Monitoring - 02/25/2021: There have been no changes in Solano, CA and we are still seeing delays from the courts. *Please note that this delay does not affect clear results, only searches with possible cases.*
Feb 25, 16:24 UTC
Feb 25, 16:24 UTC
Identified - ETA: Unknown
01/25/2021: The courts are now closed. The courts have large backlogs, and they notified our researchers that they do not have the resources to process what they have and are not prioritizing background checks as a whole. The researchers will work to complete the background checks as quickly as they are able.
*Please note that this delay does not affect clear results, only searches with possible cases.*
Jan 26, 18:08 UTC
01/25/2021: The courts are now closed. The courts have large backlogs, and they notified our researchers that they do not have the resources to process what they have and are not prioritizing background checks as a whole. The researchers will work to complete the background checks as quickly as they are able.
*Please note that this delay does not affect clear results, only searches with possible cases.*
Jan 26, 18:08 UTC
Monitoring - 02/17/2021: There are no changes to the Marin, CA court's status, and there will still be delays to searches with possible cases.
Feb 17, 16:34 UTC
Feb 17, 16:34 UTC
Update - ETA: Unknown
01/25/2021: The courts are now closed. The courts have large backlogs, and they notified our researchers that they do not have the resources to process what they have and are not prioritizing background checks as a whole. The researchers will work to complete the background checks as quickly as they are able.
*Please note that this delay does not affect clear results, only searches with possible cases.*
Jan 26, 18:08 UTC
01/25/2021: The courts are now closed. The courts have large backlogs, and they notified our researchers that they do not have the resources to process what they have and are not prioritizing background checks as a whole. The researchers will work to complete the background checks as quickly as they are able.
*Please note that this delay does not affect clear results, only searches with possible cases.*
Jan 26, 18:08 UTC
Identified - Expected Fix Date: TBD
10/12/2020: The Marin, CA court has reopened, but there is limited capacity allowed in the courthouse. In addition, researchers utilize the PAT to locate case information, but must rely on the clerks to confirm DOB and case details. The clerks are severely delayed due to months of closure, which has caused us to develop a backlog in this county. Unfortunately, clerks will not respond to our researchers' requests to expedite searches and in fact, become less helpful the more our researchers reach out. As a result, possible case details in Marin are extremely delayed.
We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause you and hope that you understand that we - and the rest of the research community - are at the mercy of the clerks.
*Please note that this delay does not affect clear results, only searches with possible cases.*
Oct 12, 18:46 UTC
10/12/2020: The Marin, CA court has reopened, but there is limited capacity allowed in the courthouse. In addition, researchers utilize the PAT to locate case information, but must rely on the clerks to confirm DOB and case details. The clerks are severely delayed due to months of closure, which has caused us to develop a backlog in this county. Unfortunately, clerks will not respond to our researchers' requests to expedite searches and in fact, become less helpful the more our researchers reach out. As a result, possible case details in Marin are extremely delayed.
We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause you and hope that you understand that we - and the rest of the research community - are at the mercy of the clerks.
*Please note that this delay does not affect clear results, only searches with possible cases.*
Oct 12, 18:46 UTC
Monitoring - 02/10/2021: The Hancock county court PATs are still deactivated as the new PATs are being installed. We are monitoring this and keep in contact with the courts on any updates.
Feb 10, 17:54 UTC
Feb 10, 17:54 UTC
Identified - ETA: Unknown
02/05/2021: On 01/28/2021, the Hancock county courts began installed new PATs and they have deactivated the old ones. This will result in all reports being delayed until the new PATs are fully installed. There is currently no ETA of when this project will be completed.
Feb 5, 16:24 UTC
02/05/2021: On 01/28/2021, the Hancock county courts began installed new PATs and they have deactivated the old ones. This will result in all reports being delayed until the new PATs are fully installed. There is currently no ETA of when this project will be completed.
Feb 5, 16:24 UTC
Identified - ETA: Unknown
1-14-2020: As many of you have noticed, possible case details out of CLAYTON, GA are delayed. The courts have implemented the following restrictions:
SUPERIOR COURT:
-In this location, it is nearly impossible to get an appointment due to limited court capacity, high
security regulation, and the competition amongst researchers for appointment slots.
-Superior court is operating on an appointment-only basis and each appointment has a 2-hour time
limit.
-Security will turn away researchers if they don’t provide proof of appointment- i.e. email
exchange or by calling the clerks to confirm.
-Appointment slots are on a first come first serve basis.
-This court also only lets in four researchers a day to complete research- two in the morning and
two in the afternoon
-Each Researcher must be escorted to and from the clerk’s department- no one can wander freely
about the campus- Each 2-hour appointment begins the moment the researcher arrives, regardless
of time waiting for clerk escort
-During the appointment time, there is access to the PAT, but we must utilize clerk assistance to
verify DOB’s.
-The system on the PAT in Superior court only has some DOB’s available. If a DOB cannot be
found, then a clerk will need to be consulted to verify them in person.
-Any special sentencing information (i.e. drug testing, community service, etc.) is not listed on
the PAT and requires clerk verification
-Multiple providers have confirmed that within their two-hour appointment window an average of
3 orders (30 records) can be completed.
STATE COURT:
-State court is currently closed and not letting anyone physically in, however, the court is still
offering virtual clerk assistance to obtain copies of case information.
-The PAT system is utilized virtually through the Clayton County website to obtain basic
information for State court cases.
-DOB's are not available and court copies must be obtained for identifiers.
-The clerk is only sending copies for 5 names and/or case numbers per day.
-The clerk also works from home and only goes into the office a maximum of 2 days a week, so if
there are any cases that are on microfilm the vendor then has to wait until the clerk goes into the
office to retrieve the information.
-Our researchers are meeting on the issues in Gwinnett daily in an attempt to devise a plan to increase capacity, but do not have an update at this time.
In addition to these changes, in preparation for inauguration day, security has been drastically increased. As of this week, there are now 5 armed guards at the entry point of the courthouse.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may cause and will continue to work with our researchers to try to increase capacity as quickly as possible.
*Please note that this delay does not affect clear results, only searches with possible cases.*
Jan 14, 16:00 UTC
1-14-2020: As many of you have noticed, possible case details out of CLAYTON, GA are delayed. The courts have implemented the following restrictions:
SUPERIOR COURT:
-In this location, it is nearly impossible to get an appointment due to limited court capacity, high
security regulation, and the competition amongst researchers for appointment slots.
-Superior court is operating on an appointment-only basis and each appointment has a 2-hour time
limit.
-Security will turn away researchers if they don’t provide proof of appointment- i.e. email
exchange or by calling the clerks to confirm.
-Appointment slots are on a first come first serve basis.
-This court also only lets in four researchers a day to complete research- two in the morning and
two in the afternoon
-Each Researcher must be escorted to and from the clerk’s department- no one can wander freely
about the campus- Each 2-hour appointment begins the moment the researcher arrives, regardless
of time waiting for clerk escort
-During the appointment time, there is access to the PAT, but we must utilize clerk assistance to
verify DOB’s.
-The system on the PAT in Superior court only has some DOB’s available. If a DOB cannot be
found, then a clerk will need to be consulted to verify them in person.
-Any special sentencing information (i.e. drug testing, community service, etc.) is not listed on
the PAT and requires clerk verification
-Multiple providers have confirmed that within their two-hour appointment window an average of
3 orders (30 records) can be completed.
STATE COURT:
-State court is currently closed and not letting anyone physically in, however, the court is still
offering virtual clerk assistance to obtain copies of case information.
-The PAT system is utilized virtually through the Clayton County website to obtain basic
information for State court cases.
-DOB's are not available and court copies must be obtained for identifiers.
-The clerk is only sending copies for 5 names and/or case numbers per day.
-The clerk also works from home and only goes into the office a maximum of 2 days a week, so if
there are any cases that are on microfilm the vendor then has to wait until the clerk goes into the
office to retrieve the information.
-Our researchers are meeting on the issues in Gwinnett daily in an attempt to devise a plan to increase capacity, but do not have an update at this time.
In addition to these changes, in preparation for inauguration day, security has been drastically increased. As of this week, there are now 5 armed guards at the entry point of the courthouse.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may cause and will continue to work with our researchers to try to increase capacity as quickly as possible.
*Please note that this delay does not affect clear results, only searches with possible cases.*
Jan 14, 16:00 UTC
Update - 12/10/2020: The San Bernardino public index is functional once again. Some cases appear to still be inaccessible, but our researchers are unsure if the volatility issues from before have been resolved. We will post another update when our researchers have an adequate amount of time to monitor the index. For the time being, please continue to expect delays only on searches with possible cases.
Dec 11, 00:13 UTC
Dec 11, 00:13 UTC
Update - 12/9/2020: The San Bernardino public index went down Monday night (12/7) and so far has not recovered. According to the court supervisor, the court's IT team “hit a critical issue with search functionality” on Monday evening while trying to stabilize the index. As a result, no searches can be conducted and no case details are available. IT is working on the issue with the site's vendor, Odyssey / Tyler Technologies, but there is no estimate as to when the index will be functional again. We will continue to monitor the situation and will let you know when the index is back up.
*Please note that this issue will cause or extend delays on all searches.*
Dec 9, 17:56 UTC
*Please note that this issue will cause or extend delays on all searches.*
Dec 9, 17:56 UTC
Monitoring - 12/7/2020: The San Bernardino index is still experiencing issues. The first issue is that the index is still highly intermittent. At times the site starts working almost perfectly for a few hours, at other times the site is down for hours. The second issue is that cases won’t open for weeks at a time and then suddenly will open. Our researchers observed that there were a few days recently where the index was functional and they could open older cases that they weren’t able to open previously. However, this is only happening sporadically and isn’t the norm.
San Bernardino’s IT team installed needed updates to the website and a captcha code about a month ago, which made the already unstable index even more unstable. IT removed the captcha but did not resolve any of the website’s issues. Approximately two weeks ago, IT added another module to the index. Since the install, the index has been extremely unstable and will go down for hours at a time.
Our researchers spoke to the court supervisor last week and stressed the need for a plan of action. According to the supervisor, IT upgraded the website on the evening of 12/1, but it didn’t help. They've escalated the issue to the highest level of the court and are working closely with the website’s vendor, Tyler Technologies. The supervisor said that they’re very aware of the pain this is causing everyone and that this is IT’s number one priority. Unfortunately, the court has no estimate as to when the issues will be resolved.
While the court works to fix the problem, our researchers have been submitting requests for dockets via the clerks. When the clerks have time they print case details from their system and send them to our researchers. The oldest searches in this county are pending cases printouts from the clerks.
*Please note that this delay does not affect clear results, only searches with possible cases.*
Dec 7, 18:44 UTC
San Bernardino’s IT team installed needed updates to the website and a captcha code about a month ago, which made the already unstable index even more unstable. IT removed the captcha but did not resolve any of the website’s issues. Approximately two weeks ago, IT added another module to the index. Since the install, the index has been extremely unstable and will go down for hours at a time.
Our researchers spoke to the court supervisor last week and stressed the need for a plan of action. According to the supervisor, IT upgraded the website on the evening of 12/1, but it didn’t help. They've escalated the issue to the highest level of the court and are working closely with the website’s vendor, Tyler Technologies. The supervisor said that they’re very aware of the pain this is causing everyone and that this is IT’s number one priority. Unfortunately, the court has no estimate as to when the issues will be resolved.
While the court works to fix the problem, our researchers have been submitting requests for dockets via the clerks. When the clerks have time they print case details from their system and send them to our researchers. The oldest searches in this county are pending cases printouts from the clerks.
*Please note that this delay does not affect clear results, only searches with possible cases.*
Dec 7, 18:44 UTC
Identified - Tentative ETA: 10/13/2020
10/2/2020: Over the past several weeks, San Bernardino's public access system has become increasingly unresponsive. At first it would go down for a few minutes. Unfortunately, the situation has worsened recently and the public access system is now unavailable for hours at a time. The entire research community is affected and these search requests are further delayed as researchers compete for court resources. As a result, possible case details in San Bernardino are heavily delayed.
Our researchers addressed the issues with the court, but the clerks and supervisor only told them that the IT team is aware of the problem and is working on it. The court told our researchers that the public access system is in need of software upgrades and the lack thereof is causing the system to crash. The court is tentatively aiming to install the needed updates over the next court holiday, October 12th (Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples' Day). Unfortunately, the system will continue to have outages until the necessary upgrades are installed. Please expect heavy delays on possible cases out of San Bernardino.
We apologize in advance for the inconvenience and will continue to work with the court to try to resolve this delay as quickly as possible.
*Please note that this delay does not affect clear results, only searches with possible cases.*
Oct 2, 17:38 UTC
10/2/2020: Over the past several weeks, San Bernardino's public access system has become increasingly unresponsive. At first it would go down for a few minutes. Unfortunately, the situation has worsened recently and the public access system is now unavailable for hours at a time. The entire research community is affected and these search requests are further delayed as researchers compete for court resources. As a result, possible case details in San Bernardino are heavily delayed.
Our researchers addressed the issues with the court, but the clerks and supervisor only told them that the IT team is aware of the problem and is working on it. The court told our researchers that the public access system is in need of software upgrades and the lack thereof is causing the system to crash. The court is tentatively aiming to install the needed updates over the next court holiday, October 12th (Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples' Day). Unfortunately, the system will continue to have outages until the necessary upgrades are installed. Please expect heavy delays on possible cases out of San Bernardino.
We apologize in advance for the inconvenience and will continue to work with the court to try to resolve this delay as quickly as possible.
*Please note that this delay does not affect clear results, only searches with possible cases.*
Oct 2, 17:38 UTC
Identified - Expected Fix Date: TBD
11/12/2020: Orange County, CA is experiencing delays with searches, as all the branches are now closed and all work is going through the main courthouse. Our researchers can still complete work, but please expect delays until all branches reopen. At this time, there is no ETA for the branch re-openings.
Nov 13, 00:16 UTC
11/12/2020: Orange County, CA is experiencing delays with searches, as all the branches are now closed and all work is going through the main courthouse. Our researchers can still complete work, but please expect delays until all branches reopen. At this time, there is no ETA for the branch re-openings.
Nov 13, 00:16 UTC
Identified - Expected Fix Date: TBD
11/5/2020: On Monday, November 2nd the Kentucky Chief Justice put out an emergency order requiring all "red zone" counties to shut down court hearings and other non-essential in person services. This is a result of a color coding system the state has implemented for each county based on the number of new COVID cases. There are four possible colors - green, yellow, orange, and red - with green being the least amount of new cases and red being the highest amount. At this point in time, over half of Kentucky counties are in the “red zone.” However, our researchers have observed that this doesn’t necessarily mean that all “red zone” counties are closed. Similarly, researchers have observed that there may be limited access in some “green zone” counties. This is because each county is determining whether or not to allow public access, which so far has varied greatly by county.
The Chief Justice’s emergency order has no indication as to the length of time that courts are required to be closed. As such, this entire week our researchers have been trying to obtain as much information from the courts to prepare for the potential impact. However, the court's next status update may not be available until Monday, November 9th.
We are tracking all Kentucky court closures here: https://courts.checkrstatus.com/. The website will be updated as we become aware of new closures. Please make sure to check the website for updates on which Kentucky counties are closing and reopening.
A map of all of the zones in Kentucky can be viewed here: https://govstatus.egov.com/kycovid19
Nov 5, 22:20 UTC
11/5/2020: On Monday, November 2nd the Kentucky Chief Justice put out an emergency order requiring all "red zone" counties to shut down court hearings and other non-essential in person services. This is a result of a color coding system the state has implemented for each county based on the number of new COVID cases. There are four possible colors - green, yellow, orange, and red - with green being the least amount of new cases and red being the highest amount. At this point in time, over half of Kentucky counties are in the “red zone.” However, our researchers have observed that this doesn’t necessarily mean that all “red zone” counties are closed. Similarly, researchers have observed that there may be limited access in some “green zone” counties. This is because each county is determining whether or not to allow public access, which so far has varied greatly by county.
The Chief Justice’s emergency order has no indication as to the length of time that courts are required to be closed. As such, this entire week our researchers have been trying to obtain as much information from the courts to prepare for the potential impact. However, the court's next status update may not be available until Monday, November 9th.
We are tracking all Kentucky court closures here: https://courts.checkrstatus.com/. The website will be updated as we become aware of new closures. Please make sure to check the website for updates on which Kentucky counties are closing and reopening.
A map of all of the zones in Kentucky can be viewed here: https://govstatus.egov.com/kycovid19
Nov 5, 22:20 UTC
Identified - ETA: Unknown
10/6/2020: As many of you have noticed, possible case details out of Gwinnett, GA are severely delayed. Increased TAT was already an issue because of the pandemic, but starting last week our researchers ran into even more challenges that are impacting their ability to complete work. In addition to a high number of individuals requesting files, the court has implemented the following restrictions:
- The clerks have instituted a 10 file-pull *per day* limit for each person. This was already a standing rule, but is now being strictly enforced.
- Clerks are providing researchers with entire files and all court documentation when files are ordered, researchers must sort through and locate the required case information needed.
- Researchers are limited to 30 minutes to view files.
- Researchers are now prohibited from taking pictures of documents in the files. All information must be handwritten.
- The number of public access terminals (PATs) has been reduced from 4 to 2.
- Chairs have been removed from the PATs.
- Researchers are limited to 30 minutes at the PAT. If this rule is broken after the third warning, researchers stand to be banned for a week. If this rule is broken after the fourth warning, researchers stand to be banned for 30 days.
Our researchers are meeting on the issues in Gwinnett daily in an attempt to devise a plan to increase capacity, but do not have an update at this time.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may cause and will continue to work with our researchers to try to increase capacity as quickly as possible.
*Please note that this delay does not affect clear results, only searches with possible cases.*
Oct 6, 20:35 UTC
10/6/2020: As many of you have noticed, possible case details out of Gwinnett, GA are severely delayed. Increased TAT was already an issue because of the pandemic, but starting last week our researchers ran into even more challenges that are impacting their ability to complete work. In addition to a high number of individuals requesting files, the court has implemented the following restrictions:
- The clerks have instituted a 10 file-pull *per day* limit for each person. This was already a standing rule, but is now being strictly enforced.
- Clerks are providing researchers with entire files and all court documentation when files are ordered, researchers must sort through and locate the required case information needed.
- Researchers are limited to 30 minutes to view files.
- Researchers are now prohibited from taking pictures of documents in the files. All information must be handwritten.
- The number of public access terminals (PATs) has been reduced from 4 to 2.
- Chairs have been removed from the PATs.
- Researchers are limited to 30 minutes at the PAT. If this rule is broken after the third warning, researchers stand to be banned for a week. If this rule is broken after the fourth warning, researchers stand to be banned for 30 days.
Our researchers are meeting on the issues in Gwinnett daily in an attempt to devise a plan to increase capacity, but do not have an update at this time.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may cause and will continue to work with our researchers to try to increase capacity as quickly as possible.
*Please note that this delay does not affect clear results, only searches with possible cases.*
Oct 6, 20:35 UTC
Update - Please be aware that we have updated the link to the court closure page. We are no longer using the spreadsheet. Instead, we are using the link listed below.
Apr 9, 17:04 UTC
Apr 9, 17:04 UTC
Identified - Due to the volume of court closures, we will be updating the below link with newly identified closures in real time. Please refer to the link below for all identified court closures going forward.
https://courts.checkrstatus.com/
Mar 17, 19:13 UTC
https://courts.checkrstatus.com/
Mar 17, 19:13 UTC
[Delay - Coronavirus] International Criminal Searches and Employment/Education Verifications
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Update - Please expect delays for criminal orders out of: China, Guam, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, and Poland.
Apr 2, 00:53 UTC
Apr 2, 00:53 UTC
Update - In addition to delays in China and Italy, please expect delays for criminal orders out of Poland.
Mar 17, 22:53 UTC
Mar 17, 22:53 UTC
Identified - Expected Fix Date: TBD
Please expect delays for criminal orders out of China and Italy. International employment/education verifications may also be intermittently delayed depending on school/business closures at the time verification attempts are being made.
Mar 13, 20:19 UTC
Please expect delays for criminal orders out of China and Italy. International employment/education verifications may also be intermittently delayed depending on school/business closures at the time verification attempts are being made.
Mar 13, 20:19 UTC