Federal Criminal, State Specific District Court Records Search
Some offenses are violations of Federal law as opposed to state or local law. Records of these crimes can be located in the US District Courts. Each state has at least one US District Court, while others are divided into as many as four districts in separate geographical regions.
Federal and County/State offenses are completely separate. The two systems are NOT interactive.
Federal violations WILL NOT appear in either a county or statewide criminal check...the same holds true for the opposite...county and statewide offenses WILL NOT show up in the Federal system.
Only a small percentage of criminal cases are violations of Federal law. Examples of Federal offenses can be kidnapping, drug trafficking, interstate transportation of stolen goods, bank robbery, murder and embezzlement, just to name a few.
Tip: If your budget does not allow for an extensive County, State and Federal search, we would suggest that you choose the County and Statewide searches vs. the Federal. Logic says that if the person you are screening has a Federal charge, they will also have County and State charges, leading up to the Federal charge.
In other words, usually, (not always), a bank robber has NOT been a law abiding citizen all of their life, prior to the robbery. They probably have had run-ins with the law previous to the more serious offense. These offenses would be found at the County and State level. If the searches at the County and State levels warrant the need for the Federal search, it can always follow, if you wish.
Note: This "tip" is just that, a tip. There are exceptions to every rule. Therefore, this "tip" is not to be construed as legal advice, in any way. The sole intention is to help our customers through the decision making process, using the same logic that we might use.