Medina County Criminal Records Search: Cases & Public Records

by
Medina County, Ohio official-record guide

Start with the court that actually holds the record

Medina County criminal records are divided among several local and state systems. Felony cases are maintained by the Medina County Clerk of Courts for the Court of Common Pleas. Misdemeanor and traffic cases are handled by either Medina Municipal Court or Wadsworth Municipal Court depending on where the offense occurred. Jail, inmate, incident-report and sex-offender information comes from the Sheriff’s Office, while Ohio BCI maintains the state’s fingerprint-based criminal-history repository.

Jurisdiction: Medina County, Ohio Information checked: September 29, 2026 Sources: Courts, Sheriff and Ohio government
Fast answer: Use the Medina County Clerk of Courts Docket Search for felony Common Pleas cases. Use Medina Municipal Court or Wadsworth Municipal Court for misdemeanor, traffic and preliminary felony proceedings. Use the Sheriff’s inmate portal for current county custody. For your own statewide fingerprint-based Ohio history, use Ohio BCI.
Felony case Common Pleas criminal docket and filed court documents.
Clerk of Courts →
Misdemeanor case Determine whether Medina or Wadsworth Municipal Court handled it.
Municipal courts →
Current inmate Search Medina County Sheriff’s jail information.
Jail search →
Police / Sheriff record Request reports through the agency that created the record.
Public records →
Ohio background check Fingerprint-based BCI criminal-history process.
BCI / WebCheck →

Medina County does not keep every criminal record in one database

Before searching a person’s name, identify the type of case or record. This avoids searching the Common Pleas docket for a misdemeanor that only exists in Municipal Court—or checking BCI when what you really need is a certified court disposition.

Common Pleas

Felony criminal cases

The Medina County Clerk of Courts Criminal Division manages and retains felony records filed in the Court of Common Pleas.

Municipal courts

Misdemeanors and traffic

Medina Municipal Court and Wadsworth Municipal Court handle misdemeanor criminal and traffic cases within their respective territorial jurisdictions.

Felony beginning

Preliminary felony proceedings

A felony can begin in a municipal court with a complaint, bond hearing or preliminary hearing before being bound over to Common Pleas.

Sheriff

Jail and incident records

Current custody, Sheriff’s incident records and other qualifying agency records use separate Sheriff’s Office systems.

Ohio BCI

Fingerprint criminal history

Ohio BCI is the state’s central fingerprint-based criminal-history repository. Its computerized criminal history is not an unrestricted public name-search database.

ODRC

State prison / supervision

Use the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction when the person is currently incarcerated in an Ohio prison, under supervision or judicially released.

Arrest does not equal conviction. A person can be arrested, charged and later have a case dismissed or be found not guilty. Read the final court disposition before describing a record as a conviction.

Search Medina County felony criminal cases through the Clerk of Courts

The Medina County Clerk of Courts Criminal Division is responsible for managing and retaining felony records in Medina County Common Pleas Court.

The Clerk explains that felony prosecutions begin in Common Pleas through either a grand-jury indictment or a bill of information filed by the county prosecutor.

Open Medina County Docket Search Criminal Division information
If a felony first appears in Municipal Court: the initial complaint, bond or preliminary hearing may be found in Medina Municipal Court or Wadsworth Municipal Court. Once the case is indicted and transferred, search the Common Pleas docket for the felony prosecution.

How to use the Medina County Common Pleas docket

The Clerk’s online system allows users to access court dockets and view or print many court documents from home.

Open the official Clerk of Courts portal

Start from the Medina County Clerk’s website and select Docket Search rather than relying on a commercial records directory.

Search the defendant or known case number

A case number is the most precise identifier. When searching by name, confirm that the result belongs to the correct person before opening documents.

Confirm the case type

Make sure the result is a criminal Common Pleas matter rather than civil, domestic-relations or appellate litigation involving a person with the same name.

Review the docket chronologically

Look for indictment, plea, motions, journal entries, sentencing entry, dismissal, community-control information and later post-judgment activity.

Open available scanned documents

Many docket documents can be viewed or printed online. Older scanned records may use TIFF rather than ordinary PDF format.

Request a certified copy when needed

An online image is useful for research, but formal uses may require a certified copy from the Clerk’s Legal Division.

If an older Medina County document only shows one page, it may be a TIFF issue

Medina County’s Clerk gives a very specific warning that some older scanned case documents are stored as multi-page TIFF files. A computer may open only the first page if the operating system assigns the wrong viewer.

Local troubleshooting tip: if a docket document downloads with a .tif or .tiff extension and you see only page one, the file may contain additional pages. The Clerk publishes separate Windows and macOS viewing instructions on its Docket Search access page.

Official troubleshooting: Medina County Docket Search Portal guidance.

Misdemeanor and traffic records are split between two municipal courts

Medina County’s Common Pleas Clerk specifically directs misdemeanor and traffic researchers to Medina Municipal Court or Wadsworth Municipal Court.

Court Typical criminal jurisdiction Examples of geographic coverage Online records
Medina County Common Pleas Felony prosecutions Countywide felony cases after indictment/bind-over Clerk of Courts Docket Search
Medina Municipal Court Misdemeanors, traffic and felony preliminary proceedings Medina, Brunswick and multiple northern/central county townships and villages Case Access
Wadsworth Municipal Court Misdemeanors, traffic and felony preliminary proceedings Wadsworth, Lodi, Seville, Westfield Center and several southern/western townships CaseLook

Search Medina Municipal Court criminal cases

Medina Municipal Court provides online Case Access for civil, criminal and traffic cases.

Its criminal jurisdiction includes misdemeanor offenses within its geographic territory, and felony cases can appear there during preliminary proceedings before transfer to Common Pleas.

Medina Municipal Court territory includes

  • City of Medina
  • City of Brunswick
  • Brunswick Hills Township
  • Chatham Township
  • Granger Township
  • Hinckley Township
  • Lafayette Township
  • Litchfield Township
  • Liverpool Township
  • Medina Township
  • Montville Township
  • Spencer Township
  • York Township
  • Chippewa Lake and Spencer villages
Open Medina Municipal Case Access
Important current address change: Medina Municipal Court announced that proceedings scheduled on or after September 28, 2026 report to its new location at 223 E. Washington St., Medina. Some older pages and forms may still display the prior 135 N. Elmwood address, so verify the court’s current instructions before visiting or mailing time-sensitive material.

Main court phone: (330) 723-3287. Traffic/Criminal inquiries use Option 3.

Search Wadsworth Municipal Court criminal cases

Wadsworth Municipal Court hears misdemeanor criminal and traffic cases within its jurisdiction and handles felony matters through the preliminary-hearing stage.

Its territory includes the City of Wadsworth, the villages of Lodi, Seville and Westfield Center, and townships including Wadsworth, Guilford, Harrisville, Westfield, Homer and Sharon.

Open Wadsworth CaseLook
Do not expect real-time updates. Wadsworth Municipal Court’s CaseLook disclaimer says there can be a delay of at least 24 hours between a filing or judicial action and its appearance online, and sometimes longer.

Wadsworth Municipal Court

120 Maple Street
Wadsworth, OH 44281

General: (330) 335-1596
Criminal: (330) 335-2722
Hours: Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Not sure which Medina County court to search?

1 Identify the offense location The person’s home address is less important than where the alleged offense occurred.
2 Determine offense level Felony final prosecution usually moves to Common Pleas; misdemeanors stay municipal.
3 Check the municipal territory Use Medina or Wadsworth Municipal Court based on geographic jurisdiction.
4 Follow felony cases forward If bound over or indicted, continue the search in Common Pleas.
A useful local pattern: one felony incident can create an early municipal-court case and a later Common Pleas case. Finding only the preliminary municipal record does not necessarily show the final prosecution.

Search the Medina County Jail inmate system

The Medina County Sheriff’s Office provides an official Inmate Information search for current county-jail information.

Search Medina County inmates

For inmate-information questions, the Sheriff’s Office currently lists: (330) 764-3628.

Jail record vs court record: use the inmate system to answer custody questions. Use the appropriate court docket to determine what charges were actually filed and how the case ended.

A person in county jail may not appear in the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction offender search because ODRC covers the state prison and supervision system rather than ordinary county pretrial detention.

How to request Medina County Sheriff’s reports and public records

The Medina County Sheriff’s Office publishes an online Public Records Request Form for identifiable Sheriff’s records.

Useful request details include:

  • report or incident number if known
  • names of involved parties
  • date of incident
  • approximate time
  • location of incident
  • whether you want inspection or copies
You generally do not have to explain why you want the record. The Sheriff’s published policy says a public-record requester does not have to put a request in writing, provide identity or state the intended use of the record. The request does need enough clarity for staff to identify and retrieve the record.

Response timing

The Sheriff’s policy states that requests must either be fulfilled or acknowledged in writing within three business days. Actual production must occur within a reasonable period considering the record volume, storage location and any legal review needed.

Copy cost

The Sheriff’s current policy lists ordinary paper copies at $0.10 per page, with three pages or fewer provided without charge.

Medina County Sheriff’s Office

555 Independence Drive
Medina, OH 44256

General information: (330) 725-0028
Detective Bureau: (330) 725-9116

Warrant information depends on which court issued it

Medina County does not present one simple public page that should be treated as a complete countywide list of every active warrant.

For a Medina Municipal Court case, the court’s Bailiff’s Office handles warrant enforcement and publishes a warrant hotline: (330) 722-5870.

The Common Pleas Clerk’s Criminal Division also processes paperwork relating to search warrants and extraditions, but public access to warrant-related material can depend on the nature and status of the record.

If you believe a warrant is for you personally: verify it with the responsible court or law-enforcement agency. Do not rely on a commercial warrant directory to decide whether a warrant is active or how it should be resolved.

Medina County registered sex-offender search

The Sheriff’s Detective Bureau links to the county’s public registered sex-offender search and states that it makes efforts to update the information weekly.

Open Sheriff’s registered-offender page
This is a specialized registry. A person not appearing in the sex-offender search should not be interpreted as having no criminal record. Use the criminal courts for general criminal-case research.

The Sheriff’s current page lists Detective Bureau assistance for sex-offender information during weekday business hours at (330) 461-9601.

Ohio BCI criminal history is different from Medina County court records

The Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation is the state’s central repository for computerized criminal-history information and biometric records.

However, Ohio BCI states that its computerized criminal-history records are not ordinary public records. Access is controlled by law.

How to obtain your own Ohio BCI criminal history

Ohio allows an individual to request their own computerized criminal history for review of accuracy and completeness.

The Attorney General currently requires:

  • complete identifying information
  • complete set of fingerprints
  • signed consent from the subject
  • valid photo identification when fingerprints are submitted
  • current BCI record-review fee of $22
Ohio BCI — Request Your Own Record
This is not a secret name search on another person. The Ohio BCI personal-record process requires fingerprints and consent of the person whose criminal history is being requested.

Medina County Sheriff’s Office offers local WebCheck fingerprinting

The Sheriff’s Office operates a WebCheck electronic fingerprint service at 555 Independence Drive, Medina. The requesting employer, licensing body or other agency should tell the applicant whether a BCI, FBI or combined check is required and where the result should be sent.

Fingerprint check Through Sept. 30, 2026 Effective Oct. 1, 2026 Coverage
BCI $27 $27 Ohio criminal-history information.
FBI $30 $33 National FBI criminal-history check when legally authorized.
BCI + FBI $57 $60 Combined check when required by the requesting entity.

The Sheriff’s published WebCheck hours are Monday–Friday, 8:00–11:30 a.m. and 1:00–3:30 p.m.. Payment is currently accepted by check or money order.

WebCheck phone: (330) 764-3629.

Medina County Sheriff WebCheck
Why the $22 BCI fee and $27 Sheriff’s fee differ: the Ohio Attorney General’s direct personal-record instructions list the state BCI fee, while a WebCheck location can charge its own service/fingerprinting amount. Always use the fee published by the provider you actually visit.

Search Ohio prison and supervision records with ODRC

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Offender Search covers people currently incarcerated in an Ohio prison, under Department supervision, judicially released, or listed in certain at-large statuses.

The system can be searched by:

  • last name
  • first and last name
  • county of commitment
  • residential county
  • status
  • offender number
  • next parole-board hearing period
Open Ohio Offender Search
ODRC is not a complete criminal-case database. Its own records warn that displayed sentence information may not contain every sentencing detail. Use the Medina County court record for the underlying prosecution.

Common Pleas court-copy and certification fees

The Medina County Clerk of Courts publishes specific copy fees for civil, domestic and criminal records.

Service Current fee Use
Photocopy $0.10 per page Ordinary paper court copy.
Certified copy $1.00 per page in addition to photocopy charge Formal court-authenticated copy.
Exemplified / triple-seal authentication $5 plus copy and certification charges Higher-level authentication when specifically required.
Motion for sealing criminal record $50 Current Common Pleas filing fee.
Motion for expungement $50 Current Common Pleas filing fee.

Check the current Medina County Clerk fee schedule before paying because court fees can change.

For criminal records filed before 2008, contact the Archives Department

Medina County has a particularly useful archive process. The Clerk’s Archives Department handles requests for cases and documents filed before 2008.

Older scanned documents may be transferred to microfilm or retained as paper records either onsite or at off-site storage.

Archives Department

Phone: (330) 722-9328

Older documents can be requested for pickup or mailing. Archives currently lists copies at $0.10 per page, plus $1.00 per page when certification is requested. Postage applies to mailed records.

Search tip: if a pre-2008 case appears in the docket but the document image is absent or difficult to retrieve, contact Archives instead of assuming the underlying criminal file was destroyed.

Criminal appeals from Medina County go to Ohio’s Ninth District

Medina County is within the Ninth District Court of Appeals. The Medina County Clerk’s Appellate Division receives and maintains records for appeals originating from Medina County courts.

An appeal may arise from Common Pleas, Medina Municipal Court, Probate/Juvenile Court or another trial court within the county when a final appealable order is challenged.

Medina County appellate records
Do not stop at the trial-court disposition if an appeal exists. An appellate decision can affirm, reverse, remand or otherwise affect what happened in the lower court.

Federal criminal cases are separate from Medina County courts

A federal prosecution involving conduct in Medina County will not appear as a Medina County Common Pleas criminal case simply because the conduct happened locally.

Federal records for this region are handled through the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio and PACER.

The Northern District explains that most pending federal criminal docket sheets and many electronic documents can be accessed through its CM/ECF system after PACER login.

Northern District of Ohio records Search PACER

Sealed or expunged records may no longer appear like an ordinary public case

Ohio distinguishes record sealing and expungement, and eligibility depends on the offense, case outcome, criminal history and current Ohio law.

Medina Municipal Court provides its own sealing/expungement forms and explains that an eligible misdemeanor or a felony case reduced or dismissed in Municipal Court may be handled there, while a felony transferred to Common Pleas generally requires relief through Common Pleas.

Common Pleas currently lists a $50 filing fee for a motion to seal a criminal record and $50 for a motion for expungement.

Do not rely on an old Ohio sealing checklist. Ohio’s criminal-record relief laws have changed in recent years. Use the current court form and current Ohio statute, or obtain legal advice, before deciding that a case is eligible.
Medina Municipal Court forms Common Pleas fees

What to do if your Ohio BCI record is inaccurate

Ohio BCI allows individuals to challenge information in their computerized criminal history after obtaining a copy of their own record.

BCI advises the person to gather documentation supporting the correction and contact the agency responsible for the disputed information. Depending on the problem, that may be:

  • Medina County Sheriff’s Office
  • a municipal police department
  • Medina Municipal Court
  • Wadsworth Municipal Court
  • Medina County Common Pleas Court / Clerk
  • another agency that originally supplied the data
Why the source agency matters: BCI is the statewide repository, but it does not keep every underlying court document needed to prove that a disposition or arrest entry is wrong. A certified court entry can be particularly useful when the dispute concerns the final case outcome.

Medina County criminal-record offices at a glance

Felony records

Medina County Clerk of Courts

Medina County Courthouse
225 East Washington St.
Medina, OH 44256

Legal Division: (330) 725-9722
Hours: Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

Misdemeanor records

Medina Municipal Court

223 E. Washington St.
Medina, OH 44256

Phone: (330) 723-3287
New location effective September 28, 2026.

Misdemeanor records

Wadsworth Municipal Court

120 Maple Street
Wadsworth, OH 44281

Phone: (330) 335-1596
Hours: Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Jail / Sheriff records

Medina County Sheriff’s Office

555 Independence Drive
Medina, OH 44256

General: (330) 725-0028
Inmate info: (330) 764-3628

State criminal history

Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation

BCI maintains Ohio’s central fingerprint-based criminal-history repository.

Background check inquiries: (877) 224-0043

State corrections

Ohio DRC

Use ODRC Offender Search for state incarceration, supervision and judicial-release information.

Medina County Courthouse map

The Medina County Clerk of Courts Legal Division—the primary local office for felony Common Pleas records—is located at 225 East Washington Street in Medina.

Interesting local detail: the newly relocated Medina Municipal Court is at 223 E. Washington St., immediately next to the Common Pleas courthouse address. Even though the buildings are close together, the two courts maintain different case types and separate record systems.

Local search tips that can save a second search

Tip 01

Felony? Search twice when necessary

The municipal case may show the initial complaint while Common Pleas shows the indictment and final felony prosecution.

Tip 02

Use the offense location

The correct municipal court is determined by territorial jurisdiction, not simply where the defendant lives.

Tip 03

Wadsworth data can lag

CaseLook warns that recent filings and judicial actions may take 24 hours or longer to appear.

Tip 04

Older file? Call Archives

Pre-2008 Common Pleas records have a dedicated Archives Department instead of being treated exactly like current electronic files.

Tip 05

Only one page visible?

An older downloaded court document may be a multi-page TIFF file rather than a one-page record.

Tip 06

Jail search is not the disposition

Confirm custody with the Sheriff, then use the court docket to learn what was filed and how the charge was resolved.

Tip 07

BCI is not a free public name portal

For another person’s ordinary public criminal-case research, start with court records.

Tip 08

Need formal proof?

Order a certified disposition rather than relying solely on a screenshot from an online docket.

Tip 09

Check appeals

A Common Pleas or municipal disposition can later be reviewed by the Ninth District Court of Appeals.

Common questions about Medina County criminal records

1. Where do I search Medina County felony criminal records?

Use the Medina County Clerk of Courts Docket Search. The Clerk’s Criminal Division maintains felony records filed in the Medina County Court of Common Pleas.

2. Where do I search Medina County misdemeanor cases?

Misdemeanor and traffic cases are handled by Medina Municipal Court or Wadsworth Municipal Court depending on where the alleged offense occurred. Both courts provide online case-search tools.

3. Can a felony appear in Municipal Court first?

Yes. A felony complaint may begin in a municipal court for bond and preliminary-hearing purposes. If the case is bound over or indicted, the felony prosecution continues in Medina County Common Pleas Court.

4. Is Medina County criminal case searching free?

The county Clerk and municipal courts provide public online case-access tools. Copy, certification, archive and other clerk services can carry fees.

5. How do I find someone in the Medina County Jail?

Use the official Medina County Sheriff’s Inmate Information portal. The Sheriff’s Office also lists an inmate-information phone line at 330-764-3628.

6. How do I request a Medina County Sheriff’s incident report?

Use the Sheriff’s Public Records Request Form or contact the Sheriff’s Office. Provide enough detail to identify the record, such as the report number, names, date and incident location. The Sheriff’s policy says requesters generally do not have to state their identity or intended use.

7. Can I search another person’s Ohio BCI criminal history online?

Ohio BCI computerized criminal-history records are not an unrestricted public name-search database. Individuals can request their own fingerprint-based BCI history, while many authorized background checks are conducted through WebCheck for legally permitted purposes.

8. How do I obtain a certified Medina County felony record?

Request the document from the Medina County Clerk of Courts Legal Division. The current fee schedule lists photocopies at $0.10 per page and certification at an additional $1.00 per page.

9. What should I do if a criminal case from before 2008 is hard to find?

Contact the Medina County Clerk of Courts Archives Department at 330-722-9328. The department handles requests for cases and documents filed before 2008 and maintains older paper, microfilm and scanned material.

10. Where are Medina County criminal appeals handled?

Medina County is within Ohio’s Ninth District Court of Appeals. The Medina County Clerk of Courts Appellate Division maintains records for appeals originating in Medina County.

Official sources used for this guide

Editorial note: Criminal-Record.org is an independent informational resource and is not affiliated with Medina County, the Medina County Clerk of Courts, Medina Municipal Court, Wadsworth Municipal Court, the Medina County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio BCI or ODRC. Court and agency information can change. Verify important information with the government office that maintains the original record. An arrest, jail booking or filed criminal charge should not be represented as proof of guilt.

Leave a Comment