Again, this depends on the breadth and depth of the background check as well as the goals of your organization. For most employers SterlingBackcheck works with, courthouse criminal records search in the counties where an applicant has resided in the past seven to 10 years. This is a standard best practice. Many employers choose to supplement this standard background check with searches of various databases, including the sex offender registry, government sanctions lists, motor vehicle records and others. The more comprehensive a background check is, the more accurate and reliable the results will be.