Process for Handling Court Searches in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact all facets of life, we are seeing more and more courts around the country close. This may impact our ability to complete some court searches, especially if those searches must be conducted in-person at the courthouse.  

Fortunately, while courts are closed or have reduced services, this should not prohibit us from completing a search.  Many court records are available remotely and access to those records has not been impacted by these court closures. Corporate Screening will continue to utilize our technology and team to complete as many searches as possible.

In the event a court records cannot be accessed in any capacity, we will enact the following process:

1. Close the report and make a note in the report indicating the search could not be completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. When courts re-open, we will notify you of searches that could not be conducted.
3. If you indicate that searches are still needed at that time, we will proceed to complete the searches.

Process for completing searches for re-opened courts (5/13/2020):

1. Courts are slowly re-opening and at this time there are still a lot of courts that are closed or have limited search capabilities.
2. If customers are interested in seeing which suspended searches are now available for their candidates, contact our customer support team
3. CS will generate a report listing candidates and which searches are now available
4. Customer can then approve searches for those candidates that still require this information. Candidate must be a current employee/applicant in order to approve the search. 
5. CS will then complete a supplemental report for the candidate. 

There may also be searches where only partial information is available electronically. Normally, for completion, we rely on a combination of electronic access and work with court personnel. However, in these scenarios, CS will keep the search ‘pending’ and continue to assess the situation as the impact of the pandemic continues to develop.

If you have questions about the search on a particular case, please contact the Case Manager on the case via Messaging in EASE.  For other concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Support team.

On behalf of the Corporate Screening team, thank you again for your patience and flexibility amid this rapidly changing situation.