Access Hawaii Background Records

A Hawaii background check is about performing an individual’s criminal history record check. The state of Hawaii maintains the records of all the criminal cases occurring in the state. Records pertaining to the arrests of residents who were not convicted are also maintained. A background report is referred to as a rap sheet or a police abstract. The arrest records that did not result in any conviction or are still waiting for trial are not considered as the public records. Such information is therefore not available for the general public to view.

Hawaii Background Check Process

The Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center maintains a database of the criminal records of the state. You may conduct a Hawaii background check in two ways- a name based check or a fingerprint based check. The criminal records are supported by the fingerprints of the persons concerned. The fingerprint based check is more accurate and reliable than the name based check. This is because many offenders have alias name(s) and searching by the name may not always yield the exact result.

The Hawaii Criminal Justice data Center maintains data on adult criminal arrests only. Juvenile records are not included in their database. The criminal justice agencies in the state and other agencies authorized by the laws of the state of Hawaii are entitled to view the criminal arrest records that did not lead to any conviction. You may also request for your own background report.

Accessing Hawaii Background Record

By accessing the state’s adult criminal information site eCRIM, you will be able to view an individual’s criminal conviction reports. You may have to enter a few details like the person’s social security number, date of birth, name, and gender. You will have to pay a fee of $15 to obtain a copy of the certified report. The fee is payable in cash or cashier’s check or money order. In order to visit eCRIM please visit https://ecrim.ehawaii.gov/ahewa/.

If you want to request the office to do the record check for you will have to download a request form, complete it and mail it to the appropriate address. You may download the form from http://hawaii.gov/ag/hcjdc/main/application_forms/i-chrc.pdf. Mail your request to the Hawaii Criminal Justice data Center, 465 S. King Street, Room 101, Honolulu, HI 96813.

You will be charged a fee of $20 for each request. The charge for a fingerprint based check is also $20. You may challenge the records if the information contained in them is inaccurate. You may also request for the change of information and provide them with the correct details.  You may also request for expungement of your previous criminal records. If you are expunging for the first time you will have to pay $35. For the second and any subsequent expunge request that you make you will be charged $50. 

The Hawaii criminal records may only be used for ones own reference and one must not use the information obtained through a criminal background check against another individual. The Hawaii background records help reduce the rate of crime in the state and maintain law and order.