COVID-19 What Courts are Closed/Restricted in Montana?
What are your prices?
What is your turnaround time?
Do you search both felonies and misdemeanors?
Do you report infractions and traffic offenses?
Do you report dismissed cases and pending cases, or convictions only?
What information is reported if a record, or possible record, is found?
How many years back do you search?
Do you use hands-on field researchers in each county?
COVID-19 What Courts are Closed/Restricted in Montana?
As of Monday 3/22/2020 the following counties are not accessible to the public:
* Dawson (no public access)
* Hill (restricted public access)
* Park (no public access)
* Ravalli (has been closed; repopening on 3/24, then closing again idenfinitely)
* Roosevelt (no public access)
* Silver Bow (no public access; we may be able to work with the court directly)
* Yellowstone (no public access)
What are your prices?
* Dawson (no public access)
* Hill (restricted public access)
* Park (no public access)
* Ravalli (has been closed; repopening on 3/24, then closing again idenfinitely)
* Roosevelt (no public access)
* Silver Bow (no public access; we may be able to work with the court directly)
* Yellowstone (no public access)
Our price for a full, two-part criminal record search of both District and Justice Courts varies based on the particular customer's specific profile.
Hit percentage (a) is the most heavily weighted factor, followed by whether simple Traffic Offenses are required (b) followed by Turnaround Time expectations (d) followed by whether the client will be sending all 56 counties, or whether the client will be sending us mostly the remotest of counties (in short, the best pricing goes to clients that send us the bigger counties, particularly Yellowstone, Missoula, Gallatin, and Lewis and Clark.
Other price factors would be overall volume and what software delivery platform your company uses (Digital Delve preferred).
All orders for criminal searches are always full 2-court searches, i.e., as "Felony+Misdemeanor"; we do not currently offer "felony only" or "misdemeanor only" products.
What is your turnaround time?
Hit percentage (a) is the most heavily weighted factor, followed by whether simple Traffic Offenses are required (b) followed by Turnaround Time expectations (d) followed by whether the client will be sending all 56 counties, or whether the client will be sending us mostly the remotest of counties (in short, the best pricing goes to clients that send us the bigger counties, particularly Yellowstone, Missoula, Gallatin, and Lewis and Clark.
Other price factors would be overall volume and what software delivery platform your company uses (Digital Delve preferred).
All orders for criminal searches are always full 2-court searches, i.e., as "Felony+Misdemeanor"; we do not currently offer "felony only" or "misdemeanor only" products.
Turnaround time varies by county. However, in general, approximately 75% of searches are completed in 1-72 hours.
There are 57 Justice courts in the 56 counties in Montana. Only one of these 113 courts (Yellowstone) has full public access (a public access terminal) at both District and Justice courts. Consequently, turnaround time is at the mercy of the court clerks.
Do you search both felonies and misdemeanors?
There are 57 Justice courts in the 56 counties in Montana. Only one of these 113 courts (Yellowstone) has full public access (a public access terminal) at both District and Justice courts. Consequently, turnaround time is at the mercy of the court clerks.
Absolutely. For felonies, we search District Court, where all felonies are filed. For misdemeanors we search Justice Court.
In a fair number of counties we also often are able (at no extra charge) to search City Court (a 3rd-tier court) which also handles misdemeanor cases, so long as the clerk of Justice Court has access to the City Court's records.
Do you report infractions and traffic offenses?
In a fair number of counties we also often are able (at no extra charge) to search City Court (a 3rd-tier court) which also handles misdemeanor cases, so long as the clerk of Justice Court has access to the City Court's records.
We report any criminal case that is reported to us by the court, regardless of how minor the charge, with the following exceptions:
Policy: We do not report seat-belt Violation, fail to carry proof of insurance, or simple speeding as a general rule. For clients who always require these, or for any single, specific order which requests such, there is a $3.00 per name charge (even if the name comes back "clear").
Do you report dismissed cases and pending cases, or convictions only?
Policy: We do not report seat-belt Violation, fail to carry proof of insurance, or simple speeding as a general rule. For clients who always require these, or for any single, specific order which requests such, there is a $3.00 per name charge (even if the name comes back "clear").
Our policy, by default, is to report all cases: Active cases, Dismissed cases and Convictions. If the client instructs us to only report convictions, we can filter out non-convictions.
What information is reported if a record, or possible record, is found?
A. IDENTIFIERS: Typically we are able to obtain, and will report D/O/B, Y/O/B, or age on file; Full Name on file; Alias(es) found on file. Any discrepancies will be highlighted.
Occasionally (especially if one of the above identifiers is missing or discrepant) we will report additional identifiers, provided they exist on the court file. Examples include, Address on file; SSN or partial SSN on file. Driver's License number on File.
B. CASE INFORMATION: Typically we are able to obtain, and will report: Case number, File date, Disposition date, Offense/Arrest Date, Charge, Severity, Degree, Disposition, Sentence, Post-sentence actions, Active Warrants, and other notations found on file that are clearly pertinent to the case and that are publicly and readily available.
How many years back do you search?
Occasionally (especially if one of the above identifiers is missing or discrepant) we will report additional identifiers, provided they exist on the court file. Examples include, Address on file; SSN or partial SSN on file. Driver's License number on File.
B. CASE INFORMATION: Typically we are able to obtain, and will report: Case number, File date, Disposition date, Offense/Arrest Date, Charge, Severity, Degree, Disposition, Sentence, Post-sentence actions, Active Warrants, and other notations found on file that are clearly pertinent to the case and that are publicly and readily available.
Our default minimum is to search 7 years for felonies and seven years for misdemeanors.
MONTANA STATUTORY LAW FORBIDS the use for employment purposes of any record older than 7 years from the date of disposition or the date of release. As a research company we are allowed to report older information and providers and CRA's are allowed to report information, but if the applicant is going to WORK in Montana, the employer would be in violation of state law if such older records were used in whole or in part in an employment decision. We are not a law firm and the above is not legal advice: Please consult with appropriate legal counsel regarding this matter.
Further, if your company places an order for more than 7 years, there are additional statutory court fees that are automatically triggered in some counties. Please contact us for further information as to the amount of these fees, since they vary from county to county.
Do you use hands-on field researchers in each county?
MONTANA STATUTORY LAW FORBIDS the use for employment purposes of any record older than 7 years from the date of disposition or the date of release. As a research company we are allowed to report older information and providers and CRA's are allowed to report information, but if the applicant is going to WORK in Montana, the employer would be in violation of state law if such older records were used in whole or in part in an employment decision. We are not a law firm and the above is not legal advice: Please consult with appropriate legal counsel regarding this matter.
Further, if your company places an order for more than 7 years, there are additional statutory court fees that are automatically triggered in some counties. Please contact us for further information as to the amount of these fees, since they vary from county to county.
No, though we have by far the largest network of field researchers in the state (currently 26 individuals). Some of these researchers handle more than one county: Currently, we have covered 83% of the population of Montana.
The other 17% of the population is covered by our direct communication with the court, usually by mail with a pre-paid fee.
The other 17% of the population is covered by our direct communication with the court, usually by mail with a pre-paid fee.
