What Are County and Statewide Criminal Searches?
BoomScreen offers three types of criminal searches, each with different levels of coverage and accuracy:
National search — searches a national criminal database quickly, but results may be less up-to-date. Some states have also stopped providing date of birth information for new criminal records to the national database, which can reduce Boom's ability to find records accurately.
County search — searches criminal records directly at the individual county level. Results are more up-to-date than national search results but only cover the specific counties searched.
Statewide search — aggregates results from every county in a state into a single search, providing full state coverage with county-level accuracy. In some states, a single statewide search is more cost-effective than ordering individual county searches.
Using county or statewide criminal searches alongside the national search improves the accuracy and completeness of your applicant criminal screening.
Which Search Type Should I Use — County or Statewide?
The right choice depends on the state you are searching and the applicant's housing history. Here is how to decide:
Use statewide search when you want full state coverage in a single search, or when running one statewide search is more cost-effective than ordering individual county searches for every county the applicant has lived in.
Statewide search is available for all states except the following: California, Louisiana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, West Virginia, and Wyoming. For these states, county-level searches are still available.
Use county search when you want to search specific counties only, or when statewide search is not available for that state.
Important: BoomScreen's county search is based on the applicant's self-reported housing history, which means criminal charges that occurred in a jurisdiction where the applicant did not report living may be missed. A statewide search addresses this by covering all counties in a state regardless of the applicant's reported addresses.
How to Enable County and Statewide Criminal Searches
County and statewide criminal searches are enabled through the same setting in BoomScreen. To enable them:
Go to Screening settings in the Boom Partner Platform.
Select the screening template you want to configure.
Toggle on "County criminal record search."
Click "Configure" to access the configuration settings.
In the General tab, toggle on "Prevent ability to make application decision until the county search is returned" if you want to ensure all search results are reviewed before a decision is made.
County and statewide searches are not instant. The average turnaround time is approximately 24 hours, though this varies by county.
Configure your preferred search type (automatic, manual, or both) and the states and counties you want to include — see the sections below for details.
How to Configure Your Search Jurisdictions
Once you have enabled your preferred search type(s), configure which states and counties are included:
Navigate to the Automatic or Manual tab in the screening template configuration (or both, if enabling both search types).
Add the states you want to include in your search list. For county searches, you can also add specific counties within each state.
To quickly add all of Boom's recommended jurisdictions, click "Use recommended." This will add all states and counties where Boom has identified known limitations with national search data.
For each state, you can select or deselect individual counties to fine-tune your configuration.
Click Save to apply your configuration.
Important: BoomScreen will only perform searches for the jurisdictions added to your configured list. States or counties not on your list will not be searched, even if automatic search is enabled.
Availability: Which States Support Which Search Types?
Statewide search is available for all states except the following: California, Louisiana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, West Virginia, and Wyoming. For these states, county-level searches are still available.
County search is available in all states. Boom recommends running county criminal searches in the following states due to known limitations with national search data in these jurisdictions: AL, CA, CO, DE, GA, ID, KS, KY, LA, ME, MA, MI, MS, MT, NE, NV, NH, NY, NC, SD, UT, VT, WI, WV, WY
Special note for Illinois (IL): County criminal search is recommended for Cook County only.
Boom recommends statewide criminal searches in the following states, where a statewide search is typically more cost-effective than running individual county-level searches: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.
Automatic Search vs. Manual Search
BoomScreen offers two methods for running county and statewide criminal searches. You can enable one or both, depending on your workflow.
Automatic Search
With automatic search, BoomScreen automatically runs searches in the enabled states and counties where the applicant has a previous address. The self-attested housing history and credit report (if enabled) addresses are what trigger the automatic search. No manual action from your team is required.
Best for: Partners who want consistent, hands-off criminal screening across all applicants.
Important: You cannot run automated searches for both county-level and statewide searches on the same application template. Choose one search type for automatic searches.
Manual Search
With manual search, your team decides when and which county-level and/or statewide criminal searches to run. BoomScreen will not run a search until you specifically request it.
Best for: Partners who want maximum control over which searches are run, and the ability to choose between county and statewide searches on a case-by-case basis to minimize costs.
Note: You can enable both automatic and manual search simultaneously. For example, you could run automatic searches for most jurisdictions while retaining the ability to manually request searches in specific cases.
How to Run a Manual Search
If you have enabled manual search, follow these steps to run a county or statewide criminal search for a specific applicant:
Wait until the applicant has submitted their application.
Review the applicant's housing history and credit report to determine which states and/or counties need to be searched.
Decide whether a county-level or statewide search is most appropriate and cost-effective for each jurisdiction.
Open the applicant's application and click "Criminal report."
Click "Request county search"
Choose the localities where you would like to run the search.
How Much Do County and Statewide Searches Cost?
Pricing for county and statewide searches varies by location. There is no single flat fee.
County searches are charged per county searched per applicant. If an applicant has addresses in three different counties, there will be a separate charge for each county searched.
Example: If County A costs $5.00, County B costs $7.00, and County C costs $6.00, and you run searches in all three counties for one applicant, the total cost for that applicant's county criminal searches would be $18.00.
Statewide searches are charged per state searched. The cost varies from state to state.
Approximate costs for each county and state are displayed in BoomScreen while you are configuring your search settings, so you can review pricing before finalizing your selections.
How to Review Search Results
County search results are available in the criminal report section of the applicant's application.
Statewide search results are available in the "Statewide criminal report" tab of the applicant's application.
Frequently Asked Questions About County and Statewide Criminal Searches
Can I use both automatic and manual search at the same time?
Yes. BoomScreen allows you to enable both automatic and manual search simultaneously. This is useful if you want automatic searches to run for the jurisdictions where you operate while retaining the ability to manually request searches in specific cases.
Can I run a county search after already running a statewide search for the same state?
No. Running a county search after a statewide search for the same state would be redundant, since the statewide search already covers all counties in that state. BoomScreen prevents this action.
How long does a county or statewide search take?
County and statewide criminal searches are not instant. The average turnaround time is approximately 24 hours, though this varies by county. Some counties may return results faster, while others may take longer.
What happens if a state or county is not on my configured list?
If a state or county is not included in your configured jurisdiction list, BoomScreen will not run a search for that location — even if automatic search is enabled. To add a jurisdiction, go to Screening settings → County criminal record search and update your list.
Will I be charged if a search returns no records?
County and statewide criminal search fees apply per search performed, regardless of whether any records are found.
Why does my county or statewide search show a different number of offenses than the national search?
Discrepancies between county or statewide search results and national search results are expected. County-level data is more up-to-date than the national database, so results may differ. For example, a national search may flag a record that a county search reveals to be a traffic violation — in which case BoomScreen will filter it out of the results.
What does "Use recommended" include?
Clicking "Use recommended" adds all of Boom's recommended jurisdictions to your search list. These are the states and counties where Boom has identified known limitations with national search data. See the recommended states lists in the availability section above.
Need Help?
If you need assistance setting up county or statewide criminal searches or have questions about pricing, please:
Email your Customer Success Manager or reach out to Support — support@boompay.app