Iowa Background Checks

Health Street’s line of background checks in Iowa delivers fast, meticulously researched data on an applicant’s criminal history, references, education and employment. We pride ourselves on providing what employers need to inform their decisions about the people they hire. Iowa employment background checks give companies the assurance that their new hires have been fully vetted and won’t pose a risk. Verify if someone is being honest with you before you hire them – with Iowa background checks from Health Street.

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What background checks in Iowa does Health Street offer?

Health Street’s criminal background check packages always start with a Social Security Number Trace. From there, you can add specific background checks, choose from one of our most popular packages, or build your own.

Court Record Package

(starting at $99)

Search the Court Record Repository at the state or county level. This background check is an investigation of court records in the counties or states that a person has used their Social Security Number.

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Platinum Background Check Package

(starting at $175)

Includes:
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Everything in Triple Database Package plus Courthouse Repository (State and/or County level)
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Ultimate Package

(starting at $250)

Includes:
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Everything in Platinum Package plus a 10 panel drug test.
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Build Your Own Package

(prices vary)

Mix and match a variety of our background screening services to create your perfect package. This can include criminal database checks, sanctions, resume verifications, and drug testing.

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Resume Verification

(starting at $39)

Check a person’s job history, degrees, references, and certifications.

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DOT Background Check

(starting at $39)

Ensure DOT compliance with our driver screening services.

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Why Health Street For Iowa Background Checks?

Health Street combines industry knowledge, a commitment to accuracy, and a spirit of fairness when performing background checks in the Hawkeye State. Comprehensive employment screenings keep you and your business from stumbling into legal problems. A thorough background screening is essential to confirming that your new hires in are qualified and honest.

Health Street’s combination of high tech and high touch make background checks in fast and reliable. We offer simple, secure web technology matched with local court runners to protect your company.

Due diligence is critical. Poorly performed background checks can expose you in the following ways:

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Not uncovering a past criminal record.
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Revealing personal or excess information that cannot, by employment law, be taken into account.

In either case, you could be held legally liable. It is critical that you stay in compliance with local labor laws. Let Health Street’s experts conduct your background checks in New Mexico so you’ll know that your candidates have been fully and properly vetted before hire.

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DOT Background Screening Services

If your business hires truck drivers, DOT regulations require that you reach out to prior employers as well as check the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse for violations. You also need to run a Motor Vehicle Report (MVR) to ensure that your drivers have a clean, safe driving record.

Health Street takes this work off of your hands and stores your Iowa background checks securely in the same convenient online portal where you can manage your DOT drug testing and random pool. We contact prior employers, check the Clearinghouse on your behalf, and report it all back to you in a comprehensive background check report, that includes:

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Conducting historical research of Iowa driving record.
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Contacting prior employers from before the Clearinghouse began in January 2020.

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Resume Review and Verification Checks

When evaluating a job applicant, the first thing a hiring manager tends to look at is their resume. But what if the schools attended, degrees earned, job titles held, and other credentials were embellished, exaggerated, or outright fabricated? Before making that hire, you can rest easy knowing that Health Street can add resume verification to our Iowa background checks.

Resume fraud is unfortunately all too common in Iowa. Our resume verification services provide a definitive check on everything listed on your applicant’s resume. This includes:

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education verification to confirm the degrees and certifications stated.
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employment history to check that they have held the jobs claimed
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professional license verification to confirm they have the certifications required.

Be sure that the person you want to hire is really who they say they are by ordering resume verification services from Health Street.

Info Specific to Iowa

Background Check Laws Specific to the State of Iowa

In the state of Iowa, employers are generally granted unrestricted access to an applicant’s criminal background information. However, there is legislature in place to safeguard applicants from false discrimination due to criminal charges that never received a verdict. Under Iowa Code 2020 Ch. 692.2, charges that did not receive a sentence within 18 months from the date of arrest cannot be accessed by employers without a signed release from the applicant.

Likewise, if an applicant has successfully completed probation following a deferred judgment, an employer may not access this criminal history data without a signed release from the applicant. In addition, records of case acquittals or dismissals by reason of insanity or mental incompetence to stand trial cannot be used throughout the application process.

Furthermore, under Iowa Code 2020 Ch. 692.2, a job applicant or subject of a background check is not required to pay for the request. If an employer requires a criminal background check on an applicant, the employer must submit a written request of release and pay all required fees.

Aside from general criminal history statutes, Iowa does enforce employment-specific background check mandates. Under Iowa Code 2020 section 135C.33, employers of healthcare facilities, such as in-home health service agencies and nursing homes, must request a criminal background check for any potential employee. Similarly, under Iowa Code 2020 section 135B.34, all hospital employees must also undergo a criminal background check. Both health care facilities and hospital employers also reserve the right to request a child and dependent adult abuse record check from each applicant.

In addition to its statewide legislature, Iowa has a city-specific criminal history ordinance in place. On July 1, 2020, the City of Waterloo enacted a “ban-the-box” law prohibiting all private employers with at least 15 employees from inquiring about an applicant’s criminal record until a conditional job offer is made. Once an offer has been made and the employer proceeds with a background check, they may not issue a hiring decision based solely on the applicant’s record of arrest, pending charges, or lawfully erased records. However, an employer may use the applicant’s criminal record towards a hiring decision when there is a “legitimate business reason,” such as an individual offense correlating with the desired position.

Statistics on Crime in The State of Iowa

Iowa maintains and reports crime and arrest data in accordance with the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. This data is shared annually with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for publication. According to the latest data, Iowa saw 5,743 violent crime incidents in 2018. Violent crime types included rape, murder, aggravated assault, and robbery.

A unique aspect of Iowa’s violent crime information is its focus on location demographics. Top violent crime locations in 2018 included:

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3,735 residences
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1,090 highway/alley/street/sidewalks
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278 parking garage/lots
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151 convenience stores
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150 school/colleges
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128 bar/nightclubs

Citations

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“Chapter 692 Criminal History and Intelligence Data.” Iowa Legislature, https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/692.pdf
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“Health Care Facilities, §135C.33.” Iowa Legislature, https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/135C.33.pdf
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“Licensure and Regulation of Hospitals, §135B.34.” Iowa Legislature, https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/135B.34.pdf
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“Section 5-3-15: Unfair Use of Criminal Record in Hiring Decisions.” City of Waterloo, https://waterloo.novusagenda.com/AgendaPublic/CoverSheet.aspx?ItemID=15767&MeetingID=1028
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“Crime Data Explorer: Iowa” Federal Bureau of Investigation, https://crime-data-explorer.fr.cloud.gov/explorer/state/iowa/crime#about-the-data