobile collision, reckless driving, or racing on the highways.
National Instant Criminal Background Check System Mandated by the Brady Bill, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is used by the FBI to screen potential firearms buyers. In addition to searching the NCIC databases, NICS maintains its own index to search for additional disqualifiers from gun ownership.
Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System The FBI maintains the largest biometric database in the world with the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). Criminal submissions from arrests and civil submissions from authorized background checks are stored in IAFIS. Currently, IAFIS has more than 47 million submissions in its repository.
Combined DNA Index System The Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) stores DNA profiles for both convicted felons in the Offender Index as well as unidentified DNA found at crime scenes in the Forensic Index. CODIS was originally piloted in 1990 as a project among 14 states. Currently, all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the United States Government participate in CODIS.
National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System The National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS), while not technically its own database, serves as an interface to search each state's driver or criminal records as well as the License Plate Reader (LPR) records going back one year maintained by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Thus through NLETS, a police officer in one state could search for someone's criminal and driver records in another state. NLETS potentially serves as a better tool to search for minor misdemeanors and traffic violations that would not be in the NCIC.