A California criminal background check (RAP Sheet) [Step by Step Guide]
A California criminal background check (RAP Sheet) is not easy to come by. Court records are old, and they disappear. After a criminal conviction for a misdemeanor or felony, you will need to fill out applications expunging your case.
The information you need may include the place of arrest, criminal convictions, charges, courthouse, and case number. However, you will not have all this information at your fingertips. By using the steps below, you can get a copy of your RAP sheet and begin the process of cleaning your record.
You Can Get a Record of Everything That Happened to You From a California Criminal Background Check
A California criminal background check will show everything you were arrested, even if you did not get convicted for it. It’s important to know that a Background check reports everything. It does not just include convictions but will also have your arrest record even if they were not charged.
You Will See Arrest That You were Never Charged for in Your California Criminal Background Check.
As a result of this, there are many uncharged domestic violence, arrest, and robberies on people’s criminal records. This causes a surprise when people finally see their criminal history record and realize they had a robbery arrest when their case only resulted in a shoplifting conviction.
The Rap Sheet from a California Criminal Background Check are Official Documents that are controlled.
Under the California Information and privacy act you are protected from anyone requesting this document for job position purposes or to make a rent applications decision. In addition, It’s also important to know that this is a controlled document. Nobody is allowed to have this document other than you and the law enforcement agency. This means that it is illegal for anyone else to have access to your criminal history from a RAP Sheet for employment purposes (employers as part of a job applicant and landlords for rent requirements for making decisions)
Send This Form in to Get Your California Criminal Background Check.
By sending this form to the Department of Justice, you will have access to your RAP Sheet, which is equivalent to a California criminal background check. This document will be helpful to know what type of convictions employers will see when they do their criminal background check on you.
The RAP Sheet (California Criminal Background Check) is more exhaustive than anything an Employer will See.
Employers use their background checks which are not as thorough as the RAP sheet, to screen job applicants for criminal history. Still, it will only include convictions for misdemeanors and felonies and arrests. Their background checks will only include misdemeanor and felony offenses, resulting in a conviction as opposed to the RAP sheet, which consists of all criminal activity.
By sending in this form to the Department of Justice you will be to access your California criminal background check.
To get your California Criminal Background Check done, you will need to fill out the forms below. Once you fill out the form, then you will need a livescan location. There are many places that provide livescan services. After you submit the application for the livescan, then you will watch your mailbox. It will take a few weeks after you send in the request form to get your California Criminal Background Check. The processing times to get your California Criminal Background Check will range from about 4 to 6 weeks.
Total Time: 30 days
Download and Fill out form.
You’ll need to go to the Department of Justice website site to get the form. The name of the form is BCIA 8016RR. Fill out the form to the best of yoru abnility then go to the next step for your California criminal background check
A Livescan is Needed for Your California Criminal Background Check
A live scan is a fancy way of getting your fingerprint. There are many places to get a livescan for your California Criminal background check. These places include police stations, UPS stores, notary shops, and even mobile livescans that will come to you. You can get a complete list of Liscan Locations here.
https://oag.ca.gov/fingerprints/locations
Wait 2-4 Weeks for your fingerprints to come back with your background.
You’ll need to wait 4-6 weeks to get you California criminal background check after you submit yourlivescan. Once you get it, then you can start using it to fill out your applications and or start the expungement process.
Are there other ways to get my record?
Yes. You have other options to get California criminal background check. These ways include going to the courthouse where you had your case. Many Superior Courts in California like Orange County and San Bernardino County will have a criminal case portal access where you can log in to get your disposition paperwork on your case.
I have an old case and the courthouse can’t help me. Will this method work?
Yes. , if you have a case where things happened a long time ago, then the court may not have your records. You will need to use this method for finding your history. Then use this to let the court know of your case.
I got arrested for a Domestic Violence, but the case was rejected by the prosecutor. Now I need to fill out an applciation fora license but I do not know the date of arrest. Will this help?
In addition, there are cases where a person will get arrested, but no case is filed. (These happen a lot of domestic violence cases) If this is the case, then the case will exist, but the courthouse will not have a record. If this is the case, you will need to use this form to get your California criminal background check. Afterwards you can contact an expungement attorney to clear your arrest record.
