Adjudication is the process employers use to determine suitability for employment and efficiency of service. The adjudication process protects the interests of the employer and the rights of applicants and employees. Adjudication requires uniform evaluation to ensure fair and consistent judgment.

Each case is judged on its own merits. All available information, both favorable and unfavorable, must be considered and assessed in terms of accuracy, completeness, relevance, seriousness, overall significance, and how similar cases have been handled in the past.

An adjudicating official conducts the adjudication. Each Federal agency, Indian tribe, or tribal organization must appoint an adjudicating official, who must first have been the subject of a favorable background investigation.

Indian tribes and tribal organizations must ensure that persons charged with the responsibility for adjudicating employee background investigations are well-qualified and trained.

Indian tribes and tribal organizations should also ensure that individuals who are not trained to adjudicate these types of investigations are supervised by someone who is experienced and receive the training necessary to perform the task.

Each adjudicating official must be thoroughly familiar with all laws, regulations, and criteria involved in making a determination for suitability.

The adjudicating official must review the background investigation to determine the character, reputation, and trustworthiness of the individual. At a minimum, the adjudicating official must:

Review each security investigation form and employment application and compare the information provided;

Review the results of written record searches requested from local law enforcement agencies, former employers, former supervisors, employment references, and schools; and

Review the results of the fingerprint charts maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation or other law enforcement information maintained by other agencies.

Relevancy is a key objective in evaluating investigative data. The adjudicating official must consider prior conduct in light of:

The nature and seriousness of the conduct in question;

The recency and circumstances surrounding the conduct in question;

The age of the individual at the time of the incident;

Societal conditions that may have contributed to the nature of the conduct;

The probability that the individual will continue the type of behavior in question; and,

The individual's commitment to rehabilitation and a change in the behavior in question.