Criminal Record

• A criminal record in the United States consists of federal, state and local criminal records that have been reported by various law enforcement agencies. A criminal record is used for various reasons, including employment, identification, adoption, security clearance, licensing and criminal investigations. A criminal record is separated by age. For instance, a juvenile record of a person does not reflect on his adult criminal record. A juvenile can be under the age of 18, but still charged as an adult. In those instances, the charge appears on the adult criminal record.
  
  

Personal Information

• A criminal record displays the full name of a person, including any aliases, maiden or former names. The criminal record also displays personal information of the person such as his date of birth, height, weight, race, hair and eye color, gender and height. The criminal record lists any convictions of the person, as well as the outcome of each conviction. For example, if a person was given probation, parole or any time in jail or prison, the criminal record will display this information.
  
  

Criminal Convictions

• When an applicant fills out an application, he should be truthful with all information submitted in the application. This is because the employer, adoption agency or other business can request a criminal background report. Therefore when the application asks the employee if he has been convicted with any felonies, the applicant should be truthful. The criminal record shows all level of criminal felonies. In some states, felonies are erased off of a person's criminal record after so many years.
  
  

Minor Traffic Violations

• Some states list all the arrests of a person in his criminal record. The arrest can include felony charges as well as misdemeanor charges. The misdemeanor charges include minor traffic arrest, such as speeding, parking and other types of tickets. These traffic arrests are very informative for employers hiring an employee when the job includes transporting goods or services. For instance, an employer would not want to hire someone with a wreckless driving background to make deliveries for them.
  
  

Dismissed Charges

• Even though a person has had charges dismissed against him, his criminal record can still reflect the original charges. The criminal record typically states the charge was dismissed, but this can sometimes be a red flag when morals and character come into play with a job, an adoption, renting an apartment and other instances. Charges that have been expunged from a person's record do not show up on a criminal record.