How To Search Iowa Criminal Records

Whether you’re trying to find someone to rent your spare bedroom, expanding the staff of your business, or simply trying to make sure that the new beau your sister has is on the up-and-up, an Iowa criminal records search can help you make an informed decision.

To find the right info, you really need to search the right way!

A lot of Iowa criminal court record searches begin with good intentions, but they often end up being outdated, incorrect, and way pricier than you ever expected.

Luckily, yours won’t turn out this way as long as you follow these 5 tips:

Iowa Criminal Court Records

1. Get a licensed private investigator to handle the job

   Sure, it might seem super easy to just type “Iowa criminal records search” into Google and click the first link that pops up, but that’s how things can go sideways fast! A lot of those sites aren’t run by licensed private investigators at all. In fact, many of them don’t have any real investigative experience!

   A licensed private investigator has access to info that regular folks can’t get to — stuff that’s usually only available to law enforcement. Plus, they’ll have the latest updates, so you won’t have to stress about missing any crucial details in your search.

   Know the difference between manual searches and automated ones

   Most of the sites advertising Iowa criminal searches are just data aggregators. Since they’re not licensed, they scoop up whatever public records they can find — usually outdated stuff. Then, they just throw it on their site so you can get results with a couple of clicks.

   It sounds appealing to get instant results, but what you’re really getting is old data. Plus, these sites don’t have anyone checking the info, which means you could end up with details about the wrong person!

   In contrast, a licensed private investigator will do all the searching manually. They’ll sift through everything to weed out false positives and mistakes that could lead you to make uninformed choices.

   Iowa Criminal Search

2. Know where your info is coming from

   Doing a manual search is only useful if your investigator knows where to look! Don’t hesitate to ask your investigator about their search locations. The best private investigator will conduct your Iowa criminal search by thoroughly examining:

– Records from Iowa’s Administrative Office of Courts, which contain information about everyone who’s ever been under the jurisdiction of the state’s court system.   The details listed here include what the person was charged with and the court disposition.

– Records from the Iowa Department of Corrections, including details about felons who have served time in a state correctional institution and felons who are/have been under the jurisdiction of the state probation system.

– Details from the Iowa Sex Offender Registry, including details about whether the crime was violent or was committed against someone under the age of 18. These records also contain current probation and work release information, along with details about deferred sentences and judgments. In many cases, this Registry also lists Iowa citizens who have been convicted of sex crimes in other states and federal crimes.

– Records pertaining to certain traffic offenses

4. Don’t believe sales pitches that are too good to be true

In many cases, websites that perform Iowa criminal records searches make their service sound dirt cheap — or even free! But if you take a look through their long list of fine print, you’ll usually see that those free searches aren’t as free as they make them sound. Sure, you can physically type someone’s name and birth date into the search box for free, but when it comes to actually seeing the results, you’ll have to pay up. Oftentimes, you’ll be forced into an expensive subscription service in order to see your results.

Luckily, a good private investigator won’t have pages and pages of tricky fine print. Instead, you’ll simply pay a one-time upfront fee, and your investigator will never ask you to spend any more money.

5. Don’t wait longer than you have to

We’ve already talked about why those instant search results aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to wait days or weeks on end to see the results of your Iowa criminal records search! Part of a good investigator’s expertise is knowing how to conduct thorough searches as quickly as possible. As a result, you should have your results very quickly. (In fact, here at Docusearch, we can get your results to you within one business day.)

See the difference first-hand by turning your Iowa criminal records search over to the team of licensed private investigators at Docusearch!