Dakota County, Minnesota Court Records

A major suburban county adjacent to the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, Dakota County, is home to approximately 440,000 people. Nearby counties include Goodhue, Hennepin, Pierce, Ramsey, Rice, Scott, and Washington. Key employers include Blue Cross/Blue Shield, UPS, and Thomson West.

As a bedroom community for the metropolitan area, more than half of Dakota County’s residents work in another county. However, that still leaves a substantial demand for employment and services within the county. As a result, businesses hiring in Dakota may receive a higher volume of applications than in other locales. While this can reduce time-to-hire and simplify “staff up” by filling open positions, it can also increase a company’s exposure to potential risk if there are no hiring safeguards.

Instituting these guardrails should be a priority for Dakota County businesses that hire frequently. Understanding any given applicant’s level of risk to your business requires going farther than a sit-down interview or a recruitment personality test. By instead using vetting tools designed for commercial users, you can rely on a thorough background check as one of the pillars of your process. A detailed background report can make you aware of red flags or provide some assurance that a candidate is not an overt risk.

Businesses can develop key insights into who they choose to hire with other tools, such as reference checks and educational history verification. Once time-consuming and expensive, today’s background checks are easier to access, simpler to read, and often quick to obtain. These services let businesses use a process that explores as many criminal records as possible before offering opportunities to take a closer look at the local level.

For example, a background check may indicate that one of your candidates has an open case before local courts. Understanding the outcome of this case could be the pivotal information you need to make a final decision about an applicant. Acquiring local county court records can ensure you have the most up-to-date information possible about this case.

While background checks are a powerful tool, that power comes with limitations meant to safeguard privacy and fairness in the workplace. To use these tools, you must abide by federal, state, and local legislation as needed. In Minnesota, a statewide “ban the box” law has been effective since 2014. This law prohibits employers from conducting a background check until they offer an initial interview or a conditional job offer. 

When you’ve satisfied the requirements of Minnesota’s ban the box rules, you can begin the background check process. Use the backgroundchecks.com US OneSEARCH first to search for your candidate in a professionally-built database of criminal records from across the nation. This search includes records from Dakota County; for all our source information, visit our coverage map.

Does your applicant currently have business before a criminal court? Request the county-level background check next to seek out the most up-to-date information available on these cases.

Criminal background reports generated by backgroundchecks.com include information from the following:

  • Minnesota Department of Public Safety – Felony and misdemeanor records from 1998-present
  • Minnesota Judicial Branch - District court felony and misdemeanor records from 2009-present
  • Minnesota Sex Offender Registry

These reports can include the subject’s:

  • Name
  • Offense/Charge
  • Sentence
  • Disposition

Effortlessly conduct due diligence and better know your applicants to develop a hiring process that lets you choose the best fit for the job.

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