Access the Pennsylvania Background Records

According to Pennsylvania's Criminal History Information Act, Chapter 91 of Title 18, Crimes Code, the criminal records background check is available for public access. The Act states that the criminal records would be available on request as per the rules of the state. Individuals, criminal justice agencies as well as non-criminal justice agencies could opt for the Pennsylvania background check. However there is a difference between the information available. While criminal justice agencies may have access to the entire criminal record details of an individual, only a certain part of the information is accessible for individuals and non-criminal agencies.

Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History

It is the task of the Pennsylvania State Police to keep the criminal records of the state in order. Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History is the database that includes all details of criminal records filed in the State of Pennsylvania. However you need to be a registered user in order to access the records. If you are a registered user you can go to https://epatch.state.pa.us/Home.jsp;jsessionid=F2B0B517329537F1D5F0B0B4E639D1E8 and log on to conduct background checks. If you want to check for multiple criminal history records from the Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History it is better that you opt for setting up an account as a registered user.

Background Check Using Credit Card

If you want to conduct a single Pennsylvania background check you can use your credit card for the payment as well. For this you need to visit https://epatch.state.pa.us/RecordCheckEntry.jsp;jsessionid=3027108454F02399E3B4D26472924254?action=new. Here you would find the terms and conditions for use of Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History System. You need to read these carefully and accept in order to conduct the check. Then you would be navigated to the Personal Information webpage. You need to enter your full name, address, city and state, contact details, email address and the reason for making the request. You would then be navigated to the webpage where you need to fill up details about the person whose background check you want to perform.

To conduct a Pennsylvania background check you need to provide at least the full name and the date of birth of the individual. Additional information including maiden name, social security number, age, race, sex, aliases, etc may also be used to narrow down the search results. The fee for each Pennsylvania background check request is $10.00. You could use American Express, Visa, Master Card and Discover for paying the fees. If you want to register as a user for making multiple background checks requests you could opt for payment of the charges on a monthly basis.

Individual Access and Review

‘Individual Access and Review’ from individual requestors gives access to all criminal history records. This information includes all details of non-convictions as well. For this you need to mail the completed SP4-164 Form, and the processing fee of $10.00. Payment must be made via money order addressed to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. You could download and print the SP4-164 Form from https://epatch.state.pa.us/Home.jsp under the ‘Help’ section. However it is necessary to keep in mind that this is available only to the individual or the legal representative of the individual. In case of a legal representative, the legal affidavit must be attached along with the mail request as well.

Record Check Status

After you have made a Pennsylvania background check request you would be able to check the status of the request online. For this you need to go to Record Check Status available at https://epatch.state.pa.us/RCStatusSearch.jsp;jsessionid=3027108454F02399E3B4D26472924254. You need to enter details like your full name, the control number and the date of request to know the status of your record check. There can be three specific responses, which are as follows:

No Records: This means that the information you have requested is not present in the records of the Central Repository of the Pennsylvania State Police.

Pending: This indicates that your request is being processed and you need to wait for the same.

Request under Review: This means that you would be mailed whether you would receive the requested criminal record or not.