What is a County Level Court Record?

When conducting a pre-screen background investigation, a criminal history is of utmost importance.  These searches are typically placed in two main categories: arrest records and court records.  The use of each category has its strengths and weaknesses, so it is important for you to evaluate what you are trying to achieve to determine which is best for your application.

Court records are typically housed within the courthouse at the county level.  To simplify the system, each county jurisdiction is typically broken into three levels.  The first and highest level is the district court, sometimes referred to as superior court.  At this level you will generally find most felony cases.

The second level is the county court.  At this level you will find most serious misdemeanor cases.

The lowest level is the municipal court, sometimes referred to as city court.  At this level you will typically find most minor misdemeanors and petty offenses.  Usually cases where the individual was simply issued a summons to appear in court.

When conducting a Court Record Search, TruDiligence will always search the first and second level courts, where available.  Municipal courts can be searched, but are considered a special request and will involve an additional charge.

Although TruDiligence always recommends a county-by-county courthouse search when conducting court record searches, in some states; we have the ability to conduct simultaneous  multi-county searches.  These statewide court record searches typically examine independent databanks that compile county records into a statewide index.  These broader searches help you keep the search costs down; however, sometimes the information contained in them is limited.  It is important to realize that if you choose to utilize the statewide court record system and the case file is incomplete, additional research costs may be required to complete the information.

County court record searches are billed per name, per county jurisdiction searched.  Prices may vary in some jurisdictions. Less than 1% of the counties charge court imposed fees on all records ordered.  These fees are billed over and above the record retrieval costs.  Contact us for a detailed listing of counties with extra costs.