By Ben Kingsley


Many landowners, employers and business owners carry out background checks to ensure safety and security of their property. Background checks are important as it provides a relative wealth of information concerning the person as well as their history. However, background checks can be detrimental to a person who registers positive in California criminal records. Many individuals who were arrested but have the charges dropped find it difficult to look for work due to past arrest records. In California, persons who were arrested but have the case dismissed have the option to petition the law enforcement agency to have the records sealed or destroyed by the agency.

Under the California Penal Code section 851.8, which deals with the sealing and destruction of criminal records, the applicant may file a petition to the law enforcement agency who served the arrest to seal and destroy the records. Should the applicant be able to provide evidences or proofs that he/she is factually innocent; the law enforcement may seal and destroy the records within 3 years from the date of the arrest. The law office that has jurisdiction over the case will have to inform the DOJ as well as other law enforcement agencies who are involved of the approval. The DOJ and the other law enforcement agencies will then destroy their own copies of the arrest records.

Some delays may occur in the processing; however, petitioners should follow up with the local law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction of the case, as under the Penal Code, should the law agency fail to respond within sixty days of receipt of the petition, the petition is deemed as denied.

Should the petition be denied the petitioner has another option open for them as they can file for a request from the higher court that has jurisdiction over the territory. The higher court will then summon the parties for a hearing, which will commence ten days after the receipt of such by the law enforcement agency. The petitioner should prove to the court that he/she is innocent of the crime by presenting evidence that supports their claim. Once the court decides for the petitioner, it will send an order to all concerned law agencies and to the Department of Justice to destroy all records pertaining to the arrest.

Before filing for a petition, the petitioner must be eligible for the sealing. To be eligible for the sealing, the case must fall under the following situations - (1) the person was arrested by the law agency, however the prosecutor never filed any charges against them, (2) the case filed against them was dismissed and (3) the case was dismissed by a jury under a trial. Petitioners who are convicted of the case are not eligible to have the records sealed and destroyed.

To determine whether one has criminal records ca, doing a background check on oneself can help one learn about the arrest records filed against them. There are several public record search companies available online which offer this service free that one can avail.




About the Author:



0 commentaires:

Enregistrer un commentaire

 
Network Marketing Secrets You May Not Know © 2013. All Rights Reserved. Powered by Blogger
Top