Important Information You Need to Know
SPI’s Focus
Select Personnel Investigations is a direct provider of criminal records to pre-employment screening companies. It is our only business! We do not do pre-employment screening! When SPI handles a request in our offices for screening services, we refer the inquirer to a list of screening service providers developed from a current register of SPI customers. If you want to be included on that referral list advise your SPI account manager. SPI will never ask for the names of your customers.
The principal of Select Personnel Investigations has a combination of over twenty two years of professional investigative and investigative management experience in the private sector. This extensive board base background allows SPI to professionally oversee and manage our network of over 1,600 professional researchers that are utilized to provide the records you need.
Compare our prices, reporting, and exceptional customer service and most importantly - the advanced technology we offer at no cost to all of our customers. The SPI difference will allow you to improve on the product you deliver to your screening customers.
Report Timeliness
Select Personnel Investigations is located in the central time zone. Submit all criminal search requests before 5:00 p.m. Submissions prior to 5:00 p.m. will be processed through on that day. We do send and receive to our researchers several times throughout the day to improve turnaround times. Requests received after the 5:00 p.m. cut off time will be delayed one full business day.
SPI’s team of researchers utilizes public records obtained by on-site courthouse visits to prepare our reports to you. Courthouses are generally open Monday through Friday and are subject to a liberal civil service holiday schedule. In addition, smaller courthouses, often because of manpower issues, are not always consistently reliable. Remember that courthouses are closed every weekend. SPI strives to meet all of our time deadlines, but will on occasion report to you delays caused by these types of issues.
Check our home page courthouse alerts section for the most current information regarding Report Delivery and Timeliness.
By following the SPI recommended submissions format you can eliminate unnecessary delays in report returns. On all reports be sure and provide the following information:
Your Company Name.
The Name of the Person Submitting the Request
Your Contact Information
Name of the Applicant
Date of Birth
Social Security (if available)
Counties/State to Search
Remember - Proper identifiers are critical to accurate record retrieval!
Traffic Records
Traffic records are reported only if our researchers locate a record pertaining to traffic related incidents in the felony and or misdemeanor search of the county level records check. Frequently, serious traffic violations are recorded at the county level as criminal traffic violations and therefore the records are available and reported by our researchers.
Record Retrieval
SPI returns the search results to you as soon as they are received in our offices. This means that:
For our Fax Customers - We post the information and electronically fax directly back to you as we receive the reports.
For Our Remote Software Customers - We post to our system as soon as we receive the report results in out office. You can then dial in and download at any tie to receive the latest information on our search.
We do now (as of April 1, 2004) make available partial report information to FRS customers, and Remote Software users.
For Our Internet Users - We post to our system as soon as we receive the report results in our office. By using your ID and Password, you can check the status of your requests and pick up results 24/7 on the web. We pick up and deliver to the web every 30 minutes throughout the day.
Handling Disputes
When SPI reports a criminal record and the subject disputes the accuracy of the report -
1. Verify the accuracy of the identifying information that was provided both to you and to SPI.
2. Make sure that your client is aware of how SPI obtained the record.
3. If the identifiers match the information provided, the subject of the search should be told to contact the court jurisdiction directly. In many cases the court clerk will only provide telephone verification with proper identifiers for the subject themselves.
If No record reports are disputed -
1. SPI will authenticate all the information we received from you and complete another court records check at no additional cost to you if of original report was not accurate.
2. SPI will render a bill for the re-check if the information sent was originally accurate.
3. If you require a second re-check of the record, SPI will require additional identifying information including: case number, arrest date, and the name of the agency which made the arrest prior to the SPI researcher re-visiting the courthouse.
4. Second re-checks are billed at our standard rate.
Municipalities
Our policy is if a record was indeed missed due to an error by the court clerk or our researchers, we will "no charge" the searchers, however, if the search remains a no record, due to the "hit" being in a municipal court or in family court, you will be charged for the original, as well as the recheck. Please note there are several counties that information from the individual municipalities not reported t them. When your clients are using databases to pre-search this will occur more often.
Duplicate Requests
We will do our best to identify and eliminate duplicate requests. However, SPI’s volume does not permit us to compare the names of the subjects submitted for research on any day other than the date received and processed. SPI must bill for duplicate requests.
Miscellaneous Issues
The SPI pricing contained within this website includes the access fees and charges we pay to research the records. These incurred fees are in additional the fees we must pay our researchers. In addition, the courts adjust their charges without notice. SPI’s pricing will be changed and updated as needed and SPI reserves the right to do so without notice. We will update you as possible with information on any pricing changes. As we have seen many of the courts have not provided notice at all to increases prior to implementing them.
Billing - All invoices are sent to SPI customers labeled as "Net 15 Days". Invoices should be paid within 30 days of the bill date or interest at the rate of 1 ½% per month will accrue. SPI reserves the right to cease processing requests until outstanding invoices are paid.
Statewide Criminal Record Searchers - SPI can provide statewide searches in those states that do not require a signed wavier from the subject of the search. Those states are provided under the schedule of prices area of this website. SPI does not recommend this type of search for use as a pre-employment screening tool. Although it may have its uses, the client needs to be aware that state databases are often not current or accurate. The FCRA has specifically addressed the use of archived databases for screening purposes.
Holiday Schedule - Select Personnel Investigations will notify in advance all customers by fax of SPI holiday closings.
Regular Courthouse Delays - Routine Courthouse Delays are incurred in certain jurisdictions throughout the United States. SPI provides each of its customers a listing of those known and regular delays as part of the New Client Welcome Package. Changes to this list are made as necessary and customers receive regular updates as necessary.
Hour of Operation
Select Personnel Investigations is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. central time.
Scope of Search Provided
Criminal records are researched at the county level. SPI uses a 7-year time frame. Research that is beyond this scope will entail delays in reporting and will be handled and priced as extended searches. Extended searches are subject to an additional fee of $2.00 per year researched.
Canceling Your Request
SPI sends the research requests to its team of researchers throughout the day. Our last sends go out between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. SPI regrets that canceled orders can only be accepted until 5:00 p.m. central time on the day the original request.
Court Copies
SPI will as a courtesy, attempt to provide copies of court records when available and when the client has requested this information at the time of the original search request. You will be billed for the cost of the copies. If your request for copies is after out researcher has made his initial on-site visit you will receive an invoice for a second search in addition to the costs of the copying. This cost varies depending on the courts.
Extended Searches
SPI will charge an additional $2.00 for each year of extended search requests beyond the standard 7-year search. Timeliness will be affected by extended search requests. Delays are commonplace.
Thank you for your business!
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