Dallas criminal records are spread across several official systems. Dallas County felony cases are maintained by the District Clerk, Class A and B misdemeanor records are maintained by the County Clerk, City of Dallas Class C citations and municipal cases use Dallas Municipal Court, current jail information comes from the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, statewide criminal-history searches use Texas DPS, and state-prison records use TDCJ. This guide shows which official source to use first, how far online records go back, and where to request older, certified or non-electronic records.
Which Dallas criminal-record source should you use?
Felony court records
Dallas County District Clerk is the official custodian for felony court records and Magistrate Court records at Lew Sterrett Justice Center.
Class A/B misdemeanors
Dallas County Clerk maintains records for the county criminal courts that hear Class A and B misdemeanors.
Dallas Class C cases
Use Dallas Municipal Court for city citations, traffic matters and other municipal cases.
Current custody / bookings
Use Dallas County Sheriff’s jail lookup for people currently held in county custody.
Statewide public criminal history
Use Texas DPS when you need qualifying public criminal-history information beyond Dallas County.
Texas state-prison records
Use Texas Department of Criminal Justice for qualifying state correctional information.
Dallas County felony and misdemeanor case search
Dallas County provides a unified public search for felony and misdemeanor court case information.
The search supports name-based searching as well as case-number searching. Available fields include last name, first name, middle name, race, sex, date of birth and pending-case status.
Open the official Dallas County criminal search
Use the county-hosted system rather than a commercial people-search database.
Start with the full legal name
Add date of birth or other identifiers when necessary to reduce confusion between people with similar names.
Open each likely case
Look at the court, charge, filing date, case status and disposition rather than relying only on the name match.
Move to the correct clerk for documents
Felony documents belong with the District Clerk; misdemeanor documents belong with the County Clerk.
Dallas County felony criminal records
The Dallas County District Clerk is the official record custodian for the county’s felony courts. The District Clerk supports the county’s seventeen district courts that hear felony matters received from the Dallas County Grand Jury.
133 N. Riverfront Boulevard
2nd Floor
Dallas, TX 75207
Felony records:
214-653-5950
Email:
DCRecordsCriminal@dallascounty.org
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
The District Clerk says Dallas County online criminal case information reaches back to 1975.
For most felony cases filed after 2009, actual case documents are also available online.
Dallas County misdemeanor records
Dallas County Clerk’s Criminal Courts Division maintains records for the county criminal courts. Dallas County currently has eleven county criminal courts hearing Class A and Class B misdemeanor offenses.
133 N. Riverfront Boulevard
2nd Floor, Room A-1
Dallas, TX 75207
Phone:
214-653-7099
Misdemeanor records:
214-653-5767
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Dallas County misdemeanor background search
The County Clerk currently charges $5 for a Dallas County misdemeanor record search. The request can be made in person or by mail using the person’s full name and date of birth.
How far back do Dallas criminal court records go online?
| Record type | Current published coverage | Where to go if missing |
|---|---|---|
| Criminal case information | Back to 1975 | District Clerk or County Clerk |
| Most felony documents | Cases filed after 2009 | District Clerk Felony Records Desk |
| Misdemeanor plain-copy documents | 2011 to current | County Clerk Central Records |
| Misdemeanor cases before 2011 | May require offsite retrieval | County Clerk Central Records |
City of Dallas Municipal Court criminal and citation search
Dallas Municipal Court is separate from Dallas County’s felony and Class A/B misdemeanor courts. Use it for City of Dallas citations, Class C matters, traffic cases and other municipal cases.
The official citation search allows lookup by:
- citation number
- name and date of birth
- docket number
- Dallas Police case number
The search also shows warrant status; citations in warrant status are displayed in red.
Dallas, TX 75201
Phone: 214-670-0109
Customer service:
Monday: 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Tuesday: 7:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Wednesday-Friday: 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Dallas County jail and inmate records
Dallas County Sheriff’s Office operates the county jail system and provides an online inmate lookup.
Use the jail search when the question is whether someone is currently in Dallas County custody, rather than whether they have an older court case.
133 N. Riverfront Boulevard
Dallas, TX 75207
Jail / inmate information:
214-761-9025
Warrant information:
214-761-9026
Dallas warrant information
Dallas warrant research depends on which court and agency issued or maintains the warrant.
County warrant information
Dallas County Sheriff’s Office publishes a warrant-information telephone line at 214-761-9026.
Municipal citation warrant
Dallas Municipal Court online results identify citations that are in warrant status.
Case-related warrant events
Felony or misdemeanor case dockets may show warrant-related events, but historical issuance does not prove current active status.
Dallas arrest reports and police records
Court records and police reports are separate. The correct request destination is the law-enforcement agency that created the report.
That could be:
- Dallas Police Department
- Dallas County Sheriff’s Office
- Irving Police Department
- Garland Police Department
- Grand Prairie Police Department
- another municipal or state law-enforcement agency
Dallas County public-information requests
Dallas County uses a GovQA Public Records Center for requests under the Texas Public Information Act.
Identify who maintains the record
Use the District Clerk for felony court files, County Clerk for misdemeanor court files, Sheriff for Sheriff’s records, and the relevant city for municipal police records.
Describe the record precisely
Include incident date, person’s name, date of birth, report number, location and record type when known.
Use GovQA for Dallas County department records
Dallas County routes many ordinary county public-information requests through its online Public Records Center.
Texas DPS statewide criminal-history search
Dallas County criminal searches are county-level records. For qualifying public criminal-history information from across Texas, use the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Records Division.
Current public name-search cost
Texas DPS currently charges $1 per search credit. Credit-card purchases also include the published processing charges.
Create a public Crime Records account
Ordinary public users should use the public Crime Records site rather than the restricted secure system for authorized organizations.
Purchase search credits
One credit is charged for each submitted public criminal-history search.
Enter the most complete identifying information available
Full date of birth and complete name information can reduce false matches.
Review possible matches carefully
The system can broaden its name search, so similar-name records must be checked against identity information.
How to review your own Texas criminal history
If a Texas name-based result appears incorrect or you need a stronger identity match, Texas DPS provides a fingerprint-based Personal Review process.
DPS uses its FAST fingerprinting network for qualifying fingerprint submissions.
Texas prison and TDCJ offender records
Use the Texas Department of Criminal Justice offender search when a Dallas criminal case resulted in state correctional custody or supervision.
The current TDCJ search supports:
- name searching
- SID number
- current TDCJ number
- previous TDCJ number search
- partial wildcard searches
Dallas criminal appeals: Fifth Court of Appeals
The Fifth Court of Appeals at Dallas hears civil and criminal appeals from Dallas, Collin, Grayson, Hunt, Rockwall and Kaufman counties.
600 Commerce Street, Suite 200
Dallas, TX 75202
Phone:
214-712-3400
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
If a Dallas County criminal judgment was appealed, the appellate record can contain later opinions or orders that change how the trial-court result should be understood.
Federal criminal cases in Dallas
Federal prosecutions are separate from Dallas County court records. Dallas lies within the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
Dallas, TX 75242
Phone: 214-753-2200
PACER provides electronic access to federal appellate, district and bankruptcy court records.
How far back do federal Dallas records go?
The Northern District says its computer records begin around 1990, with public-terminal criminal case databases covering cases filed after 1992. A formal Certificate of Name Search can cover Northern District criminal records back to January 1, 1957.
How to obtain Dallas criminal court copies
Felony copies
Most felony records filed after 2009 are available for online viewing. For records that are unavailable online, certified copies, or formal record searches, contact the District Clerk Felony Records Desk.
Requests can also be emailed to: DCRecordsCriminal@dallascounty.org.
Misdemeanor copies
Dallas County Clerk says plain copies of misdemeanor records from 2011 to present are available online.
Certified copies can be requested through the County Clerk Central Records Division.
| County Clerk service | Current published charge |
|---|---|
| Copy | $1 per page |
| Certification or exemplification | $5 per case in addition to copy charges |
| Local misdemeanor background search | $5 |
Dallas, TX 75202
How to find older Dallas criminal records
Dallas County’s online systems are useful, but they do not eliminate the need for older paper or offsite records.
Search the county criminal portal first
Dallas County says criminal case information reaches back to 1975.
Identify felony or misdemeanor jurisdiction
Contact District Clerk for felony records and County Clerk for misdemeanor records.
Ask about offsite retrieval when necessary
Dallas County says pre-2011 misdemeanor records may be stored offsite and can require advance retrieval.
Dallas County expunctions and orders of nondisclosure
Dallas County District Clerk handles expunction filings in the district courts and also publishes resources for orders of nondisclosure.
Self-represented filers may submit completed petitions in person at the Frank Crowley Courts Building or electronically when permitted.
Dallas County also publishes an expunction-agency contact list identifying agencies that may maintain related criminal records, including Dallas County Clerk, District Clerk, Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney, Texas DPS and other entities.
Dallas juvenile criminal records
Juvenile court records are not handled like ordinary adult felony and misdemeanor records. The District Clerk maintains a separate Juvenile Courts Record Clerk, and juvenile records may be confidential or restricted under Texas law.
Dallas criminal-record offices and courthouse map
Frank Crowley Courts Building
133 N. Riverfront BoulevardDallas, TX 75207
District Clerk felony services, County Clerk criminal services and Sheriff’s functions.
George L. Allen Courts Building
600 Commerce StreetDallas, TX 75202
Central Records and Fifth Court of Appeals services.
Dallas Municipal Court
2014 Main StreetDallas, TX 75201
City citations, Class C matters and municipal dockets.
Google Map: Frank Crowley Courts Building
Frank Crowley is the most useful single map location for county criminal-record research because the felony and misdemeanor records offices and Dallas County Sheriff’s functions are concentrated there.
Dallas criminal-record search tips that save time
Start with the combined county search
Dallas County lets you search felony and misdemeanor case information from one criminal search interface.
Felony means District Clerk
Use the District Clerk for certified felony records and older felony documents.
Misdemeanor means County Clerk
Dallas County Clerk maintains Class A and B misdemeanor records.
2011 matters for misdemeanor copies
Plain misdemeanor documents from 2011 forward are generally online; older records may require offsite retrieval.
2009 matters for felony documents
Most felony document images are available online for cases filed after 2009.
Recent arrest? Search jail first
Jail lookup can become useful before the full court file is easy to locate.
Class C means Municipal Court
Do not search a City of Dallas Class C citation as though it were a county felony case.
DPS is statewide
Use Texas DPS when you need qualifying public history from outside Dallas County.
Federal means PACER
Dallas County court portals do not include federal prosecutions in the Northern District of Texas.
Using Dallas criminal records for employment, housing or screening
A public court search is not automatically the same as a legally compliant consumer background report. Employment, tenant, credit, insurance and other eligibility decisions can involve separate federal or state requirements.
Dallas criminal records: frequently asked questions
1. Where can I search Dallas County criminal records online?
Use the Dallas County Felony and Misdemeanor Courts Case Information search for public county criminal case information.
2. How far back does Dallas County online criminal case information go?
Dallas County District Clerk states that online criminal case information reaches back to 1975.
3. Who keeps Dallas County felony records?
The Dallas County District Clerk is the official custodian for felony criminal court records.
4. Who keeps Dallas County misdemeanor records?
Dallas County Clerk maintains records for the County Criminal Courts that hear Class A and B misdemeanors.
5. How much is a Dallas County misdemeanor background search?
Dallas County Clerk currently lists a $5 fee for a local misdemeanor record search.
6. Where can I search Dallas jail inmates?
Use the Dallas County Sheriff’s jail and inmate-information system.
7. Where can I search City of Dallas Class C citations?
Use Dallas Municipal Court Citation and Docket Search. A new citation can take up to 10 business days to appear.
8. How much does the Texas DPS public criminal-history search cost?
Texas DPS currently charges $1 per search credit, with additional published transaction charges for credit-card purchases.
9. Which appellate court handles Dallas County criminal appeals?
The Fifth Court of Appeals at Dallas hears criminal appeals from Dallas County district and county courts.
10. Are Dallas federal criminal cases in the county court search?
No. Federal criminal cases use the Northern District of Texas and PACER rather than Dallas County’s state-court system.
Official sources used for this Dallas guide
- Dallas County Felony and Misdemeanor Courts Case Information
- Dallas County District Clerk — Felony Court Records
- Dallas County District Clerk — Criminal Section
- Dallas County Clerk — Criminal Courts Division
- Dallas County Clerk — Criminal Courts FAQ
- Dallas County Clerk — Criminal Records Requests
- Dallas County Sheriff’s Office — Inmate Information
- Dallas County Sheriff’s Office — Public Information Requests
- Dallas Municipal Court — Citation and Docket Search
- Texas DPS — Criminal History Search
- Texas DPS — Fingerprinting Services
- Texas Department of Criminal Justice — Offender Search
- Fifth Court of Appeals
- U.S. District Court — Northern District of Texas
- PACER Federal Court Records
- Dallas County — Expunctions and Nondisclosures