Will a Sex Crime Arrest Show Up on Background Checks? Attorneys Christopher Combs and Joshua Boardman from Combs Waterkotte discuss everything you need to know about Illinois sex crime charges, including sexual assault, sexual abuse, rape, and more.
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Interview Transcript
Scott Michael Dunn: Will a sex crime arrest show up on background checks?
Joshua Boardman: I tell clients this. And this is generally speaking, but where we are able to successfully expunge arrest records or seal arrest records, that jurisdiction is going to be at a state level. And so, the state of Illinois, a judge in the state of Illinois may order that those arrest records be expunged or sealed, but there are certain federal background checks, for example, for insurance agents or brokerages or things like that, where they may still be able to see those records.
Christopher Combs: Yes, I’ll just expound on that. So, when you are doing an expungement of arrest records or trying to seal something, and again, this goes for any state I’m aware of, as Josh was saying, you are getting a court order from a state circuit court judge saying seal these arrest records. Well, one of the places you’re going to send that order to is the NCIC, the National Crime Information Center. It’s a federal database. Well, supremacy clause in the Constitution, federal law trumps state. They’ll likely ignore that. So, your fingerprints get scanned, likely it’s going to show up. So, getting something completely erased to where it’s never showing up again, highly unlikely.
Dunn: Sounds easy.
Combs: Wouldn’t you agree, Josh?
Boardman: I would.
Dunn: There’s an agency somewhere that’s going to be able to see it.
Boardman: Now, for your run-of-the-mill screenings for employment that does not require federal licensing or accountability. It’s a great idea for housing applications. It’s a great idea, you know. But you just have to be aware that it’s not completely gone.
Combs: And I think one surefire way to know if it’s going to show up is if the background check requires fingerprints, it’s likely going to show up.
