Will the Coast Guard find an expunged offense?

**saabgrippen** · 03-22-2005, 09:01 PM

Hi,

I was convicted of misdemeanors at age 17 and 21.
I am 25 now.
My juvenile record has been sealed and my adult offenses have been expunged.

I was recently hired by a cruise line. I need to get an Merchant Mariner's Document from the Coast Guard. The process includes having your fingerprints sent to the FBI for a criminal background check.

How worried should I be that these offenses will turn up? I tried to look up my criminal background in the online databases in the counties where the offenses occured and they did not show up.

Thanks in advance

**saabgrippen** · 03-22-2005, 09:39 PM

Another note,

I was just reading that any time you are arrested, the info is forwarded to the FBI. Is this true? When my offenses were expunged at the local courthouse, does the FBI still maintain it's files?

**aaron** · 03-23-2005, 10:32 AM

Quoting saabgrippen

How worried should I be that these offenses will turn up? I tried to look up my criminal background in the online databases in the counties where the offenses occured and they did not show up.

There is a substantial likelihood that the offenses will not show up, or that they will show up as being expunged and thus not be factored into the FBI's report as "convictions". There is a possibility that the FBI will consult a database which omits mention of the expungements, either because it is not maintained by your state or because of a data entry error.

Quoting saabgrippen

I was just reading that any time you are arrested, the info is forwarded to the FBI.

No. The FBI may collect information on particular criminals, and also collects statistical information about certain crimes for use in its Uniform Crime Reports, it does not collect information about every arrest.

Quoting saabgrippen

When my offenses were expunged at the local courthouse, does the FBI still maintain it's files?

If the FBI has information in its files about your arrests or convictions, the expungement would not cause that information to be removed from its files.

**saabgrippen** · 03-23-2005, 01:34 PM

Does the fact that this inquiry is being submitted by another government agency, the coast guard, instead of a business, have any relevance?

**aaron** · 03-24-2005, 08:01 AM

It may. If your application asks about specific incidents in your past, and you provide a false denial, that could stand as grounds to deny your application or to terminate your contract.