Conduct an Iowa Background Check

It is the responsibility of the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal Investigation to preserve and maintain the criminal history records of the state of Iowa. The state criminal history records are kept at the repository at the Iowa Department of Public Safety, DPS State Office Building, Des Moines, Iowa.

The state laws allow the general public to access these records, and thus conducting an Iowa background check is easy. These laws have been effective since July 1, 1996. The procedure for obtaining these records is fairly simple as well.

Iowa Background Check Procedure

An Iowa background check can be conducted in person. All you need to do is visit the Department of Public Safety in Iowa and submit the completed background check request form, the billing form and the associated fee.

You could also mail or fax your request to the department. The mailing address of the Department of Public Safety, Iowa, is DCI Records and Identification Bureau, 215 East 7th Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50319. The contact number of the department is 515-725-6066.

The background record check request form is available from the Iowa Department of Public Safety. You could download and print the form from http://www.dps.state.ia.us/DCI/supportoperations/crimhistory/nleforma.pdf. This form is to be used for a mail request only. The request form is also available from the office of the Department of Public Safety.

Every surname-based record request also requires that you submit Form ‘A’. The Iowa background billing form can also be accessed from http://www.dps.state.ia.us/DCI/supportoperations/crimhistory/faxbackbf.pdf.

The background check request in Iowa requires certain information about the subject of the check, as follows:

* Full name
* Sex
* Date of birth

Providing details like the middle name and social security number helps in narrowing down the search and thus enhances the accuracy of the results.

Iowa Background Check Records

The police departments and sheriff's offices are required to submit all arrest and conviction records to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. Details of individuals committing felonies and certain misdemeanors are registered in the central repository of criminal records.

However, the criminal records of Iowa are dependant on the fingerprint taken after the arrest. Therefore, it is only possible to obtain arrest records where a fingerprint record has been taken. Moreover, the absence of disposition for a period of 4 years would also lead to the expungement of the records. Minor misdemeanor offenses like traffic violations are not included in an individual’s criminal records.

Iowa Background Check: Fees

The processing fee for conducting a background check in Iowa is $13.00 if the request is based on a surname. In case you are a volunteer, the background check request charges are only $5.00.

If the surname is not known, the background check could also be done on the basis of the maiden name or married name. This takes more than a usual surname-based record check. The processing fee for a maiden or married name-based background check is $26.00.

If you come for the background check in person you can pay the fees in cash. Otherwise, the accepted modes of payment are check, money order or via a credit or debit card.

For a faxed background check request, the fee is $15.00. In such cases, the records would be faxed back to you. If you want the background check results mailed to a particular address, you need to attach a stamped, self-addressed envelope along with the background check request form. This would be used to return the records to the address you mentioned.

If you want to conduct multiple background checks it is better that you open an account with the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal Investigation. To do this, you must pay $500.00 initially. You would be notified about replenishing the account when the balance diminishes to $100.00.

Iowa Background Check: Time for Processing

Every Iowa background check requires a particular timeframe for processing. The usual time required to mail back records is 3 weeks. The volume of the records and the staff strength are the determining factors in the processing of the background check request.

The fax back requests need about 4 working days to be processed. The individual or his or her legal representative could obtain the background check results immediately. To do this, you need to visit the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal Investigation in person. The hours of operation are from Monday to Friday, between 8.00 a.m. and 4.30 p.m.

An Iowa background check is used for a number of reasons. This is why prospective employers, organizations, associations and licensing authorities use this before associating with an individual. However, the subject of the background check must be aware that his or her background check is requested by these entities.

In such cases, you need the subject to sign a waiver located at the end of the request form. This waiver makes sure that the subject knows about the background check that is being done. As per Iowa State laws, if an employer wants to conduct a background check on an employee from the department, the fees are to be paid by the employer only.

The background check request in Iowa would reveal any records present with the state authorities with regard to offenses committed within state lines. The results do not contain any criminal records registered with other U.S. states or the Federal Bureau of Investigation. If you want to know about any out-of-state criminal records of an individual, you need to check with the other state databases or the FBI database.

All background check requests need to be sent to the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal Investigation only. Though the law enforcement authorities have all criminal records, they are not authorized to disseminate them.