Reading a Criminal Record

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Before requesting criminal history record information through the Wisconsin Online Record Check System (WORCS), please review the following​​ information that will assist with reading criminal records.

Carefully read the entire explanation and the Wisconsin Criminal History Record response. This will help determine if the record belongs to the correct person. The identifying data provided in the search request will also be on the cover page of the search response.

• DO NOT assume the record returned belongs to the subject searched.
• Understand that the results of a criminal history search are effective and current only up to the date and time of the search.
• The name following the "identification" label is the "master name". This is a name the fingerprinted person used the first time their fingerprints were summitted to CIB. This may or may not be the real name of the fingerprinted person.
• Other names used by the person identified will be in the "alias names/fraudulent data" section. It is common for criminal offenders to use an alias, fraudulent names, and false dates of birth.
• If the name submitted is different from the "master name", the record might belong to someone else.
• If an alias or fraudulent name is similar to the "master name,” that does not mean that they have a criminal history. It could be that the person used a name like a name you submitted for searching.
• If the name you submitted is the same as the "master name", it does not mean that the record is their record. It could belong to a person whose name and other identifying information are the same. This can be caused by a person using an alias during initial fingerprinting.

Background search requests submitted via form DJ-LE-250 will be returned by U.S. Mail with a record attached or a statement of “no record found”.​​

Name-based checks use non-unique identifying data, such as name and date of birth. Multiple persons can share a name and date of birth. This makes them less reliable than fingerprint-based checks. In some cases, a name-based check may pull up a criminal record that does not belong to the subject of the search.