The Uniqueness of New York State County Courts

Embarking upon a comparison of businesses within the background screening industry can be daunting. It’s often hard to tell what each inquiry means and entails between one vendor and the next.

There are some companies that have some unique offerings, such as Commercial Investigations LLC (CI), with our Cursory Indicator New York inquiry.

New York is extremely unique when it comes to how criminal records are created and maintained.

In 1999, CI’s President, Michelle Pyan started working with the New York State Sheriffs’ Association and their data regarding NY criminal records.

Since then, she’s been testing and working with the data alongside the NYSSA.

In 2011, Commercial Investigations became the exclusive provider of this data to the background screening industry.

Since then, many organizations have benefited from this thorough and cost-saving criminal record option in New York State.

Why would someone embark on such a long, strenuous process, you may be asking.

When CI started working with the Association, there was no New York Statewide data available. In 2003, the New York State Office of Court Administration (NYS OCA) released its state criminal search; then priced at $52.00 per name and date of birth exact match.

Today, the price is $95.00 plus financing fees, which equals $98.50 to CI clients.

Many organizations cannot afford such an expensive background check. However, what a lot of organizations do not realize, is the uniqueness of New York criminal records.

Unlike other states where misdemeanors and felonies are heard at the county level courts, misdemeanors in New York are heard at the local, town, and city court levels. Felonies are heard at the county court level. Prior to 2003, there was no way to get a complete criminal history in New York State.

Therefore, we are extremely hesitant to recommend county-by-county criminal record searches in New York.

Criminal Record Searches in NY

The uniqueness of New York criminal records stems from the fact that, unlike almost all other states, the county courts in New York only hear felony charges. However, there are a lot of misdemeanors that have a bearing on a person being the right fit for a job.

So, you may be asking, where are all those misdemeanors? They are all over in the local, town, and city courts. They are not reported up to the county courts at all. Sometimes people say,

“I run county criminal record searches in New York, and I get misdemeanors.”

If you run county criminal searches in New York and get a misdemeanor record, it is only because it started out as a felony and was pled down. At that point, some courts send the case back to the lower court to be heard out.

However, in some cases, the county court will wrap up the case with the plea and thus have a misdemeanor record in its files.

This does not mean you are getting all the misdemeanors that exist on a person.

Missing Misdemeanors

As we’ve already established, county courts in New York do not hear misdemeanor cases. You may think Felonies only is alright.

However, before you settle on that, we urge you to click the button below. This is a quick example of those criminal records missed by an organization that would do only county level searches within New York State.

Also, of the 62 counties in NY, 13 counties require the expensive New York State OCA search, and another 12 have add on fees charged by the county clerk for a record search.

Cursory Indicator NY™

Cursory Indicator New York™ was developed by CI’s President and the New York State Sheriffs’ Association to provide a cost effect misdemeanor and felony solution in New York.

Cursory Indicator New York™ is extremely comparable to the New York Statewide Office of Court Administration (OCA) inquiry in all respects except cost. Cursory Indicator New York™ has been proven to be more effective than running county court criminal record inquiries in New York.

We have access to levels of misdemeanor information, which is not usually found in New York County Court Criminal record inquiries.

Cursory Indicator New York™ contains local, town, and city criminal data not found at the county level. It also contains Federal criminal data.

That being said, it is an exceptional value when compared to the New York Statewide Office of Court Administration (OCA) search, where the state charges $95 per name plus financial transaction fees. Click the button below to learn more about Cursory Indicator NY™!

New York State Office of Court Administration

Beside Cursory Indicator New York, the only other feasible way to get misdemeanors in New York state is to run the New York State office of Court Administration (NYS OCA) search. The NYS OCA charges $95.00 per exact name and exact date of birth plus finance charges, which is $98.50 for CI clients.

Here is a chart comparing the varies criminal record sources in New York:

^ NYS OCA implemented the Misdemeanor Redemption Policy - NYS OCA does not report a singular misdemeanor conviction older than ten years if there is no subsequent conviction.

^ NYS OCA does not contain town and village data from 1991-2002 and does not have complete data from 2002-2007.

^ Within New York City, cases are updated approximately every 24 hours and outside of New York City at an average of once a week.

Enhanced Background Checks

New York State is extremely unique when it comes to how criminal records are created and maintained. The uniqueness stems from the fact that the county courts in New York only hear felony charges.

Misdemeanors are heard in other courts, separate from the county. Besides Cursory Indicator NY, the only way to obtain criminal history in New York, is to go through the NYS Office of Court Administration (NYS OCA).

There are many misdemeanors that have a bearing on a person being the right fit for a job. Without that knowledge, employers end up making poor hiring decisions that cost them in the long run.

By partnering with a licensed Private Investigator like Commercial Investigations, employers can be confident they are getting all available information on a subject. With human intervention, and a compliance first approach, we treat every background check as an investigation.

Contact us to begin streamlining your onboarding process today.

We want to be Your Proactive Truth Partner!