Why did my expunged charge still appear on a background check?

Centre County Expungement Lawyer

In the past, background search information was not obtained until a prospective employer requested information on a particular person, and the request triggered a search of government records. Now, many Internet background search companies upload the entire database of criminal cases such as misdemeanor Possession of Drugs, Furnishing Alcohol to Minors, Simple Assault, and even summary offenses like Underage Drinking from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC). The company then has the records of all persons charged in Pennsylvania before a specific request for information about a particular person is made. When a request for a background search is submitted, the Internet search company then reviews its own records and need not resort to a search of the government records. The government records may have been expunged since the upload of information by the private background search company, but, because the charges remain in the databases of the background search companies, the search companies can provide a notation of the criminal charges. This means that an expungement of the government records may not prevent a prospective employer from discovering the offense.

While expungements are limited to the destruction of government records, many of the Internet search companies will honor an expungement order issued by the court if a person can discover which search companies have a copy of a person’s record. The best way to avoid this issue is to retain an experienced criminal defense attorney. State College criminal defense attorney Jason S. Dunkle strives to obtain the best possible results for a client, which often includes having charges dismissed, with dismissed charges often being expunged. If a favorable resolution is not obtained, then a person is not even eligible for expungement. After obtaining a favorable resolution, Attorney Dunkle files the expungement paperwork as soon as possible thereafter to have the records of the dismissed charges removed from the government databases and thereby not available for uploading by the private Internet search companies. Contact Centre County criminal defense attorney Jason S. Dunkle for a FREE CONSULTATION at (814) 954-7622 or via e-mail.