Public Record Search
I recently received a summons for jury duty. The form they sent required me to list any previous convictions, felonies, etc. I put down an incident that happened over 25 years ago which resulted in a no-contest plea being entered on my behalf. The final charge was “brandishing a deadly weapon”, and a misdemeanor criminal record was entered against me. I specified the date, place, court and parties to this incident on the form.
I mailed the form in, thinking that would be the last I would hear from them. Not long after though, I received a reply back from the court that they could verify the veracity of my data; therefore I would have to appear for jury duty!
I thought, what the hell?? So I called the court then myself, and to my astonishment, they said they had NO record of any criminal offense ever committed by anyone of my name, social security number, or date of birth. After I found that out, I said forget it and hung up.
I later talked with an attorney friend of mine, he said that he always urges his clients to do a criminal records/background check on themselves to see what actually shows up before they volunteer that information themselves. He said that when courts across the US began converting to computerized systems in the 80’s; many earlier records were discarded (accidently or otherwise) along the way. So if you have any skeletons in YOUR closet, you might want to do a background check on yourself first. Your closet may actually be empty! 
