Saturday, August 31, 2013

California Arrest Records Free List Available Online

By Ben Kingsley


For security and safety reasons, many employers now conduct background checks on potential employees. Background checks help one determine whether the applicant has a history of violence or any arrest. Although the reason is understandable, this leaves applicants with previous arrest records at a disadvantage especially if the California criminal records indicate that they have arrests or charges filed against them even though the charges were dropped. With that said applicants who have previous arrest records may file a petition to have these records sealed and destroyed.

Under the California Penal Code section 851.8, which deals with the sealing and destruction of criminal records, the applicant may file a petition to the law enforcement agency who served the arrest to seal and destroy the records. Should the applicant be able to provide evidences or proofs that he/she is factually innocent; the law enforcement may seal and destroy the records within 3 years from the date of the arrest. The law office that has jurisdiction over the case will have to inform the DOJ as well as other law enforcement agencies who are involved of the approval. The DOJ and the other law enforcement agencies will then destroy their own copies of the arrest records.

Some delays may occur in the processing; however, petitioners should follow up with the local law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction of the case, as under the Penal Code, should the law agency fail to respond within sixty days of receipt of the petition, the petition is deemed as denied.

There is recourse open for petitioners who have their petition denied; that is, they have the option to bring their case to the court that has territorial jurisdiction. The court will then hold a hearing 10 days after serving the petition to the law enforcement agency. For the court to declare that the petitioner is innocent, he/she must present evidence showing that there is no reasonable cause and that the petitioner is actually innocent in the arrest. Once the court has determined that the petitioner is factually innocent, the court will order the sealing and destruction of all arrest records. The court will also grant the petitioner a copy of the court order concerning its final decision.

Note that not all cases will be "sealed and destroyed" by the court order, as the order will only apply to the case petitioned. For the petitioner to be eligible for the sealing and destruction of records he/she must - (a.) have not been charged with any case (b.) have the case dismissed and (c.) have a case filed but dismissed by jury trial. Note that petitioners convicted of any crime are not eligible for the "sealed and destroyed" as indicated in the Penal Code.

Access to criminal records ca are restricted, however, there are some companies who offer public search of arrest records that might come up with the person's name as well as arrest history. With that said, it is important to make a background check of oneself to know if there are existing records. One can do so online, which is a very convenient way.




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