I cannot speak for all — or most — public agencies, but when I applied for a job in the public sector (not law enforcement), they screened using a federal database, IIRC. I believe they did this with my DH as well. This was fingerprinting and basic criminal/background check. Not sure if that’s what you’re talking about. Anything specific that you can elaborate on?

FWIW, I once had to get a federal security clearance about 20+ years ago, and this was much easier to do than to apply for/get screened by the LAPD.