To ensure a background check vendor is going to deliver a thorough and comprehensive report, make sure the company: Doesn’t rely primarily on database searches. These often associate criminal records with the wrong individuals or report out-of-date information. This is because there is no reliable national or comprehensive criminal records database. Does rely on hand searches of the local courts’ records. Even the best databases often miss about 50% of the records found by conducting searches of the courts’ live records. Does verify every criminal record as accurate and up to date with the original jurisdiction before reporting it to the employer. Some companies use technology to automatically search the criminal records available from online county courts and because court records often have mistyped names or other errors, these systems will miss records that a well-trained human would spot and investigate further.