How to Do a Criminal Background Check in Maryland

Maybe you have a case of amnesia and are wondering if you've done something criminal. Maybe you're just a bit curious about what the kids are up to. Whatever the reason, you want to do a criminal background check in Maryland. However, you don't want to hire a private investigator to do it for you. Isn't there a way to do criminal background checks yourself? Absolutely! And it is completely free.

If you're doing an employee criminal background check, make sure you start the process by talking to your lawyer about having the potential employee sign a waiver agreeing to let you conduct your search.

Head to the Maryland Judiciary Case Search website.

Read all the fine print. You'll want to be sure you aren't breaking any laws with your search, but, since these are public records, you should be okay.

Hit the "continue" button to proceed with your criminal background check.

Input the person's name and decide how many limits you want to impose on the search. If you are doing an employee criminal background check and the employee will be driving your car, you may want to check traffic records, too. (Don't check the "Exact match on last name" box unless it is a really common name. Some people like to change their names slightly by adding an "e" or using a slightly different spelling.)

Hit the search button. Ideally, you'll get a result that says, "Sorry, but your search did not match any records." or will just get a result for a small traffic violation. If you get a whole page of results, you'll want to check to be sure they are for the right person by looking at the birth date and description in each record. Remember, sometimes the records are not completely accurate. Birth dates may by incomplete or the race may be left as Caucasian, which seems to be the default.

Additional Tips for Using the Maryland Court Records Database:

If you are wondering whether you're really dating a divorced man or if your prospective business partner has declared bankruptcy, you will want to head to this site, too. Maryland civil case results can be included in your search.

If you are using these records to do a background check on someone who moves around a lot, you should be aware that you are only getting results for Maryland court cases. In this case, you may be better off paying for a thorough background check.

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