Texas is a trailblazing state in terms of Public Criminal Records and justice information
. It's in maximum tie-up with the US Department of Justice. The Interstate Identification Index and the NCIC 2000 (National Crime Information Center) are two of the various major programs that they are engaged in. Within its own backyard, Texas state enforcement and justice agencies are on-the-ball too.
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is the criminal history repository for the State of Texas. Managing Criminal Records is one of its core functions. There are 2 components to the Texas Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) namely the Computerized Criminal History System (CCH) and Corrections Tracking System (CTS). Their records comprise of information submitted by criminal justice agencies only within the State of Texas. Among them, Texas police records are a favorite.
Under Texas law, all conviction records including deferred adjudication are considered public information. This also applies to Texas arrest records. They are thus available to the general public without need for signed release. Even non-public criminal history information may be retrieved by authorized personnel with the consent of the subject. Entities that have been given statutory authority by the legislature will also have access.
The crime rate in Texas is grave to say the least. For several years now, it ranks stubbornly among the top ten worst states overall. With a population in excess of 20 million (second only to California), there would be millions who have brushes with enforcement in their lifetime. Texas arrest records give the least uncompromising indication of people. They are on file even if they never led to any incarceration and unless expunged or sealed by the courts remain there.
A practical way to safeguard personal and business interests is by conducting Texas Police Records Search. It is quite common nowadays in pre-employment screening, official personnel profiling and private purposes such as background-checking new neighbors, friends and relatives. Free public criminal records are available but it must be noted that there are legal fine-prints to observe when using these records.
Texas is one of the states which permit access in the private sector of criminal conviction records from state repositories. These entities are mostly made up of commercial record providers a great many of whom are highly specialized and professional. They typically outperform the state agencies in a number of areas, not least of which are the waiting time and cross-state information accessibility afforded through their private network.