A criminal record finder should do more than return a name. It should help you identify which government agency actually holds the record, distinguish an arrest from a conviction, and show you where to verify the final outcome. There is no single official public database containing every U.S. arrest, court case, warrant, conviction, jail booking and federal record. The correct search depends on the state, county, court and type of record.
What can a criminal record finder actually find?
“Criminal record” is an umbrella term. Different records are created by different agencies, and those records may have different public-access rules.
Criminal case
Charges filed in court, hearings, pleas, judgments, dispositions and public case documents.
Arrest record
Arrest date, agency, incident report, probable-cause record, booking information or related material.
Criminal history
State-level record compiled from criminal-justice agencies, subject to each state’s disclosure law.
Inmate record
Current or historical prison/jail custody, sentence, release information and supervision data.
Warrant information
Arrest and bench warrants may be maintained by courts or law enforcement with varying public access.
Federal criminal case
Federal district-court prosecutions and appeals are separate from state court systems.
Can you find criminal records for free?
Often, yes—but not always comprehensively. Many courts, sheriffs, corrections agencies and state repositories provide free public searches, while others charge for name searches, documents, certified copies or official background reports.
| Resource type | Often free? | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| State court case index | Often | Case number, charge, docket and disposition information where online public access exists |
| County court search | Varies | Some counties offer free lookup; others charge or require courthouse access |
| County jail roster | Often | Current booking, charge, bond and custody information |
| State prison locator | Usually | Current/historical correctional information subject to state rules |
| State criminal-history search | Varies | Some states provide free searches; others charge per name or report |
| NSOPW | Yes | Nationwide search across participating public sex-offender registries |
| PACER federal records | Limited | Current fee is generally 10¢ per page; quarterly charges of $30 or less are currently waived |
| FBI Identity History Summary | No | Current FBI fee is $18, plus possible fingerprint/channeler costs |
Step 1: search state and local criminal court cases
Most criminal cases in the United States are handled in state courts rather than federal courts. State court structures vary: trial courts may be called District Court, Circuit Court, Superior Court, County Court, Court of Common Pleas or another state-specific name.
Lower-level offenses can also be handled by municipal, city, town, village, magistrate, justice or limited-jurisdiction courts.
Find federal, state and local courtsIdentify the state
Start with the state where the alleged offense or prosecution occurred—not simply where the person currently lives.
Identify the county or city
Court jurisdiction usually follows the location of the offense or prosecution. Knowing the county can dramatically narrow the search.
Open the official judiciary or clerk website
Look for “Case Search,” “Court Records,” “Criminal Records,” “Public Access” or similar official terminology.
Use case number when available
A case number is usually much safer than relying solely on a common first and last name.
Read the final disposition
Check whether the charge ended in conviction, dismissal, acquittal, deferred adjudication, diversion or another jurisdiction-specific outcome.
How to find the correct court when you do not know where the case was filed
Criminal-record searches often fail simply because the wrong court was searched.
Step 2: use the state’s official criminal-history repository
Court-case search and criminal-history search are not the same thing. Each state has a centralized criminal-history or identification agency, commonly housed within the State Police, Department of Public Safety, Attorney General, Department of Justice, Bureau of Investigation or similar agency.
The FBI maintains an official State Identification Bureau Listing covering all states and several U.S. territories.
State Police
Pennsylvania, Virginia, Oregon and other states use state-police agencies for criminal-history services.
Department of Justice
California, Wisconsin and other states place criminal-record functions in a state DOJ.
Bureau of Investigation
Georgia, Kansas, North Carolina and other jurisdictions use a state bureau of investigation.
Department of Public Safety
Texas, Minnesota and other states use DPS-related criminal-history repositories.
What a state repository may provide
- public conviction information
- deferred-adjudication information where public
- arrest information where state law permits
- fingerprint-based personal record review
- certified or official criminal-history reports
- record-correction procedures
- employment/licensing fingerprint services
- seal or expungement update procedures
How to find arrest, police and booking records
Arrest records are usually local. The arresting police department, sheriff, jail, county records office or state/local public-records law determines what can be released.
Start with the agency that made the arrest
- city police department
- county sheriff
- state police or highway patrol
- university/campus police
- special law-enforcement agency
- federal agency for federal arrests
Search that agency’s official website for terms such as Records Unit, Public Records, Open Records, FOIA, Incident Reports or Police Records.
Is there a national public criminal warrant finder?
No single official public website provides a complete real-time search of every active state, county, municipal and federal warrant in the United States.
Public warrant access varies by jurisdiction. Useful official sources can include:
Local warrant search
Some sheriffs publish searchable warrant lists. Others restrict public access or require contact.
Case-based warrant
A known criminal case may contain public warrant-related docket information.
Wanted-person system
Some state police or public-safety agencies maintain statewide wanted-person searches.
Find jail, state prison and federal inmate records
An inmate finder is useful for custody status, but it is not the same as a criminal-history search.
Recent or pretrial custody
Search the county sheriff, detention department or municipal corrections agency.
State corrections locator
Each state’s Department of Corrections or equivalent generally maintains its own offender locator.
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The BOP Inmate Locator covers federal inmates incarcerated from 1982 to the present.
Federal inmate locatorFind federal criminal cases with PACER
Federal criminal prosecutions are not ordinarily found in state court databases. Use PACER — Public Access to Court Electronic Records for federal court records.
PACER Find a CaseIf you know the federal court
Search that specific district or appellate court. Court-specific information is updated when it is entered into the federal CM/ECF system.
If you do not know the federal court
Use the PACER Case Locator, which searches a nationwide index of federal district, appellate and bankruptcy cases. PACER says the national index is updated daily.
Find a federal courtPACER fees as of September 2026
| PACER access | Current charge |
|---|---|
| Online case information | 10¢ per billable page |
| Single case-specific document | Generally capped at $3 |
| Quarterly account charges | Waived when total is $30 or less |
| Federal courthouse public terminal | PACER states courthouse viewing is free |
How to get your own FBI criminal-history record
The FBI calls its fingerprint-based personal criminal-history response an Identity History Summary, commonly called a rap sheet.
$18
The FBI currently charges $18 per Identity History Summary request. Additional fingerprint or approved-channeler charges may apply.
Fingerprints required
Fingerprint comparison allows the FBI to positively link the summary to the correct person.
Challenge available
The FBI provides a formal process for challenging incomplete or inaccurate information.
National Sex Offender Public Website
The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) is a U.S. Department of Justice public resource that searches participating public registries across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories and Indian Country.
NSOPW supports name searching and, where jurisdictions provide geographic data, location-based searching.
How to read criminal-record results without making a serious mistake
| Term | General meaning | What not to assume |
|---|---|---|
| Arrest | A person was taken into custody or processed by law enforcement. | That charges were filed or the person was convicted. |
| Charge | A criminal allegation was formally asserted. | That guilt was established. |
| Indictment | A grand jury or equivalent formal process charged the person. | That the defendant was found guilty. |
| Dismissed | The charge or case was dismissed. | That every arrest record automatically disappeared. |
| Acquitted / not guilty | The case ended without a conviction on that charge. | That all agency records were automatically erased. |
| Deferred adjudication / diversion | Jurisdiction-specific alternative disposition or deferred judgment. | That it has the same legal effect everywhere as an ordinary conviction. |
| Conviction | A judgment of guilt was entered. | That it remains publicly reportable forever under every law. |
| Sealed / expunged | Access has been restricted or qualifying records altered under applicable law. | That every government or legally retained copy was physically destroyed. |
Why a criminal record finder may show no result even when a record exists
- wrong state or county searched
- case is in municipal rather than county court
- case is federal rather than state
- record is too old for online coverage
- record exists only on paper or courthouse terminal
- name is misspelled or appears under an alias/former name
- pending case is not name-searchable
- record has been sealed or expunged
- juvenile information is restricted
- agency has not yet transmitted information
- recent arrest has not produced a court filing yet
- the person was booked but released without prosecution
How to avoid mixing up two people with the same name
Criminal-record databases can contain multiple people with the same or similar names. A name match alone should never be treated as positive identification.
Compare as many lawful identifiers as the official source provides:
- full legal name
- middle name or initial
- date of birth
- former or maiden name
- case number
- county/state
- offense date
- court
How to correct an inaccurate criminal record
The agency that can fix a record depends on which part is wrong.
Contact the court clerk
If the docket, disposition or judgment is incorrect, start with the court that created the record.
Contact state repository
Use the state’s criminal-history challenge or correction process.
Use FBI challenge process
The FBI accepts challenges supported by documentation when Identity History Summary information is inaccurate.
For state-level problems, use the FBI’s official State Identification Bureau Listing to locate the central agency for the relevant state.
Sealed and expunged criminal records
Sealing, expungement, set-aside, record restriction, nondisclosure and similar remedies vary significantly by state.
If a record no longer appears publicly, possible explanations include:
- automatic sealing
- court-ordered sealing
- expungement
- record restriction
- order of nondisclosure
- juvenile confidentiality
- statutory public-access expiration
- records-retention/destruction rules
For correction of FBI information involving a state arrest, the FBI generally directs the person to the relevant State Identification Bureau because state agencies often must update their own record before the FBI record can be updated.
Employment, tenant screening and other regulated uses
Researching a public court record for informational purposes is different from obtaining a consumer background report for employment, housing, credit or another eligibility decision.
When an employer uses a background-reporting company, the Federal Trade Commission explains that the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) imposes requirements such as disclosure, written permission and procedures before taking adverse action.
Tenant background-screening companies are also subject to FCRA accuracy and dispute requirements. State and local laws can create additional protections.
FTC background-check rightsHow to avoid fake criminal-record and court-search sites
Search-engine results can include unofficial people-search services, scraped databases, advertising pages and scams that imitate government courts or law enforcement.
- prefer .gov and official judiciary domains
- verify the court name before paying
- do not pay a “warrant fine” from an unsolicited text message
- do not submit sensitive identity information to an unknown lookup site
- verify phone numbers from the court’s official website
- look for current government contact information and fee schedules
- avoid sites that describe arrests as convictions
- avoid claims of a magical “complete nationwide free database”
A complete criminal record finder workflow
Identify the location
Determine the state, county and city connected to the alleged offense or case.
Search the court
Use the official state judiciary or local clerk to locate filed criminal cases.
Check current custody if relevant
Search the county jail for recent arrests, the state corrections locator for prison custody or BOP for federal incarceration.
Use the state criminal-history repository
If the state permits public name-based criminal-history searches, use its official police/DPS/DOJ/SBI repository.
Search PACER if federal involvement is possible
State searches do not replace federal court records.
Verify the person
Compare name, DOB, court, location and case number. Do not rely on a common-name match.
Read the final disposition
Determine whether each charge ended in conviction, dismissal, acquittal, diversion or another outcome.
Obtain a certified record when necessary
Contact the court clerk when an official certified disposition or judgment is required.
Criminal record finder: frequently asked questions
1. Is there one free nationwide criminal record finder?
No. There is no single official public database containing every state, county, municipal, federal, arrest, warrant, jail and conviction record in the United States. Reliable searches usually require multiple government sources.
2. What is the best way to find a criminal court case?
Identify the state and county where the prosecution occurred, then use the official state judiciary or local court clerk case-search system.
3. Can I find another person’s FBI rap sheet?
The FBI Identity History Summary process is designed for individuals to obtain their own fingerprint-based record. It is not a public name-search database for retrieving anyone’s FBI rap sheet.
4. How much does an FBI Identity History Summary cost?
The FBI currently charges $18 for the Identity History Summary request. Fingerprinting or FBI-approved channeler services can involve additional fees.
5. Where can I search federal criminal cases?
Use PACER. If you do not know the federal court, the PACER Case Locator searches a nationwide index of federal district, appellate and bankruptcy cases.
6. Is PACER free?
PACER currently charges 10 cents per billable page, but charges totaling $30 or less in a quarter are automatically waived. Public viewing at federal courthouse terminals is also available.
7. Where can I find someone in federal prison?
Use the Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator. It provides information for federal inmates incarcerated from 1982 to the present.
8. Why would a criminal record search show no result?
The wrong jurisdiction may have been searched, the case may be federal, too old for online access, not yet filed, sealed, expunged, juvenile, maintained under another name or available only through the courthouse.
9. How do I correct a criminal-record mistake?
Contact the agency that created or maintains the incorrect information. Court errors generally start with the clerk, state criminal-history errors with the state repository, and FBI Identity History Summary issues through the FBI challenge process.
10. Can public criminal records be used for employment or tenant screening?
Regulated employment and tenant background screening can trigger Fair Credit Reporting Act requirements and additional state or local rules. A public-record lookup is not automatically a compliant consumer background report.
Official U.S. criminal-record search resources
- USA.gov — Federal, State, County and Municipal Courts
- FBI — State Identification Bureau Listing
- FBI — Identity History Summary Checks
- PACER — Find a Federal Case
- U.S. Courts — Federal Court Finder
- Federal Bureau of Prisons — Inmate Locator
- DOJ — National Sex Offender Public Website
- FTC — Employer Background Checks and Your Rights
- FTC — Tenant Background Checks and Your Rights