I'm trying to do a basic check on my elderly parents' caregiver...Just want to see if there are any criminal/civil records against her. I did search Harris County records and found a theft by check from 11 years ago.

Is there a decent -- non-scam -- online records search tool? I found a couple like staterecords.org and beenverified but they seem to be junk.


Has anyone else used publicdata.com ?

All the companies in that market are a little sketchy but generally provide access to the same data. By sketchy, I mean that some have recurring monthly billing and the only way to cancel is via phone.

Most of these sites aggregate criminal county clerk records and are good at finding convictions. I've used a couple of them for my daughter's killer and they both missed an arrest where the case was dropped/expunged after he snitched on his suppliers. I found that through my own search of county arrest records.

I used to be a Dir of HR a few years ago at a company that provides private in-home care to the elderly. We used the DPS records search and purchased record (hits by name and birthdate if I recall) and it's cheap. The other we did was through a company (like clearchecks.com - $20) where the liability is also on them to use the information you gave them to provide appropriate and accurate background information.


also, here is a helpful website for some rules: https://www.twc.texas.gov/news/efte/references_background_checks.html

PublicData.com is no good really. Their info was so out of date I stopped using them.

If you have a signed release from the caregiver I have a vendor who specializes in FCRA compliant BG checks. I can give you their contact info if you want to go that route.

If you go on the DPS website you can do a criminal BG check for about $1 but that only checks Texas records.
If you check county records at a courthouse they are usually only plugged into county records, not even state level.

If you don't have a signed release to get a FCRA compliant check done, I can plug their info into a subscription based, limited access database I use for work. Costs me $39.95 (I think) to hit the search button. Covers 38-40 states with one search. Every state is different with what info they allow on line though. Some very loose, some very strict.

You can reach me at TheTexaspi@gmail.com