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What is a Criminal Record? 

A Criminal Record is a paper or electronic record of a person's criminal history that includes individual identifiers and provides information on the person's arrest records and dispositions.  Criminal Records are traditionally used by potential employers, home lenders, etc to assess the person's trustworthiness.  The information included in a person's criminal record varies between different counties and jurisdictions.  Records may be complete or incomplete and in most cases, it lists all non-expunged criminal offenses and may include traffic offenses and violations such as speeding, drunk driving, and non moving violations.  However, not all Criminal Records are available to the general public, as it depends on the administering jurisdiction's rules and policies.  In most counties, Criminal Records are limited to actual convictions while some courts may include arrests, dismissed charges, pending charges, and even acquittal information.  Conviction means that the individual has actually pleaded guilty or has been proven guilty in a court of law. 

Felonies, Misdemeanors, Disposition, Public and Non Public Records, County Level, State Level, Federal Level Criminal Records, Jurisdictions, Dockets, NCIC...   What does all this mean?

Criminal Records are compiled and categorized into two broad categories:  Felonies and Misdemeanors. 

A Misdemeanor is an offense that is more minor in severity and is considered a "lesser" criminal act.  Misdemeanors are treated much less severely than Felonies and is typically punished with monetary fines.  Some people believe that Misdemeanor records should not be recorded in an individual's Criminal Record but there are equal beliefs that Misdemeanor should be included.  A Misdemeanor charge usually will not result in the loss of an individual's civil rights but may result in jail time and the loss of certain privileges such public employment, public offices, or professional licenses.  Examples of a Misdemeanor may include:  petty theft, prostitution, public intoxication, simple assault, disorderly conduct, trespassing, vandalism,

A Felony is a more serious criminal offense with punishments that includes imprisonment for one or more year up to the death penalty.  Each state in the U.S. has different punishments for Felonies.  Unlike misdemeanors, individuals convicted of a Felony serve their sentence in a state or federal prisons rather than a local, city, or county jail.  Additional criminal procedures apply with a Felony.  In certain jurisdictions, Felonies can only be charged with a Grand Jury Indictment.  Lesser crimes can be charged with a written complaint or information.  In the case of a Felony charge, procedural laws are different than a Misdemeanor charge and the substantive laws can also be affected.  For example, under some statues, an accidental death would be considered a murder if it occurred in the commission of a Felony, such as an armed robbery or kidnapping.  However, if it occurred in the commission of a lesser crime, such as DUI, it would only be manslaughter.  As another example, the common definition of a Burglary is "breaking and entering a house for the purpose of committing a Felony", and should the individual's purpose was not to commit a Felony, the individual cannot be charged with a crime for Burglary. An individual convicted of a Felony will usually have more restrictions on their rights than an individual convicted with a Misdemeanor.  A convicted Felon cannot serve on a jury.  The Felon may also lose their right to vote, serve in the military  and the right to bear arms.  Examples of a Felony may include:  aggravated assault, battery, arson, burglary, illegal drug abuse, sales of illegal drugs, embezzlement, grand theft, treason, espionage, racketeering, robbery, murder, rape, kidnapping and fraud. 

A Criminal Record for an individual will usually be associated with an Arrest, a Conviction, and a Disposition. 

Arrest is the term used for when a person is taken into custody by a law enforcement official in order to charge the person of a specific crime.  Conviction is the verdict that results when a court of law finds a defendant guilty of a crime.  Disposition is the final outcome of the arrest.  However, it is important to note that a Criminal Record may or may not contain a Disposition.  Certain Jurisdictions and States will purge a Criminal Record if there is no Disposition after a certain time. 

A Criminal Record can be categorized into two differentiations:  Public Record and Non-Public Record. 

A Non-Public Records are only available to law enforcement agencies or agencies that have been granted authority to access the records.  An example of a Non-Public Record are records that are owned and managed by the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigations) and only grant access to their records to law enforcement agencies.  Certain states in the U.S. have federal regulations where their Criminal Records are considered Non-Public and will only allow access to agencies that have special approval by law.  An example is the state of Tennessee, New York, California. 

A Public Record is a Criminal Record that can be obtained by anybody without the need of any special government approval.  Almost all of the courts and jurisdictions in the U.S. have Public Criminal Records. 

County Level Criminal Records are part of the state court systems.  A Misdemeanor case is usually held at the local courts but it should be noted that each state stores and handles specific cases different, whether it's at the County Level or State Level.  Certain County Level Criminal Records are reported to the State Level.  Each state has their own rules and regulations as to which County Courts must report their records to the state central repository database. 

When a certain case is filed, it is assigned a case number and the format of the case number vary from state to state.  The case number is a unique identifier that is used for storing and indexing each Criminal Case.  Once a case number is assigned, all the information regarding the case is stored into Dockets.  The Dockets will include information such as the Name of the court, Case number and case name, Names of all plaintiffs and defendants, Names and addresses of the attorneys representing the plaintiff or defendant and the Name and case of the action.  

State Level Criminal Records are available as a Public Record to the general public as all states in the U.S. have a central repository of Criminal Records.  The central repository contains all Criminal Records on all criminals in the state that may include fingerprints, files that include identifications, and information regarding the Arrest and Dispositions.  Certain states have combined Court Records, which mean that all the county courts are managed and stored into a single repository system. 

Federal Level Criminal Records are records of individual who committed a Federal Crime.  A Federal Crime or Federal Offense is a crime that is made illegal by the U.S. federal legislation or a crime that occurs on U.S. federal property.  An example would include kidnapping, hijacking a plane, mail fraud, and drug trafficking.  Similar to State Level Criminal Records, each Federal Crime is assigned a case number and Docket is generated.  The FBI's database is called the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and is an electronically automated database of criminal justice and justice related records that contains information on Most Wanted Criminals, missing people, stolen property (including firearms) and vehicles.