How To Search Ohio Criminal Records
Conducting an Ohio criminal records search without the proper approach is futile. When handling such critical information, it’s essential to ensure that the data you obtain is comprehensive, precise, and up-to-date.
The best way to achieve this is by enlisting the services of a licensed private investigator. Their credentials grant them access to information typically available only to law enforcement agencies. With this key advice in mind, there are additional strategies that can enhance the effectiveness of your search for Ohio criminal court records:
Ohio Criminal Court Records
– Know exactly where your investigator is going to look
Ohio has a vast array of resources, most of which are updated once a month. To do the most thorough search possible, your investigator needs to comb through:
– Specific county-level criminal court records, which will provide your investigator with everything from offense descriptions, to official case numbers, to plea details, to sentencing specifics, to fine amounts, to suspended jail time.
– Ohio Arrest Records, which is a central database updated by the individual Sheriff’s Offices in each county. Your investigator will be able to see all the details of a specific booking. From there, he can see where your person in question has been charged, which means he’ll have an easier time finding which criminal court he was tried in.
– Records from the Ohio Habitual OVI/OMVI Offender Registry, which is a listing of people who have been convicted of 5 or more OVI/OMVI offenses in the last 20 years.
– Ohio’s Prosecution Records, which are maintained by a number of prosecutors’ offices around the state. Included in this data are arrest, disposition, and conviction details.
– Records from the Ohio Sex Offender Registry, which contains location and conviction details for more than 30,000 offenders.
– An index of previously completed criminal records searches done in Ohio, including those done via county, state, and federal requests.
Ohio Criminal Search
– Don’t buy into those promises of instant results
As you’ve just seen, there is an awful lot for your investigator to dig through! And, since the best investigators do all of their searching by hand, there’s no way you could ever get the most comprehensive Ohio criminal records search results possible from those instant websites.
Why not?
First and foremost, those websites aren’t run by licensed private investigators — meaning that they don’t have access to all of the resources we’ve discusses. So, right off the bat, you’re missing big pieces of the puzzle.
Furthermore, in order to produce those instant results, all of the information already has to exist on the website’s server. Since you have no idea when the server was last updated, you have no idea how old the information on it is. Even worse, because these sites don’t have access to the newest and most detailed information, they settle for buying old public records and uploading them. Unfortunately, these records tend to be several years out of date!
An added issue with instant results? There’s no one double-checking the information that’s being spit out at you. You could very well end up with records for someone with a similar name or birthday to your person in question. Are you really willing to make an important decision based on mistaken identity?!
Luckily, you can enjoy the best of both world — quick results that are also current and accurate — by hiring a licensed private investigator. The good ones know how to make their search as efficient as possible, without having to compromise on quality. For example, here at Docusearch, we can run your search and get the results to you within one business day.
– Find out how involved your wallet needs to be
A good private investigator will be honest and upfront about how much his services cost. In fact, you should be able to easily find specific pricing details right on his website. You’ll pay a fee upfront, and then your investigator will get to work. Then, when it comes time to see your results and ask any questions you may have, you’ll be free to do it without spending any more money.
Think it’ll work the same way on those instant websites? Think again!
Unfortunately, those websites have a bad habit of promising free searches. Technically, that’s true, because it won’t cost you anything to type someone’s name into the search box. However, if you actually want to see the results, it’ll cost you.
Bottom line — if you don’t want any price-related surprises, you have to work with a reputable licensed investigator!
Want to see exactly what a reputable investigator can do for your? Turn your Ohio criminal records search over to the team of licensed private investigators at Docusearch!
