Corra Daily Planet

Tennessee Governor, Phil Bredsen, is requesting that after two failed Presidencies, the University of Tennessee take extra measures in conducting background checks on its new Presidential candidates.  According to an article on Nashville Public Radio, Bredsen wisely cautioned against using search firms for recruiting candidates as they may have other agendas other than the best interest of the University.

In his effort to see the University of Tennessee become a top tier research University, the governor wants the school’s future presidents to come under greater scrutiny.  A college president is responsible for administrative duties but also for fund raising.  You can’t raise funds if you have a tainted president of a major institution of learning.    The governor spoke about the difficulty in obtaining decent reference checks on candidates.  He noted that in this day and age no one would reveal any negative qualities about an applicant.

The University of Tennessee is a fine school and deserves a president that can serve as an inspiring leader, one who can raise funding in help the University achieve its goals as it moves toward the middle of the twenty first century.

In general, after the Amy Bishop debacle, I can only stress that schools should issue a more comprehensive choice of background checks as part of their preemployment screening programs.  Thankfully, not every administrator will make the headlines of an Amy Bishop, but changing times demand greater scrutiny.

With respect to background checks, the governor has a point.  However, if the reference questions are phrased properly and the reference researcher is good at what he or she does, then it is possible to obtain a reference verification that will assist in ascertaining qualities and required skill sets.  As a background check, the professional reference verifiction check while lmited, largely due to the fact it is your candidate providing the reference names,  can still offer valuable insight into the character and capabilities of your job candidate.

I would suggest that the University also conduct both federal criminal searches as well as federal civil records searches and county civil court records searches, as these will address any issues of lawsuits or questionable behavior on  he part of the candidate that does not meet the threshold of criminal malfeasance.

UT has been had three presidents in the last ten years. The last two were confronted with ethical questions regarding their finances,.    The third quit in 2001 amid allegations of a relationship with a female administrator. Where have we seen this before?

Motor Vehicle Driving Records or MVRs are mandatory background checks for trucking and transportation concerns who wish to remain compliant with the Department of Transportation.  The DOT mandates that MVRs be conducted on commercial drivers at least once every twelve months.

Other employers conduct MVR’s on their sales people in addition to criminal records and other background checks.  So there is a great need for Motor Vehicle Driving Records.

That being said, States are in need of money.  States are broke.  The Department of Motor Vehicles in a good many states, in the past year or so, have raised the prices for driving records.   While these background checks can be costly in some states, let’s face it, you need them and the states know this.

Be aware that the Oklahoma DMV is raising it’s rates considerably.  The Hawaii DMV is also proving to be no slouch when it comes to price increases for MVRs.     So be aware, and put some pennies aside–

County Criminal searches are an essential background check for any employer’s preemployment screening program.   The County Criminal Records Search is the most exacting of criminal records searches as it will tell specifics about any criminal cases as well as provide to the employer any pending cases.  Nothing worst than hiring someone who is to be carted off to jail three weeks later.    And don’t think that doesn’t happen.

Anyway, as we all know most states have immediate budgetary concerns.  In short, most states are broke and trying to get money however they can.  One way to obtain extra revenue is to raise the rates on  public services, including MVRs through their Department of Motor Vehicles, and the County Court Fees.

In New York State there is the OCA, the Office of Court Administration.  This is the Unified Court System that retains and provides records for many New York Counties, especially those around New York City.    Simply put, to obtain country criminal records for any of the boroughs or counties around New York City you must go through the OCA.

The OCA is raising its rates.   Please be aware of the changes as it will effect your background checks pertaining to county criminal records pricing for New York.  Please review the list of the counties that will be effected.

It has recently come to our attention New York will be making a significant change to the current court fee structure. Please note the effective date of the change is July 1^st, 2010. 

No matter what business, what industry, what section of society, there is always at least one charlatan to gum up the works.   In this case, according to an article on Action 3 News, in Omaha, Nebraska, a Bellevue man was charged with running a background check scam.   The man formed a company and then convinced people who was running background checks for them by accessing the FBI and Interpol databases.  An interesting scam, for sure.

I have to wonder if his clients were puzzled when all of the job candidates and subjects came back as “clear,” meaning with no records found.  Some must have taken heart and thought at long last we are living in a perfect world where all the job candidates are walking around with unblemished records, no criminal histories, not even the proverbial winter vacation shoplifting charge for some suntan oil and a bottle of rum.

The man accused of running the bogus background checks is David Musk.  Must reported charged $600.00 per background check and made off with some $170,000, before anyone got wise.  My first thought was “who charges $600.00 for a background check?  My second thought was, ” who is paying this kind of money for a background check?”    Must be some kind of background check.

But not one conducted from the FBI or Interpol databases.  That’s for sure.  Private citizens cannot access these criminal database files.   And to scam people into believing you can…well…it’s not nice.