I have been trying to obtain a background check on my biological father for some time now, but all the sites I have found that seem legit on the internet wind up charging me for a full report. Isn't a persons criminal history public record? Can I just contact my home state and request files like this.

You might have better chances contacting or referring to your local state/county website. I know here in Georgia (at least Fulton county), there is a website dedicated to showing the radius in which convicted pedophiles live in your area. It's not the same thing, obviously, but you might need to request those documents from the state.

See what you can find here: http://www.publicrecordsinfo.com/

Also, if you Google, "requesting public criminal records", one of the sites directs to the FBI and a page that talks about requesting records.

Try pipl.com for the criminal record.

I think it is public record in America, at least with child molestation/porn offenses it is. Is it the same in other countries? I thought it was still more of a 'private' issue.

here you need a police clearance for certain jobs, but yeah, for the most part it strikes me as something that should be your choice to reveal or keep private at your discretion.

You can just look it up in my state. I've had people bring up my criminal convictions out of nowhere.

@ FasterDisaster

I will probably wind up just contacting Missouri's department of corrections since I didn't find anything on the sex offender registry. The FBI page only allows you to request your own criminal history. Thanks for the info though.

@ Harbringer

I gave pipl a shot, but it would just eventually link me to intelius.com for a full report and I really don't want to pay $50 just to find out if my father ever committed a crime. If I have to pay I would rather pay through the state that way I know I am not getting bogus info compiled on the web.

Thanks for all the input, might seem strange for me to be looking up my father's history, but I never knew him and my mother and the rest of my family seem very uncomfortable whenever I start asking questions. So I have been trying to handle it by myself.

Yo dude, maybe you should just let it go and let your pa live his life, eh?

If you've never met him, isn't it a bit unfair that you assume he's got a criminal history?

Presumably he's been given some reason to believe that he has a criminal record. But still, why not just leave the guy alone about it? Or if you must introduce the topic, let it come up naturally. Going up and grilling him about that stuff isn't going to engender a mutually satisfying father son relationship, and going up to meet someone having read up on government files on them isn't exactly going in on an even footing of trust and openness (not to mention cordiality), eh? If he isn't in jail, then he's paid his dues (or had no dues to pay) and if he wants to share that part of his life with you, he will.

The reason I am looking this information up is because I never knew him and never will. My father commited suicide when I was twelve. My mother always told me he ran off when she became pregnant and that he wound up in jail for rape.

In the last few years I have met my grandparents and when we speak of my father they have never mentioned anything about this. Granted they are probably reluctant to speak of such things, but he's my father and I feel I have a right to know if he did such things.

Also I don't trust my mother, I think she's embarrassed how she handled that period of her life and just tried to keep me from asking too many questions.

My Father In Law is a retired detective. When I tried to get information on my real Father, he informed me only Police can get real background checks done. He can only do them for New Jersey, so I was SOL.

Sounds like you were just never meant to know.

To the OP: I have no idea what the laws are in missouri about this, but a good and possibly quickest place to start might be your local police station, with relevant documentation such as id (yours) and birth certificate. Giving a criminal history to a stranger is one thing, next of kin completely different. If they cant help, they should be able to point you in the right direction. Good luck.

I would just like to say that unless you're related to BobbyTyphoon, then it isn't really any of your business what he decides to do. If his father in fact raped his mother, he has a right to know, and he wants to know, considering his perseverance. He came here requesting assistance on how to go about getting information for doing this. The rest is none of your concern, as is for the rest of us in this thread.

I actually never thought of the possibility that my father could have raped my mother, so that is a new way to look at it. If that is the case then I am probably going to feel like an ass for not trusting her. Either way I am planning on contacting the department of corrections in May, after I return from a TDY.

Thanks for the advice again, looks like it's going to take me some more time and effort to get the whole story.