Federal Civil Records Check

This article will help you:

• Understand what US Federal Civil Records Checks entail and why they’re an important part of a background report
• Decide whether to add a Federal Civil Records Check to your package
• Understand your candidate's experience

A Federal Civil Records Check is used to identify civil cases filed at the federal level. Federal civil cases include non-criminal issues such as civil rights issues, antitrust activity, and federal civil code violations. Federal civil cases differ from county civil cases in the same ways that federal criminal cases differ from county criminal cases; there is no overlap between federal civil cases and county civil cases because the cases fall under different jurisdictions.

A Federal Civil Records Check will reveal whether the candidate has been involved in any suits involving their company and/or themselves.

Federal civil court files are searched by name in the Federal government’s publicly available database, PACER. The search will cover records as far back as the government makes available, which is at least seven years but often 20+ years.

Candidate Experience

The Federal Civil Records Check must be run in conjunction with the basic report package. The Federal Civil Records Check cannot be run as a standalone Screening.

Candidates will be asked to provide Personally Identifiable Information (PII), including their full name, date of birth, social security number, email address, and phone number.

They will then be presented and asked to acknowledge receipt of applicable forms and notifications, including a Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and an Acknowledgement and Authorization for Background Check.

After the candidate consents, Checkr will initiate the Check.

If you've applied for a job and are looking for more information on your background check’s status or progress, please log into the Checkr Candidate Portal.