IMPORTANT - ConciergePad does not have control when a court runner fee is applied and when it is triggered.
What is a Court Runner or Pass-Through fee?
In addition to the cost of the background check itself, a report can be subject to third party access fees charged by the county or state court that holds the record. Roughly one in five counties in the US does this, and a handful of states charge their own separate fee for statewide checks.
County Fees
Even though criminal records are a matter of public record, jurisdictions that house the records have the right to charge a fee to access the data. Of the 3,200 counties in the United States, roughly 20% charge a fee. Which counties charge, and how much, is decided entirely by that county and is not controlled in any way by the background check provider.
State Fees
In the few states which offer true statewide criminal checks, each charges a separate fee for accessing their criminal data. If an applicant's history touches one of these states, the fee shows up as part of the total cost of the background check.
All software products that run volunteer clearance have the same process and are subject to the same court runner fees. ConciergePad does not set these fees, decide when they apply, or collect any part of them. The charge goes straight to the county or state court holding the record.
Why this fee is not refundable
Once a background check runs and pulls from a jurisdiction that charges a fee, that money has already been paid to the court. There is no way to reverse or recover a payment that has gone to a county or state agency, regardless of what the background check comes back showing.
Where volunteers agree to this fee
The fee is disclosed and accepted twice during the application, before any payment is collected:
At the start of the application, where agreeing to the terms is required before moving forward.
Right before payment. The application shows the court runner fee reminder again, followed by the refund policy, and requires a separate checkbox to accept before the payment screen loads.
If you have questions about a specific charge that does not appear to be a Court Runner Fee, please reach out to support@getconciergepad.com.