Exploring how recent changes in criminal court procedures in Los Angeles County are affecting the process of conducting criminal background checks.
Criminal Court Procedure Changes in Los Angeles County
In recent times, Los Angeles County has implemented significant changes to its criminal court procedures. These changes have had a profound impact on the background screening industry.
There was a recent announcement by the Superior Court of Los Angeles (02/23/2024) stating the MONTH and YEAR of birth as a criteria for its criminal name search engines will be excluded. This change impacts the courthouse kiosks and the court website.
Effects on Criminal Background Checks
The changes made by the court make it more challenging to search for and clear searches on applicants. If an applicant has a common name or uses an alias/nickname this complicates the process. The false hits need to be researched with court clerks and there simply aren't enough court clerks to handle the volume of searches. Remember that prior to this change the court website and kiosks could be used to search and clear names with no hits. The clerks would only need to be involved if a hit needed to be verified or a court case needed to be pulled to verify charges and identifiers.
Challenges Faced by Employers
The changes in criminal court procedures in Los Angeles County have presented several challenges for both employers and individuals. If background checks are delayed employers cannot on-board employees. If employees cannot get on-board it delays their ability to make money. These changes impact applicants with no criminal records more so than those with criminal records.
The goal is to conduct thorough and compliant searches so there are no shortcuts to speed up the process.
Adapting to the New Landscape
In order to navigate the impact of the changes in criminal court procedures in Los Angeles County, we are working to provide more identifying information to our researchers. This information can include, but isn't limited to full middle names and aliases. The more identifiers we have on an applicant the easier and quicker it can be to rule out criminal cases that do not belong to our applicants.
In conclusion, these changes made by the court will continue to evolve our processes and we will continue to adapt.
