Federal Criminal Records Check

This article will help you understand what a Federal Criminal Records Check is, why it's important, and what type of information it provides.

Federal criminal records are cases brought by the Federal Government and can include, but not limited to, cases of stolen goods, bank robbery, embezzlement, counterfeiting, terrorism, weapons violations, and drug trafficking.

More companies are considering Federal Criminal searches as standard practice for background screening. Federal criminal records do not reside in the same County or State criminal repositories as non-federal crimes; therefore, are not captured during “typical” criminal searches.

This search provides a more fully comprehensive view into an employees’ background providing insight into higher-level, white-collar crimes, and those occurring across state lines. This search is ideal for high-level positions, for employees with access to secure or financial information.

Orange Tree's Federal Criminal Records Check Process


Orange Tree searches the U.S. district courts for federal crimes using the online U.S. Federal Government PACER record system that covers all 94 federal jurisdictions. The district in each state stores federal criminal records. The U.S. District Court for each state can have one district or may be divided into multiple districts.

Understanding Federal Criminal Records Check Process

This search will provide an overall result and status, and if a record is located the record may include the following information: level of offense, disposition, age of record, identifiers used to match the record to the applicant. 

fedAll criminal results follow the same reporting format: the area searched, name searched, completion date and service result.