Jimmy Waters is a background screening executive, entrepreneur, and industry professional specializing in consumer reporting, employment verification, background checks, credentialing, and screening operations.
Professional Background
Jimmy Waters is the Chief Executive Officer of 3rd Degree Screening, the background screening and consumer reporting company he founded in 2012, and Metro Background Solutions, a wholesale provider of criminal records checks to many of the background check industry's largest suppliers. His career in the background check industry began in 2010 as a court researcher at Metro, his mother's company, where he learned the business from the ground up: courthouse records, public record research, and the accuracy standards that reliable screening depends on. In 2012, he founded 3rd Degree Screening, and he has spent the years since building and operating screening programs for employers, attorneys, healthcare organizations, and industry professionals. That operational experience now informs his leadership of Metro's wholesale criminal records business.
Background Screening Industry Experience
His experience spans the operational core of the background check industry: criminal record research and data sourcing, screening program design, verification workflows, turnaround and quality management, vendor and researcher relationships, and the compliance practices that govern how consumer information is collected, reported, and disputed. He has built screening operations from the ground up, which means his perspective on the industry comes from running it, not observing it.
His screening work supports organizations across a broad range of sectors (Gig Economy, Retail, Health Care, Staffing, Education, Oil & Gas, Construction), each with its own screening requirements, risk profiles, and regulatory considerations.
Entrepreneurship
As an entrepreneur, Jimmy Waters has founded and operated companies in the background screening industry, leading business development, operations, partnerships, and growth. Building screening companies requires fluency in both the commercial and regulatory sides of the business: client relationships and sales on one side, FCRA compliance and data quality on the other. His work sits deliberately at that intersection.
Consumer Reporting
Through 3rd Degree Screening, he operates within the consumer reporting industry, where accuracy, reasonable procedures, permissible purpose, and the consumer's right to dispute are legal obligations rather than aspirations. His consumer reporting work informs his broader views on screening: reports influence decisions that affect people's livelihoods, and the industry carries a corresponding duty of care.
Employment Verification
Employment verification, confirming where candidates worked, when, and in what capacity, is one of his core subject areas. His work covers verification methodology, direct-employer and database verification, employment gap and tenure analysis, and the design of consistent, defensible verification policies for employers.
Healthcare Credentialing
His screening and verification work extends into healthcare environments, where credentialing carries patient-safety weight: primary source verification of licenses and education, sanction and exclusion screening, and ongoing monitoring of practitioner standing.
Expert Witness Work
Jimmy Waters provides expert witness services in matters involving background screening, employment verification, consumer reporting, credentialing, and screening industry standards. His role is to offer independent analysis and professional opinions grounded in operational industry experience. He has provided expert services in matters for law firms including Roxanne Conlin & Associates, P.C. and JSC Legal.
Professional Philosophy
Three convictions run through his work: accuracy is a product feature, not a compliance cost; screening processes should be fair to the people they evaluate; and the best screening programs are designed deliberately: scope, sources, and procedures chosen on purpose rather than by default.
From Athletics to Entrepreneurship
James Joseph Waters Jr., known professionally and personally as Jimmy Waters, was raised in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where athletics, competition, and a strong Midwestern work ethic played an important role in shaping his early years. At Lewis Central High School, graduating in 2007, he established himself as an accomplished multi-sport athlete: a three-time Iowa state wrestling champion who also earned All-State honors in both football and baseball. Competing at a high level across multiple sports developed the discipline, resilience, preparation, and competitive mindset that would continue to influence him throughout his life and career.
After high school, he accepted a baseball scholarship to the University of Kansas, where he played outfield for the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 12 Conference. During his collegiate career, he earned All-Big 12 recognition and was selected as a team captain and team MVP, an experience at the Division I level that further strengthened his approach to leadership, accountability, teamwork, and performing in demanding environments.
The University of Kansas also became an important part of his life beyond athletics: it was there that he met his wife, Kelsey. Today, Jimmy and Kelsey Waters have two children and reside in Leawood, Kansas. While his career has evolved from competitive athletics into entrepreneurship and the background screening industry, many of the principles developed through sports (preparation, persistence, accountability, teamwork, and a commitment to doing things the right way) continue to shape his approach to business and leadership.
That competitive foundation carried directly into his professional life: Jimmy entered the background screening industry in 2010 as a court researcher at Metro Background Solutions, and in 2012 he founded 3rd Degree Screening, bringing the same preparation, persistence, and accountability from athletics into building and running companies. Today he leads both 3rd Degree Screening and Metro Background Solutions as Chief Executive Officer.