Last reviewed: September 16, 2026
criminal-record.org/ is an educational and public-information navigation website. It is not a consumer reporting agency and does not provide consumer reports for eligibility decisions.
Why this notice matters
Criminal-record information can be publicly accessible and still be subject to important legal limits when used for employment, housing, credit, insurance, or other eligibility decisions. Public availability does not mean that any source, compilation, or search result is appropriate for every purpose.
Fair Credit Reporting Act
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681–1681x, regulates consumer reporting agencies, consumer reports, furnishers, and users of consumer reports in covered circumstances. The Federal Trade Commission currently publishes a version of the FCRA revised in March 2026, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Regulation V implements important parts of the FCRA framework.
Official resources:
- Federal Trade Commission — Fair Credit Reporting Act
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Regulation V
- CFPB — Consumer reporting companies and consumer rights
- U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission — Background Checks
criminal-record.org/ is not a consumer reporting agency
Our site publishes editorial guides explaining how members of the public can locate official courts, criminal-history repositories, sheriff systems, corrections databases, and other government resources. We do not offer a screening report, score a person’s suitability, certify that a record belongs to a particular individual, or promise compliance with consumer-reporting law.
Do not use this website as a consumer report
You should not use criminal-record.org/, our articles, or our editorial summaries as a substitute for a legally compliant consumer report when deciding a person's eligibility for:
- employment, retention, reassignment, or promotion;
- residential tenancy or housing;
- credit, lending, financing, or another extension of credit;
- insurance;
- certain licenses, memberships, or benefits; or
- another purpose governed by the FCRA or other consumer-protection law.
Permissible purpose and other obligations
Under the FCRA framework, consumer reports generally may be furnished only for purposes allowed by law, and users can have duties relating to certification, authorization, notice, adverse action, accuracy, and disputes depending on the situation. Regulation V also addresses duties of consumer reporting agencies, users, furnishers, identity-theft protections, and other consumer-reporting topics.
This website does not determine whether a particular use is permissible and does not provide a compliance workflow for employers, landlords, lenders, insurers, or screening companies.
Employment decisions have additional considerations
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission explains that employers that obtain or use background information must also comply with federal nondiscrimination law. State and local laws may impose additional restrictions, notice requirements, timing requirements, individualized-assessment rules, or “ban the box” requirements.
If you are conducting employment screening, use an appropriate compliance process and professional advice rather than relying on this site.
Arrest is not conviction
An arrest, booking, warrant, citation, accusation, or filed charge does not by itself establish guilt or a conviction. A criminal case can be dismissed, amended, diverted, reduced, acquitted, or resolved in another way. A booking record can remain visible even when the later case outcome is different.
Before drawing conclusions, check the current court disposition and confirm that the record belongs to the correct individual.
Identity matching is essential
Name-only matching can produce serious errors. Two people can share the same name, and public systems can contain aliases, misspellings, incomplete birth information, duplicate entries, or records from different jurisdictions. When lawful and appropriate, use identifiers supplied by the official source to reduce the risk of misidentification.
criminal-record.org/ does not independently verify that a particular record belongs to a specific person.
Records can change
Cases can be updated after an arrest or initial filing. Records can also be corrected, sealed, expunged, restricted, set aside, pardoned, or otherwise affected by law. An old search result, cached page, screenshot, or commercial database may not reflect the current legal status of the record.
Verify through the responsible official source
If accuracy matters, confirm the information with the court or agency that maintains it. An online portal may be an index rather than a certified record. Some courts expressly warn that online data should not replace examination of the official case file.
No harassment, stalking, threats, or unlawful discrimination
Information reached through this website must not be used to stalk, harass, threaten, intimidate, dox, extort, facilitate identity theft, evade legal restrictions, or unlawfully discriminate against another person. Access to information does not create a right to misuse it.
Warrants and law-enforcement-sensitive information
Do not rely on a third-party webpage to determine whether a warrant is active or whether law-enforcement action will occur. Warrant status can change, public warrant systems can be incomplete, and agencies can limit disclosure. Use the official agency’s instructions and seek legal advice when appropriate.
Third-party background or people-search services
A commercial service linked or advertised on criminal-record.org/ is a separate business. Its FCRA status, data sources, terms, accuracy, permissible-use rules, dispute procedures, and privacy practices are its own. A link from us does not mean that the service is suitable for employment, housing, credit, insurance, or another regulated decision.
Do not assume “public” means “risk-free to republish”
Privacy, sealing, expungement, juvenile-record, identity-theft, defamation, anti-discrimination, and other laws can affect how information may be accessed or used. The rules differ by jurisdiction and purpose.
If you need legal advice
If you need to know whether a specific record can be legally considered, disclosed, corrected, sealed, expunged, or used for a particular decision, consult a licensed attorney or the responsible government agency. criminal-record.org/ does not provide individualized legal advice.
Questions or corrections
For questions about this notice or to report wording on our site that appears inconsistent with it, email contact@criminal-record.org.