Harris County, Texas

Containing the city of Houston in southeastern Texas, Harris is the state’s most populous county with approximately 4.7 million residents. Harris County borders Brazoria, Fort Bend, Waller, Montgomery, Liberty, Chambers, and Galveston counties, all part of the Houston metropolitan area. 

Home to one of the world’s busiest ports and a massive population, Harris County has a robust economic climate employing hundreds of thousands of people across many industries. The most significant employers in Harris County include Walmart, ExxonMobil, Kroger, and Aramark.  

Harris County employers can tap into a vibrant labor market, but reaching a greater number of eager applicants comes with a cost: employers must ensure that each hiring decision is not only smart but safe, a difficult guarantee with applicants frequently flowing across county lines for job opportunities. Businesses must find out if an applicant has a local record of criminal activity—and that record may go beyond county borders.  

A responsible background check will include nearby counties as well as Harris. Your applicant for a driving position may live in Harris County but have a recent conviction for DUI in Galveston—and examining only Harris County’s records could lead you to believe that the individual’s record is spotless. 

Is it time to rethink your county-level hiring processes? Before making any changes, review all applicable fair hiring laws. In Texas, there are no special “ban the box” rules in place to govern when and how you ask about an applicant’s criminal history. However, it is wise to review the EEOC’s guidance on fair hiring practices to avoid any actions or practices that could be deemed discriminatory.  

With confidence in compliance, your business can move on to selecting an ideal provider for securing the background report information that you require. backgroundchecks.com is that provider, offering an array of tools that deliver in-depth hiring insights. Use our county-level background check to quickly and easily gain access to any Harris County records tied to your applicant, or go farther and search Brazoria, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Liberty, Waller, Galveston, and Chambers counties at the same time for even greater peace of mind.  

Using our US OneSEARCH, businesses enjoy instant access to records not only from Harris county but from its neighboring counties as well.  

Note that we make every effort to keep our electronic databases as current as possible, but new criminal records may surface and existing records may change in the interim period between updates. Our ability to search courthouse records directly requires 1 to 3 business days to complete but can provide a current snapshot of the subject’s records held at the county level. 

Our reports gather information from several important sources, which include: 

• Texas Department of Public Safety – Records of felonies and misdemeanors begin in 1975, updated weekly
• Texas Department of Criminal Justice – Records begin in 1979, updated monthly
• Texas Sex Offender Registry – Records begin in 1951, updated bi-weekly
• Harris County Court – Records begin in 1990, updated monthly 

Our detailed reports from the above sources contain information that may include a subject’s: 

• Name
• Offense
• Conviction date
• Sentence

 While filling gaps in the workforce can be tricky for businesses that attract a cross-county applicant pool, having the right information at hand can make your hiring decisions smarter, safer, and simpler. Find out how to gather the information that you need for key decisions about Harris County applicants today with help from backgroundchecks.com.

Learn more about our county background check options