When someone new enters your life, it can be a stressful experience. There’s so much you don’t know, and may never know about them. While most people that you meet are undoubtedly harmless, and quite decent in every respect, it’s always possible that there’s a bad apple hiding amongst them. If so, you no doubt want to find them out if you can, and are quite possibly wondering how to do it.

What’s the best way to verify if someone is safe?

While there’s no fool proof way to ensure someone is trustworthy, a reliable determinant is a criminal record. A criminal record is a document that describes any crime that a person has been found guilty of committing. It also goes to list many surrounding details around each crime specified, such as when they occurred, and the punishment enacted for the offense.

Criminal records are an extremely serious matter, and not one that can be treated lightly. If someone possesses one, they have committed a crime as far as the law is concerned, and have been a criminal at one point. 

How can I obtain a criminal record?

While there are many ways to obtain someone’s criminal record, there are a few things that you should keep in mind to identify the best way to do so. As criminal records are a sensitive subject, it’s best if whatever method you utilize is discrete, fast, and convenient. Ideally, you would want to avoid methods that require an extensive amount of information to work, and ones that have as few people aware of your search.

That being said, only one method works really for all of these criteria; an online public records check. Online public record databases are secure websites, which house billions of public records. Online public record databases are incredibly fast, and typically require only a name to begin searching. Simply type the full name of the person you’re searching, and you can immediately begin browsing through the results.

If the person you’re searching has a common name, then you’ll likely have to resort to scrolling through the mugshots provided. However, this is a difficulty that every other method will possess, as well as many more.

The greatest advantage online public record search offer is their discretion. The person you’re searching for is not notified. This allows you to rest, secure in the knowledge that your curiosity into their past shall go unnoticed.

However, if you’re more interested in working conventionally, and spending more time to retrieve the criminal record, then you may want to visit the county courthouse. Head down there, and be prepared for a long wait time to speak with the county clerk. Once you have their attention, you can inform them of your query. However, the county clerk may see fit to deny you your request, as well as notify the person you’re investigating. Even if they decide to help you, you’ll be forced to wait several days, as most clerks have several days worth of backlog to work through. Even so, you’ll have to wait even longer, as the county clerk will almost certainly be mailing you your results, rather than emailing or simply holding them on hand.

You can also try and work through a legal office. Most lawyers and attorneys subscribe to legal databases, which contain legal documents and public records in immeasurable amounts. They can be supplicated to provide you with the criminal record in question, although you’ll face one major obstacle; money. As the lawyer almost certainly pays a considerable yearly sum for the service, you’ll need to either be a client already or pay a consultation fee to receive any assistance in your investigation.

SpyFly provides consumers affordable, immediate access to public record information. Federal laws prohibit businesses from using SpyFly’s service to make decisions about employment, insurance, consumer credit, tenant screening, or for any other purpose subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 USC 1681 et seq.