For HR, ATS and screening platforms

An employment background check API, built for the platforms that run hiring

Criminal records and sex offender registries in one call, on one key. Hiring decisions run as FCRA orders with the controls the law requires, and everything else runs on the standard API.

Talk to us about FCRA access Read the FCRA API docs

curl https://api.offendersearch.app/v1/fcra/orders \
  -H "X-API-Key: $OFFENDERSEARCH_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: cand-48213-v1" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "endUserId": "eu_acme_staffing",
    "permissiblePurpose": "employment",
    "consent": { "obtainedAt": "2026-10-08T14:02:00Z", "method": "esign" },
    "subject": { "firstName": "Maria", "lastName": "Garcia", "dob": "1980-04-12",
                 "addresses": [{ "state": "TX" }] },
    "useLocation": { "state": "TX" },
    "searches": [{ "type": "sex_offender" }, { "type": "criminal" }]
  }'

Making a hiring decision? Use an FCRA workflow.

FCRA workflows are built primarily for tenant screening and hiring decisions. If a result will help decide whether to hire someone, the check has to run as an FCRA-regulated consumer report, with a permissible purpose, consent, accuracy controls and a dispute path for the person. Our standard search and API are not a consumer report. FCRA workflows run through FCRA Partner Access, for background check companies and screening platforms under a written FCRA agreement.

FCRA pricing is quoted per partner, so contact us for pricing.

Two paths

Which API to use for which employment check

The question is not which records you want — it is what the result will be used for.

If the result will…	Use	Why
Decide whether to hire, promote or retain someone	FCRA Orders API	It is a consumer report: purpose, consent, accuracy controls and a dispute path are required
Screen a candidate for a role your screening company adjudicates	FCRA Orders API, through that company	The screening company runs consent and adverse action; the order carries the data
Flag risk for your own trust and safety review, not an eligibility decision	Standard background check API	Not a consumer report; keep a person in the loop
Watch a long-term contractor roster for changes	FCRA workflow if it can affect their engagement; monitoring otherwise	Ongoing checks used for decisions are still consumer reports

What an FCRA order does for you

The compliance work is in the order, not in your code

Permissible purpose and end user on every order

Each order names the employer it is for and the purpose, and carries your consent attestation — the facts an FCRA-regulated report has to stand on.

Both checks in one order

A sex offender search and a criminal search for the same candidate, each with its own status and result, in one order with one webhook when it is done.

Exact date-of-birth matching

Only records matching the candidate’s full date of birth can be furnished. Namesakes are withheld and counted, never reported.

Live search where it matters

Every state the candidate lived in and the state of the job is searched live, and a coverage table shows what is behind every result — including a clear.

Seven-year rules and state limits

Applied charge by charge before anything is furnished, with a reason code for every item withheld.

Disputes and a consumer portal

The candidate can see and dispute what was furnished; disputes have their own endpoint and a 30-day clock.

In your hiring flow

Where the API sits in an applicant tracking workflow

Offer stage. The candidate signs the disclosure and authorization in your product or your screening company’s flow.
Order. Your platform creates an FCRA order with the candidate’s name, full date of birth, address history and the job state, and an Idempotency-Key so a retry never orders twice.
Wait for the webhook. Each search reports its own status; the order completes with a signed webhook, with no polling loop needed.
Review. Furnished records carry their match basis and source; withheld items are counts by reason, never content.
Adverse action, if any. Your screening process runs the pre-adverse and final notices and gives the candidate the portal access code to see and dispute what was reported.
Keep the evidence. The signed PDF and receipt let anyone confirm later exactly what the report said.

Scope

What it covers, and what it doesn’t

Covered

Sex offender registry records across 58 US registries
County jail bookings, statewide prison records, court records and warrants
Match state, score and basis on every record
Per-source status, so an empty result is never silent

Not covered

Employment, education or licence verification
Credit reports, drug testing or motor vehicle records
Global watchlist or sanctions screening
Adjudication — your process decides, with a person in the loop

FAQ

Employment background check API questions

What is an employment background check API?

It is the interface an HR system, applicant tracking system or staffing platform calls to run checks on a candidate without leaving the product. You send the candidate’s identifiers, the API returns records — here, criminal records and sex offender registry records — and your workflow decides what happens next.

Can I use this API to decide whether to hire someone?

Only through an FCRA workflow. A background check used for a hiring decision is a consumer report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, so it must run with a permissible purpose, consent, accuracy controls and a dispute path. That is what FCRA orders provide, under FCRA Partner Access for background check companies and screening platforms. The standard search API is not a consumer report and must not be used for the hiring decision itself.

We are an ATS, not a screening company. How do we offer background checks?

Most applicant tracking systems partner with a consumer reporting agency that runs the FCRA steps — consent, disclosures, adverse action — and integrate its API. If you are building that screening layer yourself, or you are the screening company, FCRA Partner Access gives you the data and the regulated order workflow underneath.

Which checks does it cover?

Sex offender registry records across 58 US registries and criminal records — county jail bookings, statewide prison records, court records with dispositions where a state publishes them, and warrants. It does not cover employment or education verification, credit, drug testing or motor vehicle records.

How do FCRA orders handle the seven-year rule?

Automatically, record by record. Non-conviction items older than seven years are withheld under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c, with the salary exception applied only when you send a qualifying salary, and stricter state limits are applied conservatively based on where the job is and where the candidate lived.

How much does it cost?

The standard API is $0.15 a search, $0.11 past 2,000 a month, with 25 free searches to start. FCRA orders are priced per partner by volume and purpose — contact us for pricing.

How do candidates dispute something?

Every FCRA order comes with a consumer portal access code. The candidate can see exactly what was furnished and dispute any item; disputes also have their own API endpoint, with a 30-day reinvestigation clock and a correction notice to every partner that received the record.

Build screening into your hiring platform

FCRA Partner Access for screening companies and platforms. FCRA pricing is quoted per partner.

The Offendersearch APIs

One account, one key, one bill — the sex offender registry and criminal records, side by side.

Sex offender registry

Sex offender API — One call across 58 US sex offender registries, with scored matches and a citation on every record.
Sex offender search API — Endpoints, request shapes, record fields, matching and batch, in detail.
Sex offender database — The national registry data in one schema — photos, aliases, offenses, addresses.
Registered offender database — What a registered offender record holds, and how its accuracy is measured.
Bulk sex offender search — Screen a whole list of names in one upload or one API call.

Criminal records

Criminal records API — County, state and federal records — jail, prison, court and warrant — through one API.
Criminal background check API — One cited answer per person for onboarding and screening flows.
Criminal search API — The search endpoint itself: parameters, record types and coverage, call by call.
Background check API — The registry and criminal layers together, on one key and one bill.
Bulk criminal record search — Run a list of names against criminal records in one call.

Build with it

API documentation — Quickstart, every endpoint, the record object and the OpenAPI spec.
Background check API pricing — $0.15 a call, $0.11 past 2,000 a month, 25 free calls to start — worked out by volume.
Background check API integration — Keys, the first call, async and webhooks, batch, monitoring and errors, step by step.
MCP server for offender search — Give Claude and other AI agents the same search as a tool.
Offendersearch vs offenders.io — A side-by-side comparison of the two registry APIs.