you can run a public record check on yourself. But you cannot run the type most employers run, nor will any employer give you the results of their check.

you have a law enforcement person in your family (or as friend)... doesn't seem fair or right

I have been subject to Gov background checks for the past 8 years and my employer has always given me the results (no help if you want to do it yourself)

Contact your county court or your state's Justice Department...you will likely have to pay a fee. Or go online and find a criminal background check company and pay their fee.

Also, if an employer runs a background on you, you should get a copy of it.

I plan on opening a business and will need to go through a police background check in order to obtain the licence I need. I just want to make sure I fill out the app correctly

What kind of background check are you looking for? There are many levels. Everything from a simple credit check or local law enforcement record check, up to hiring an investigator to do a full investigation and present a fully rounded report.

At any level of what you want, yes you can acquire it yourself, if you are willing to pay for it.

Credit checks can be had for free annually from each of the three major reporting agencies. Im pretty sure you can run your criminal history check via your state, At least here it was a pretty simple form, and the main requirements are a signature from the person being checked and a check. Getting a full report including other states is a little more complex, but doable for a private citizen with permission from the person being checked.

So, what area of info are you looking for?

Doing so is required in a lot of states for bar admission.

Just call up your state police office, and tell them, "Hey, I want to find out if I've done anything wrong" and they might even expedite your request by sending someone over to pick you up. For faster service, ask them, "Can I borrow one of your drug sniffing dogs for a while? I want to make sure that nobody hid any in my house."

In one of the states where I had to get one, I also had to submit a set of fingerprints. So, after you do it, be good!

In PA it's easy to run a state check on yourself. Costs $10 and the result is instant if your record is clean.

that's the place