“They are also helpful for people to know who is moving in next door.”
Indeed. “Person who spent time incarcerated” applies equally to someone who was ultimately acquitted on appeal and may be utterly innocent in fact, or “convicted pedophile”.
No way to tell which.
...No way to tell which....
Currently, criminal histories list convictions as well as arrests. The difference is that adjudications after arrests generally state that there was a conviction, dismissal, or charges dropped, or no charges, and on conviction, the sentence including incarceration.