I think that is the piece that gets people most hung up. I was a regular police officer for many years, but I wouldn't say I'm an expert. Here is my understanding. When someone is arrested, especially for a felony, they are issued state and federal ID numbers. Many people who believe they have expunged records may not, as they cannot easily check their criminal history in NCIC to validate it. The attorneys know that, too. People pay money to attorneys, they fill out a form, get any old judge to sign it, and then send it to who knows where. Until the right person gets the form in the correct format, nothing is removed from NCIC.

The issue almost always lies in the record and prints that are contained on the federal side. As JMGPhila said, there is a way to have them removed. However, most attorneys don't do their homework correctly to have that done. I would think if anyone could see their actual criminal history printout, and they could simply see if it had a state and/or federal ID, they would be able to tell. I believe if they are blank, it will show the CPB agent no history. However, I don't know of a simple way for the average person to do that.

Now, if they are finding something for folks that don't have a state or federal number in NCIC, that is beyond me. There are always other forms of off-line searches from NCIC, but I don't know what level something like that would start, even if it is available. Again, I'm no expert, but that's what I think. Another LEO, attorney, etc. can likely comment correctly on this. That's why I wouldn't give advice one way or the other. This is just my understanding of how that works.