Those of us conducting background checks in the state of New York are familiar with the infamous Office of Court Administration (OCA). It was established in 2003 as a way to consolidate court records and make it “easier” to research criminal cases. And oh yeah, they established an access fee of $52.00 per search to all users.
At the same time it was established, 14 different jurisdictions in New York including the most populated areas in the state closed their courthouses for research and mandated that public records be searched through the OCA. This created a significant cost increase to those who hire a lot of people in this area. The $52.00 just covered access to the records. There was still a fee to the Consumer Reporting Agency (background screening company) for getting the information. To this date, many employers consider this fee to be cost prohibitive. Some employers won’t perform criminal record searches when an applicant has lived in the affected areas. Approximately, 10% of all counties across the country charge some type of fee for accessing these records. The norm is anywhere from $5 to $10. For comparison sake, the OCA charges more than double the next highest fee in the country.
If the $52.00 wasn’t bad enough, the OCA increased the fee to $55.00 effective May 1, 2008. Okay, a $3.00 increase doesn’t seem like much, but this just adds insult to injury. Especially when you look at today’s economy and see the affect it is having on all employers. This information is part of public information. I can understand how courts might need to charge a nominal fee to adequately staff themselves to accommodate demand. However, this fee is already outrageous and leaves many deciding whether to even perform background checks. That’s bad for employers. The other possibility for those outside of New York is deciding not to hire those in these affected areas because the background check costs too much. That wouldn’t be good for anyone.
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