How to Find Out If Someone Is a Convicted Felon

Video Transcript

"You've just received an estimate by a lawn maintenance man to do your yard and do landscaping for you, and before you hire him, you're a little concerned about whether this guy has a criminal record. Hello, I'm Robert Todd, and I'm here to answer the question: How do I find out if someone has a criminal record? Well, first of all, understand that regardless of which way you go to find out whether someone has a criminal record, you may never be sure that you've checked all the records because criminal records are not always filed. But there are online services that will conduct criminal searches for you. You can also hire a private investigator, which is a very expensive way to do it, but it's probably a more thorough way. And you can try to do it yourself. When you try to do it yourself, probably the best way is to check the county records that are available to the public in the counties in which this individual has lived. But you've got to remember, you're going to have to check every county where this individual has lived, and you're also going to have to check the federal criminal records in the event this individual has a federal criminal record. I'm Robert Todd, thank you for watching."