Nationwide Background Check vs Multijurisdictional Background Check

What is the difference?

There is no database anywhere that covers every county and state court in the United States. A Nationwide Background Check (also referred to as a National Background Check) is a term used for years by the background screening industry.  The name leads one to believe that this is the be-all end-all of background screening searches.  

Many background screening companies have re-evaluated and re-named this search:  Multijurisdictional Background Check, which is a much more accurate description.  This search is a database of criminal records derived from numerous sources throughout the U.S.  

It is important to note that there is no National mandate for reporting into the Multijurisdictional Database.  The decision to provide information, or not, to this database is completely left up to each individual State.  Additionally, the states that do share reports with this database don’t necessarily share the same type of information, nor do they have timing mandates as to when the information has to be shared with this database  Therefore, this search should never be used as a stand alone search.

Having said that, this search is an extremely valuable search in conjunction with county criminal records, and should always be utilized.