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Direct answer

What to use for online criminal background check

Official online sources cover different layers: Michigan ICHAT is a state criminal-history search, PACER is a federal court-record system, and the FBI Identity History Summary is a fingerprint-based personal record-review process. None of those source types should be presented as a universal all-jurisdiction background report.

Route

What “online” can mean

Layer Official example Boundary
State repository Michigan ICHAT Michigan public criminal-history scope with stated exclusions
Federal court PACER Court cases, not a general criminal-history repository
Personal FBI-held national history FBI Identity History Summary Fingerprint-based own-record review of information submitted to the FBI by authorized criminal-justice agencies; not limited to federal-court offenses and not an all-record guarantee
Steps

Build the search around the actual task

  1. 01
    Define the permitted purpose

    Personal review, hiring/licensing, tenant screening and informal research may follow different rules. The FBI personal Identity History Summary route is for reviewing, correcting or updating your own record, not employment or licensing. For those checks, contact the State Identification Bureau in the state requiring the check and follow the requesting agency’s process.

  2. 02
    List jurisdictions

    State and federal sources are separate. Use the criminal-history repository or state police for the state relevant to your question. Michigan ICHAT is an example for Michigan, not a nationwide substitute: it excludes suppressed records, warrants, federal and tribal records, traffic and juvenile records, local misdemeanors and other states’ histories. Contact each other relevant state directly for its own access process.

  3. 03
    Search the record owner

    Use the court, repository or agency that maintains the record. For your own FBI-held history, open the FBI Identity History Summary Checks page below, follow its edo.cjis.gov link and complete the electronic request. The FBI fee is $18 per person; fingerprint collection or delivery can add charges.

    Online submission still requires fingerprints. Complete the application and payment before visiting a participating U.S. Post Office for electronic fingerprint collection. Alternatively, mail a current completed fingerprint card with the electronic-request confirmation email to the address in that confirmation; the request remains electronic. Follow the FBI’s fingerprint-card instructions rather than reusing an old processed card.

  4. 04
    Report source-bounded findings

    Name the source instead of making a global “clear” claim.

Important

Fingerprint history is not a people-search feature

An FBI Identity History Summary uses fingerprints and is designed for a person to review their own FBI history.

Check

Quality controls for online results

  • ✓
    Identity

    Do not merge same-name records without corroboration.

  • ✓
    Dates

    Record the search date and case/event dates.

  • ✓
    Exclusions

    Read the portal’s stated scope before concluding anything.

  • ✓
    Legal use

    For regulated decisions, use the process required by the applicable law or agency.

Related Record Guides

Sources

Authoritative next stops

Official federal judiciary source

PACER - Federal Court Records

Use this official source as a next stop for online criminal background check.

United States federal courts