United States public-records guide
To show a criminal record, first identify which government system actually holds it
There is no single public U.S. website that shows every person’s complete criminal record. State and county courts maintain most state criminal cases, state identification bureaus maintain criminal-history repositories, local police and sheriffs maintain arrest and booking records, PACER covers federal court cases, the FBI provides a fingerprint-based Identity History Summary to the subject of the record, and corrections agencies maintain inmate information. A useful search therefore starts with the type of record and jurisdiction rather than one generic nationwide name box.
Find the court
Use the official state judiciary, county clerk or local court that handled the case.
Find state courtsPACER
Search U.S. district, appellate and bankruptcy court dockets and public documents.
Search federal casesIdentity History Summary
Obtain your own fingerprint-based FBI criminal-history summary for the current $18 federal fee.
FBI record checkState Identification Bureau
Locate the state agency responsible for that state’s official criminal-history repository.
Find state repositoryBOP Inmate Locator
Search federal inmates incarcerated from 1982 to the present.
Find federal inmateDOJ NSOPW
Search participating public sex-offender registries nationwide. This is not a general criminal-record database.
Search NSOPWIs there one public website that shows every U.S. criminal record?
No. Criminal records in the United States are decentralized. A single criminal matter can produce separate records in a local police department, county jail, trial court, state criminal-history repository, corrections department and—if appealed—an appellate court.
Federal criminal cases are maintained separately from state and local cases. PACER provides nationwide federal court searching, but it does not replace state court databases.
Choose the type of criminal record before searching
| You need | Best official starting point | Coverage | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| State criminal court case | State judiciary / county clerk | State or local court | Search rules vary by state |
| County or city misdemeanor case | County or municipal court | Local jurisdiction | May not appear in a separate statewide portal |
| Official state criminal history | State Identification Bureau | State repository | Public-access rules differ by state |
| Your own FBI criminal history | FBI Identity History Summary | Fingerprint-based FBI record | The public process is for your own record, not someone else’s |
| Federal criminal case | PACER | Federal district and appellate courts | Does not include ordinary state criminal cases |
| Current arrest / jail booking | Police, sheriff or county jail | Local agency | Booking is not proof of conviction |
| Federal inmate | Federal Bureau of Prisons | Federal inmates, generally 1982–present | Does not cover state or county inmates |
| Registered sex-offender information | DOJ NSOPW | Participating U.S. jurisdictions | Specialized registry search, not general criminal history |
How to show a state criminal court case
Most criminal prosecutions in the United States are handled by state or local courts rather than federal courts. Court structure and online access differ from state to state.
USA.gov provides a starting point for locating federal, state, territory, county and municipal courts:
Find official courtsIdentify the state
Start with the state where the criminal case was filed, not necessarily where the person currently lives.
Identify the county or court
Felonies, misdemeanors and municipal offenses may be maintained by different courts within the same state.
Use the official judiciary or clerk search
Search by case number when available. If searching by name, compare date of birth, middle name, filing date and court before assuming the result belongs to the correct person.
Read the disposition
Review dismissal, acquittal, plea, conviction, sentence or other final outcome rather than relying only on the charge.
Contact the clerk when the online record is incomplete
Older files, certified copies, sealed-access questions and documents not available remotely may require the clerk’s office.
County and city criminal records may use separate systems
A statewide search does not always replace local court searches. County and municipal courts can handle misdemeanor, ordinance, traffic and other local criminal matters.
USA.gov notes that county and municipal courts can preside over matters such as petty offenses, traffic infractions and violations of local laws.
Official state criminal-history repositories
Court records and statewide criminal-history repositories are different. A court database shows court cases; a state identification bureau or comparable agency maintains the state’s centralized criminal-history information under that state’s laws.
The FBI publishes an official State Identification Bureau Listing covering states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
Examples include:
California DOJ
Bureau of Criminal Information and Analysis.
FDLE
Florida Department of Law Enforcement Criminal Justice Information Services.
Texas DPS
Crime Records Service.
DCJS
New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
NC SBI
North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
Minnesota BCA
Minnesota Justice Information Services / Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
FBI Identity History Summary: your own federal fingerprint-based record
The FBI’s public Identity History Summary process is commonly called an FBI rap sheet or FBI background check. It is based on fingerprints and criminal-history information submitted to the FBI.
$18 per FBI Identity History Summary request
Additional fingerprinting or channeler fees can apply depending on how you submit the fingerprints.
Start an FBI Identity History Summary request
Submit electronically through the FBI or use the FBI’s mail process.
Submit current fingerprints
The FBI requires fingerprints and does not provide a simple name-only Identity History Summary search.
Pay the $18 FBI fee
Current FBI instructions allow specified payment methods. Personal and business checks and cash are not accepted for direct Departmental Order requests.
Review the returned summary
If information is inaccurate or incomplete, use the FBI challenge process and provide supporting documentation when available.
Search federal criminal cases through PACER
PACER—Public Access to Court Electronic Records—is the federal judiciary’s official electronic public-access system for federal district, appellate and bankruptcy court records.
If you know the federal court where the case was filed, search that specific court. If you do not know the court, use the PACER Case Locator, which searches a nationwide index of federal cases.
Search specific court
Court-specific PACER records update as information is entered in CM/ECF.
PACER Case Locator
Search the nationwide federal index by party information and other criteria.
Open docket / documents
Follow the federal case number to docket information and public electronically filed documents.
Current PACER fees
As of September 2026, PACER generally charges $0.10 per page for search results, reports and documents. Access to most individual documents is capped at $3. Under current Judicial Conference policy, fees are waived when a user’s total charges are $30 or less in a quarterly billing cycle.
What if an older federal criminal document is not visible in PACER?
PACER provides extensive electronic access, but not every historical document is remotely available.
The federal judiciary notes that certain criminal-case documents filed before November 1, 2004 may not be available to the general public through PACER.
If you locate the federal case but cannot access the document:
- confirm the federal court
- note the case number
- contact the federal clerk’s office
- ask about archived or paper records
- ask how to obtain a certified copy if needed
- check National Archives procedures for older transferred files
Find the correct federal courthouse using the U.S. Courts Federal Court Finder .
Arrest, booking and police records
A criminal court search may not show the same information as a police or jail record, particularly immediately after an arrest.
Depending on the jurisdiction, local sources can include:
- city police department
- county sheriff
- county jail or detention center
- state police
- booking roster
- incident-report records division
Public access to arrest reports, booking photos and investigative material varies substantially by state law. Use the originating agency’s official public-record or records-division instructions.
How to check warrant information
There is no universal public U.S. warrant website that replaces every state, county and court system.
A warrant can be maintained by sources such as:
Court-issued warrant
The underlying criminal or municipal case may contain warrant-related entries when public.
County warrant search
Some sheriffs publish searchable active-warrant lists or provide warrant verification procedures.
City warrant
Traffic and city-level fine-only warrants can be maintained separately from county felony systems.
Federal, state and county inmate records
Corrections records are usually separate from court records.
BOP Inmate Locator
The Federal Bureau of Prisons locator covers federal inmates incarcerated from 1982 to the present.
Search BOPState Department of Corrections
Most states operate their own prison or offender-search systems for people under state corrections authority.
County jail / sheriff
People awaiting trial or serving qualifying local sentences may appear in a county jail system rather than a state DOC locator.
National Sex Offender Public Website: a specialized search
The U.S. Department of Justice operates the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW).
NSOPW allows the public to search participating public sex-offender registries across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories and Indian Country.
Search NSOPWDOJ also cautions that it does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness or timeliness of every jurisdiction’s registry data. Verify important information with the jurisdiction that supplied the record.
How to obtain an official or certified criminal court record
A web search result or docket screen may be useful for research but may not satisfy a request for an official certified court document.
Identify the court that maintains the case
Determine the state, county, court level and case number whenever possible.
Find the court clerk’s copy-request procedure
Some courts accept online requests; others require mail or an in-person request.
Specify plain or certified copy
A certified copy generally carries the clerk’s certification or seal and costs more than an ordinary copy.
Provide the case number and document name
This can reduce search time and avoid paying for an unnecessary broad record search.
Sealed, expunged and restricted criminal records
A criminal record that once appeared publicly can later disappear because a court sealed it, a jurisdiction expunged it, the law restricts public access, or the record was removed under a retention rule.
Expungement and sealing rules differ by state. The FBI directs questions about expungement or sealing of nonfederal arrest data to the appropriate State Identification Bureau for the state where the offense occurred.
Juvenile criminal and delinquency records
Juvenile records are frequently subject to stronger confidentiality rules than ordinary adult criminal cases. Rules vary substantially by state and by case type.
Do not assume that a juvenile matter should appear in a general public court search, and do not attempt to bypass restrictions on nonpublic juvenile records.
What to do if your own criminal record is incorrect
The correction path depends on which repository contains the error.
Contact the court
If the docket or disposition is wrong, start with the clerk of the court maintaining the original case.
State Identification Bureau
Challenge inaccurate state repository information through the responsible state agency’s process.
FBI challenge process
The FBI provides a process to challenge inaccurate or incomplete Identity History Summary information.
The FBI currently charges no fee to challenge an Identity History Summary and says challenges are generally processed in the order received, with an average response time of within about 45 days after receipt.
Public criminal records are not automatically FCRA-compliant background reports
Looking at an official public court record and ordering a background report from a consumer reporting agency are not necessarily the same legal process.
The Federal Trade Commission explains that employers using background information for employment decisions must comply with applicable federal laws, including requirements that can apply when a consumer reporting company is used.
FTC employer guidance: Background Checks: What Employers Need to Know .
A practical nationwide criminal-record search workflow
If you do not know where to start, use this order instead of entering a name into dozens of random websites.
Identify the likely state and county
Start where the arrest, prosecution or conviction occurred—not where the person currently lives.
Search the official state or county court
Use USA.gov’s court directory as a starting point if you do not know the official court website.
Check the state criminal-history repository when needed
Use the FBI State Identification Bureau list to find the appropriate state agency and its public-access rules.
Search local jail or corrections systems separately
Current custody may live with a sheriff, county jail, state department of corrections or the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Search PACER if federal prosecution is possible
Use the PACER Case Locator when you know the matter is federal but do not know which federal court handled it.
Verify the final disposition
Confirm whether the case ended in conviction, dismissal, acquittal or another disposition.
Order an official copy when the result matters
Use the court clerk rather than relying on a screenshot, cached search result or commercial summary.
Criminal-record search tips that prevent common mistakes
Start with jurisdiction
State and county matter more than a nationwide keyword search.
Use a case number when possible
Case numbers are more reliable than common-name searches.
Search name variations carefully
Check full legal name, middle name, former name and spelling variations where supported.
Check the disposition
The existence of a charge does not prove the person was convicted.
Jail is not court history
Current custody information does not replace the underlying court case.
PACER is not a state search
Use it for federal matters only.
FBI personal review is fingerprint-based
The FBI does not offer a public name search for another person’s Identity History Summary.
Old records may be offline
Contact the clerk or archive when a known historical case is not remotely accessible.
Verify important results
Use the court or agency that created the record before making a serious decision.
Criminal records search: frequently asked questions
1. Is there one free nationwide public criminal-record database?
No. Criminal records are distributed among state courts, county and municipal courts, state criminal-history repositories, law-enforcement agencies, corrections systems and federal courts. No single ordinary public search replaces all of those sources.
2. Where should I search a state criminal court case?
Start with the official state judiciary or the county court or clerk where the prosecution occurred. USA.gov provides links for finding state, territory, county and municipal courts.
3. Can I obtain someone else’s FBI rap sheet?
Not through the public FBI Identity History Summary process. The FBI says private citizens may request their own criminal-history record but cannot request another person’s FBI arrest record through that process.
4. How much does an FBI Identity History Summary cost?
The current FBI fee is $18 per request. Separate fingerprinting or FBI-approved channeler fees may also apply.
5. Where can I search federal criminal court records?
Use PACER. If you know the federal court, search it directly. If you do not know the court, use the PACER Case Locator to search the nationwide federal index.
6. Does PACER show state criminal cases?
No. PACER covers federal court records. State, county and municipal court cases use their respective state or local court systems.
7. Where can I find a federal inmate?
Use the Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator, which contains information about federal inmates incarcerated from 1982 to the present.
8. Is NSOPW a nationwide criminal-background database?
No. DOJ’s National Sex Offender Public Website searches participating public sex-offender registries. It is a specialized registry search and does not show all criminal records.
9. Why did a criminal record disappear from a search?
The record may have been sealed, expunged, restricted, archived, removed under a retention rule or made unavailable through that particular public search method. Contact the court or official repository for clarification.
10. Is an arrest record proof of a conviction?
No. An arrest or charge does not prove guilt or conviction. Check the related court case and final disposition to determine how the matter ended.
Official sources for criminal-record searches
- USA.gov – Federal, State, Territory, County and Municipal Courts
- FBI – Identity History Summary Checks
- FBI – Identity History Summary FAQs
- FBI – State Identification Bureau Listing
- PACER – Federal Court Records
- PACER – Find a Federal Case
- U.S. Courts – Federal Court Finder
- Federal Bureau of Prisons – Inmate Locator
- U.S. Department of Justice – National Sex Offender Public Website
- Federal Trade Commission – Background Checks and Employment