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Terms of Use

These conditions apply whenever a visitor reads, searches, or otherwise uses McDowell County Criminal History. Using the website means accepting each term below. Anyone who does not agree must discontinue use.

NO FCRA USE. This private website has no connection to McDowell County, North Carolina, or any government body. It is neither a private investigation firm nor a consumer reporting agency. The site and its advertising partners do not provide services for credit, employment, housing, insurance, or any other purpose regulated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

1. What This Website Is

This private reference site operates independently of every public agency. It does not store official records, retrieve criminal histories, conduct government checks, or submit documents for a visitor.

Its content identifies the McDowell County Sheriff's Office, the county courts, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry as the appropriate custodians, while some pages also connect to outside research tools.

2. Rules for Using This Site

Every visitor agrees not to:

  • Use the website in violation of federal, North Carolina, or local law
  • Threaten, harass, stalk, or intimidate another person with information found here
  • Rely on site content for employment, housing, credit, or insurance decisions
  • Attempt unauthorized access to any account, server, or system
  • Operate a bot, scraper, or other automated collection tool against these pages
  • Interfere with site operation or another visitor's access

3. No Harassment, Stalking, or Discrimination

No one may use information found here or through a linked tool to threaten, stalk, harass, intimidate, or discriminate against another person. That ban is especially important for the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry. Its acceptance notice warns that threats, stalking, intimidation, harassment, and other unlawful misuse may be prosecuted. Registry information supports lawful public safety awareness, never vigilantism or unlawful discrimination.

4. We Are Not a Consumer Reporting Agency

McDowell County Criminal History is not a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA. It does not create a credit report, background report, or any other consumer report. Site data and linked tools may not be used to:

  • Make an employment decision
  • Evaluate a tenant or housing application
  • Set insurance eligibility, coverage, or rates
  • Determine creditworthiness or extend credit
  • Make any other decision governed by the FCRA

A legally regulated check must come from an authorized, FCRA-compliant source selected for that purpose.

5. No Legal Advice

Site content is general information, not legal advice. A licensed North Carolina attorney should address how a charge, conviction, warrant, or expunction statute affects a particular case.

6. No Warranties

All content and functions are offered "as is," without a guarantee that:

  • The information here is accurate, complete, or current at any given time
  • The site will stay up and running without interruptions
  • Our pages are free of errors, bugs, or security holes
  • Results from our partner search tools will be thorough or accurate

Charges may be filed, changed, dismissed, or expunged, and public systems do not always update at the same time. Site content is never an official statement from a court, sheriff, or other agency.

7. Third-Party Services and Links

Outbound links may lead to sheriff pages, court systems, North Carolina agencies, legal resources, or outside search providers. We do not control a destination's content, prices, data practices, availability, or terms. Review its rules before use.

8. Intellectual Property

Text, graphics, logos, and code belong to McDowell County Criminal History or its content partners. They may not be copied, altered, distributed, or used to create derivative work without prior written permission.

9. Limits on Our Liability

To the fullest extent allowed by law, we are not liable for loss or damage arising from use of the website, its information, or a linked service.

10. Indemnification

A visitor agrees to indemnify and hold us harmless against claims, demands, proceedings, legal fees, and related costs caused by that visitor's use of the site or breach of these terms.

11. Governing Law

North Carolina law governs these terms. Any dispute connected with use of the website must be brought in a court located in North Carolina.

12. Changes to These Terms

These terms may be revised. A revision takes effect when the updated text is posted on this page.

13. Cutting Off Access

Access may be restricted or ended at any time, with or without advance notice.

14. Severability

If one provision is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions stay in effect. The affected provision will be limited only as much as needed to make it enforceable.

15. Questions

Questions concerning these terms may be submitted through the Contact page.