Start with where the case happened, not with a nationwide name search
If you want to find out whether someone has a criminal record, the most reliable method is usually to identify the states and counties connected with that person and search the official government systems for those jurisdictions. Court cases, state criminal-history repositories, jail bookings, prison records, sex-offender registries and federal cases are kept in different databases, so one search rarely answers every question.
Gather enough information to separate one person from another
Criminal-record searching becomes much easier once you can narrow the person to a particular jurisdiction and distinguish them from other people with the same name.
Useful details include:
- full legal first and last name
- middle name or middle initial
- former or maiden names
- approximate date of birth
- states where the person lived
- counties connected with the person
- location where the suspected case occurred
- approximate year of arrest or prosecution
- known case number or citation number
- known correctional or inmate number
A better search order than typing a name into dozens of websites
U.S. criminal records are decentralized. A useful search therefore moves from the most likely jurisdiction outward instead of assuming there is one complete national public database.
Search the official state court system first
For most searches, the court is the best starting point because a court record can show whether charges were actually filed and what happened after filing.
Use the USA.gov federal, state, county and municipal court directory when you do not know the correct official court website.
Find the official court systemAfter opening the state judiciary website
Look for an official tool named something like:
- Case Search
- Public Case Access
- Criminal Case Search
- Docket Search
- Party Search
- Court Records Search
- Case Lookup
- Online Court Records
What you may find in a criminal case
Charges
The criminal counts formally filed with the court and the law allegedly violated.
Docket
Hearings, motions, pleas, court orders and chronological events.
Disposition
Whether a charge resulted in conviction, dismissal, acquittal, diversion or another outcome.
Search the county where the case happened, not only where the person lives now
A person who lives in one county may have been arrested or prosecuted in another. Criminal cases generally remain in the jurisdiction where the alleged offense was handled.
Identify the state
Begin with states where you know the person lived, worked, attended school or had a possible case.
Identify the county
Use the location of the incident, arrest or court appearance rather than relying only on a current home address.
Find the correct court level
A felony may be handled by a different court from a misdemeanor, ordinance or traffic offense. Court names and jurisdiction differ by state.
Use the court’s own search
If the state portal does not cover that court, look for the county clerk or local court’s official public case-access service.
Save the exact case number
Once found, the case number is normally more useful than repeating a broad name search.
Check the state’s central criminal-history repository when appropriate
A state criminal-history repository can contain information reported by law-enforcement agencies, prosecutors and courts. It is not necessarily the same thing as the judiciary’s court database.
The FBI maintains an official State Identification Bureau directory identifying the central criminal-history agency for each state.
Find the state criminal-history agencyDepending on the state, the responsible agency may be called:
- State Police
- Department of Public Safety
- Bureau of Investigation
- Bureau of Criminal Identification
- Department of Justice
- Criminal Justice Information Services
Recent arrest information may appear before the court record is complete
If the event happened recently, search the law-enforcement or jail system serving the location. A new arrest can appear in a booking roster before prosecutors have filed charges or before the court’s online docket reflects every detail.
Useful official local search terms include:
- Jail Roster
- Inmate Search
- Booking Log
- Arrest Log
- Custody Search
- Who’s in Jail
- Police Records Request
- Sheriff Records
County jail and state prison records require different searches
| If you are looking for… | Start with… | Common information | Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recent local arrest | County sheriff / jail | Booking, custody, bond, release | Does not prove conviction. |
| State-prison incarceration | State Department of Corrections | Offender number, institution, sentence or supervision information | Usually does not include ordinary county-jail detainees. |
| Federal incarceration | Federal Bureau of Prisons | Federal custody and release information | Does not search state prisons. |
USA.gov provides a state government directory that includes links to state departments of corrections.
Federal criminal cases are separate from state and county cases
If the suspected prosecution involved federal law, use the federal judiciary’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER).
PACER allows registered users to search a specific federal court or use the PACER Case Locator, a nationwide index of federal district, bankruptcy and appellate cases.
Search federal court casesCurrent PACER pricing
As of September 2026, PACER generally charges $0.10 per page. Case-specific documents are usually capped at $3 per document. Accounts with $30 or less in quarterly usage are currently not billed.
Use the Bureau of Prisons for federal custody
The Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator covers federal inmates incarcerated from 1982 to the present.
Open BOP Inmate LocatorSearches can be made by name or federal identifying number. Older federal inmate records may require archival research rather than the current BOP locator.
Use the official national registry only for sex-offender information
The U.S. Department of Justice operates the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW).
NSOPW searches public registry information from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories and participating tribal jurisdictions.
Search NSOPWDepending on jurisdiction support, searches may include:
- name
- address
- ZIP code
- county
- city or town
- individual jurisdiction
- nationwide name search
You generally cannot order another person’s FBI rap sheet
The FBI’s Identity History Summary is a fingerprint-based record commonly described as an FBI rap sheet.
The FBI states that private citizens may request their own Identity History Summary, but the FBI does not provide another person’s arrest record to an unrelated private requester.
The FBI also explains that its personal Identity History Summary process is primarily for personal review and correction. Employment, licensing, adoption or other authorized background checks may need to go through the state identification bureau or another legally authorized channel.
The important question is not “Was there a case?” but “How did it end?”
A search result can represent very different stages of the criminal process. Read the disposition before drawing any conclusion.
| Term | Meaning in general | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Arrest | Law enforcement took the person into custody or initiated an arrest event. | Whether prosecutors later filed a court case. |
| Charge | An allegation was filed or asserted. | The final disposition of that specific charge. |
| Pending | The matter has not reached a final disposition. | Most recent docket event and upcoming hearing. |
| Dismissed | The charge ended without a conviction on that charge. | Whether other counts remained. |
| Acquitted / Not guilty | The person was not convicted of the applicable charge. | Other charges in the same case. |
| Convicted | A criminal conviction was entered. | Offense level, sentence and later appeal or relief. |
| Deferred / diversion | A special disposition or program whose legal effect varies by jurisdiction. | State-specific rules and later dismissal/conviction status. |
| Sealed / expunged | Public access is restricted under applicable law or court order. | The jurisdiction’s specific legal effect. |
Verify that the record belongs to the right person
Name-only matching is one of the biggest causes of inaccurate criminal-record conclusions.
When lawfully available, compare:
- full middle name
- date or year of birth
- age at the time of the case
- county and state
- former or maiden names
- case dates
- known addresses
- official case or offender number
Why “no records found” does not always mean no criminal history exists
Wrong jurisdiction
The case may have occurred in another county, state or federal district.
Older record
Older court files may predate online indexing or document scanning.
Sealed or expunged
The jurisdiction may legally restrict public access to the record.
Different identity entry
A former name, middle name, maiden name or spelling variation may have been used.
Arrest with no filed case
Not every arrest results in criminal charges being filed in court.
Juvenile or protected record
Juvenile and other protected matters often have substantially restricted public access.
Older criminal records may exist only at the courthouse or archive
Online court systems were introduced at different times. An absence of older online results can therefore reflect the limits of digitization rather than the absence of a case.
Find the court that would have handled the offense
Use the state judiciary or court directory to identify the correct clerk.
Ask about historical indexes
Older name indexes may be available at courthouse terminals, records rooms or archives.
Provide a narrow date range
Approximate filing year, DOB and full name make staff-assisted searches more practical.
Request the final disposition
If the case is located, obtain the disposition rather than relying only on the initial charge.
Request the official court document when accuracy really matters
Online docket summaries are useful for research, but a screenshot is not necessarily an official certified court record.
Online docket
Useful for locating the case and understanding its general history.
Plain copy
A copy of the complaint, judgment, order, disposition or other public filing.
Certified copy
A copy authenticated by the court clerk according to the jurisdiction’s procedures.
Exact copy charges, certification fees and ordering procedures vary by court. Use the clerk’s official copy-request instructions after locating the case number.
Employment background checks have additional legal requirements
Looking at a public court docket yourself is not the same thing as ordering an employment background report from a consumer reporting company.
The Federal Trade Commission explains that when an employer obtains a background report from a company in the business of compiling background information, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) imposes requirements including disclosure and written authorization before obtaining the report.
If an employer plans to take adverse action based on such a report, additional notice and report-copy procedures apply.
FTC employment background-check guidanceTenant-screening reports can also contain criminal-record information
Landlords and property managers commonly obtain tenant-screening reports from consumer reporting companies. Those reports can include criminal records in addition to credit, rental and eviction information.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warns that tenant-screening reports can contain criminal-record errors, including records belonging to someone else, duplicated case events, missing dispositions and sealed or expunged information that should not appear.
If a landlord denies a lease or charges more because of information in a tenant-screening report, federal law provides rights to learn which company supplied the report and to obtain/dispute relevant information.
CFPB tenant background-check guidancePractical search habits that prevent wasted time
Search the event location
Court jurisdiction normally follows where the case arose, not the person’s present address.
Save the case number
Once found, use it for future searches, copy requests and appeals research.
Use full names
Middle and former names can significantly narrow common-name matches.
Recent arrest? Search jail first
Booking information can appear before the court record is fully populated.
Check state and federal separately
A state case search will not normally reveal a federal prosecution.
Read every charge
One case may contain dismissed, convicted and amended counts at the same time.
Use corrections only for custody
DOC and inmate locators complement court records; they do not replace them.
Do not infer from silence
No online result can mean the record is older, protected, local-only or in another jurisdiction.
Get certification when needed
For formal use, ask the court clerk what type of certified document is required.
Common questions about finding someone’s criminal records
1. Can I look up another person’s criminal record?
Many adult criminal court records are public, but access varies by jurisdiction and record type. Sealed, expunged, juvenile and other legally protected records may be unavailable to the public.
2. Is there one government database containing every U.S. criminal record?
No. State courts, county courts, state criminal-history repositories, law-enforcement agencies, corrections departments and federal courts maintain different records.
3. What is the best place to begin?
Start with the official court system in the state and county where the suspected criminal case occurred. USA.gov provides a directory for locating federal, state, county and municipal courts.
4. Does an arrest mean someone was convicted?
No. An arrest does not establish guilt. Check whether charges were filed and read the final court disposition before describing the outcome.
5. Can I order someone else’s FBI criminal-history record?
The FBI states that an ordinary private citizen cannot request another person’s FBI Identity History Summary. Individuals can request their own fingerprint-based summary.
6. How do I search federal criminal records?
Use PACER. If the filing court is known, search that court directly. If not, use the nationwide PACER Case Locator.
7. How do I find someone in federal prison?
Use the Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator. It covers federal inmates incarcerated from 1982 to the present.
8. Why might an old criminal case not appear online?
Older files may not have been digitized, the case may have been sealed or expunged, or the online system may not include that court or time period. Contact the court clerk when needed.
9. How can I tell whether a record belongs to the right person?
Compare the full name, middle name, date or year of birth when public, age, state, county, case dates and known history. A matching first and last name alone is not reliable identification.
10. Can I use a public court search for employment or tenant screening?
Employment and tenant screening can involve additional federal, state and local laws. Consumer reports used for employment are subject to FCRA requirements, and tenant-screening reports also carry consumer-reporting rights and dispute procedures. A simple public-record lookup is not automatically a compliant screening process.
Official resources for continuing the search
- USA.gov — Federal, State, County and Municipal Courts
- USA.gov — State and Local Government Agencies
- FBI — State Identification Bureau Listing
- FBI — Identity History Summary Checks
- PACER — Find a Federal Court Case
- PACER — Current Pricing
- Federal Bureau of Prisons — Inmate Locator
- DOJ — Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website
- FTC — Employment Background Checks
- CFPB — Rental Background Checks