Lake County, Indiana Court Records

Located just to the south of Chicago and over the border in Indiana, Lake is a large county in the Chicago metropolitan area with a population of more than 498,000. Nearby counties include Jasper, Newton, and Porter counties in Indiana, alongside Cook, Kankakee, and Will counties in Illinois. Major employers include Cargill, BP Whiting, and Unilever.

Once a manufacturing powerhouse, Lake county remains a mixture of industrial space and suburban life. Because of its job opportunities and location in the metro area, employers here may be more likely to encounter job-seekers from Illinois or other metro counties. The same goes for companies based in Chicago, which may encounter applicants from Lake county. Factoring this into your hiring process is essential.

The huge and fluid nature of the Chicago metro area means that many people move from place to place frequently, even across state borders. This constant flow of people means job seekers are more likely to leave behind a criminal record in one county or state while they seek work elsewhere. Employers have much ground to cover, given the Chicago metro’s size and scope. Developing a background check policy focused on the unique challenges of operating in a metro area is a necessity for companies hoping to guard against negligent hiring and choose the best candidates for the job. 

Although this can sound like a daunting process, today's digital vetting tools ensure employers can keep their "time to hire" metrics low without sacrificing important opportunities to learn about candidates. With help from backgroundchecks.com, you can start vetting most job applicants in mere minutes.

Although background checks are a potent tool for employers, they can also be the source of many headaches when used improperly. Classed as a consumer report, background checks are subject to regulation under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and additional state and federal laws. However, Indiana does not use a "ban the box" law for any form of private employment. State law bars municipalities from enacting ban the box rules, too. Across the state border, both Illinois and the city of Chicago have detailed "ban the box" rules that employers must obey, including a prohibition against using a conviction as the sole basis for denying a job.

Besides limiting background checks, Indiana does not dictate how businesses conduct their pre-employment drug testing program. No changes to these rules are currently under consideration. It’s advisable to review your obligations under the FCRA and develop a compliant process with these rules in mind.

You can start feeding candidate information through your system of choice once you have factored in the legal aspects of background checks. With our US OneSEARCH, accessing results from tens of millions of records is fast and simple. Searching for candidates in the majority of the US will return results nearly instantly in almost every case. The US OneSEARCH includes records from many states and counties, including Lake county. Visit our coverage map for more information about available counties and the information we obtain.

Checking records directly in counties relevant to your business or applicant is also important, especially when you need to follow up on an open or pending case for more information. By choosing backgroundchecks.com for county court background checks in the Chicago metro area, you can develop a far-reaching picture of an applicant's past.

Background reports generated by backgroundchecks.com include information from the following:

• Lake County – Felony and misdemeanor records plus ordinance violations from 2004-present
• Indiana sex offender registry

These reports can include the subject's:

• Name
• Offense/Charge
• Sentence
• Disposition

Why not start sifting through your pile of applications rapidly with help from backgroundchecks.com today to identify better candidates?