Memphis Metropolitan Area

Named after the largest city on the Mississippi River, the Memphis metropolitan area's population of 1.3 million largely resides within Tennessee's borders. However, the metro sprawls into Arkansas and Mississippi with a total of ten counties over three states. These include Crittenden and St. Francis counties in Arkansas; Benton, DeSoto, Tunica, Marshall and Tate counties in Mississippi; and Fayette, Tipton, and Shelby counties in Tennessee.

Memphis is a logistics hub with a bustling economy featuring a lively tourism sector and a growing healthcare industry. Key regional employers include UPS, FedEx, AutoZone, and Regions Bank. 

Filled with rich employment opportunities and deeply interlinked with the surrounding region, the Memphis metro naturally attracts commuters. For businesses based in the region, this trend results in specific hiring challenges that require creative solutions. With more jobseekers filtering into the region daily, attracting qualified applicants and filling open positions are easier tasks, but the importance of due diligence during the hiring process increases.

A robust background check is essential for proper vetting, but metro-area businesses must act carefully when using such tools. A business operating out of Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee that looks only at records in that county–or only in greater Tennessee–runs the risk of missing relevant criminal records held right over the border in Arkansas. Exploring data in the entire metropolitan area affords businesses a more complete understanding of each applicant.

Re-evaluate your existing background check policies to ensure that they are metro-ready. Part of this process should always involve a thorough review of any regulations that may affect your ability to employ background checks. 

None of the three states in the Memphis metro “ban the box” or prohibit employers from considering criminal records during the hiring process. All allow for the consideration of non-expunged conviction records. Though arrests may be considered in Mississippi and Tennessee, background checks do not generally disclose arrests that did not lead to a conviction. All employers should remain mindful of federal employment law, including the FCRA and Title VII. 

With compliant procedures in place, procure the appropriate tools to support your hiring processes. backgroundchecks.com provides easy access to versatile products designed with your needs in mind. Instant record search results are available for most of the Memphis metro, including Crittenden and St. Francis counties in Arkansas and Fayette, Tipton, and Shelby counties in Tennessee.  For Benton, DeSoto, Tunica, and Tate counties in Mississippi, we provide direct courthouse searches. Our regional US OneSEARCH allows for searching records for up to 5 states at once while a single state-level background check delivers a more targeted approach.

In Tennessee, these reports rely on information supplied by the Department of Corrections (updated quarterly), the state sex offender registry (updated bi-weekly), and county-level courts (updated monthly). Historical data from before May 2010 is also available from the Administrative Office of Courts. Data may include the subject's:

• Name
• Offense and degree
• Sentence
• Disposition date

For Memphis-area businesses, a background check policy retooled for operations within a metro region can prove invaluable. Explore how you can use these tools to improve your metro hiring process.