Texas Criminal Background Checks

The Texas Courts

Search Type: Criminal

District (Felony) County (Misdemeanor)

State:TX

Required Search: Texas DPS + County Court(s)

# of Counties: 254

The Texas Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) State Criminal Database is not complete since not all counties report to the state’s repository; therefore additional searches must be conducted to ensure the integrity of the criminal background check. Read more here Frightening Flaws

A comprehensive background check in Texas requires a search of; the DPS and the county court(s) where the applicant has resided within the past 7 years. There are 254 counties within the state of Texas and the methodology in which a search is conducted varies from county to county. Some counties are automated, allowing the search to be completed within hours, while others county courts can only be searched by a physical visit to the courthouse. Currently, 75% of Texas criminal court searches must be conducted by a physical courthouse search.

County Search Types:

• Public Terminal – Physical court search where a researcher must visit the court house in person in order to complete the search. A public terminal is available where researcher completes the search. Turnaround Time 24- 48 hours. Over 50% of the courts provide public access terminals.
• Automated Search- County Court database is commercially available to select vendor allowing the search to be conducted through systems integration. ARS has direct integration with vendor. Turnaround Time: 2-4 hours
• Court Clerk Search – Many courts are Court Clerk searches only. With this type of search, an employee (Clerk of Court) of the court completes the search. There is no public terminal available. Turnaround Time: Discretion of the court – generally 48 hours

Companies should really pay attention to their background screening program and ensure they are conducting the proper criminal searches. ARS will make sure you are conducting the most appropriate background check since each state is different in terms of the search options available.