How to Search Someone’s Criminal Record in If Someone Has

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U.S. criminal-record search guide

How to find out if someone has a criminal record

The most reliable way to check whether someone has a criminal record in the United States is to search the official court and government systems where the person has lived, been arrested or been prosecuted. There is no single free public government database that contains every state, county, municipal and federal criminal case.

Coverage: United States Best sources: Courts and government agencies Information checked: September 27, 2026
Fast answer: start with the person’s likely state and county court records. Then check the county jail or sheriff for recent arrests, the state corrections department for prison records, the state’s criminal-history repository where public searches are permitted, PACER for federal cases, and NSOPW if you specifically need public sex-offender registration information.
Search local court cases Usually the best starting point for charges and dispositions.
Courts →
Search statewide history Use the state’s official criminal-history repository if public access exists.
State records →
Check a recent arrest County jail and sheriff records can appear quickly after booking.
Jail records →
Check federal cases Use PACER and the nationwide PACER Case Locator.
PACER →
Check registration Search public sex-offender registries nationwide through NSOPW.
NSOPW →

Gather identifying information before you search

Searching only a first and last name can produce the wrong person, especially with common names. Collect as much lawful identifying information as you already know.

  • full legal first and last name
  • middle name or middle initial
  • maiden or former names
  • date of birth
  • approximate age
  • state where the person lived
  • county or city where an incident may have occurred
  • approximate arrest or court date
  • case number if known
  • aliases where legitimately known
Do not identify someone from a name match alone. Compare date of birth, middle name, location, court, offense date and other available identifiers.

The practical 7-step way to check whether someone has a criminal record

List the places the person has lived

Start with known states, counties and cities. Criminal court records are often maintained locally.

Search the official state judiciary website

Find the state’s official court portal or directory and determine which trial court handles criminal cases.

Search county or municipal court records

Use the official clerk/court portal in each likely jurisdiction. Search full name and DOB where supported.

Check jail and corrections records

Search the county sheriff for recent custody and the state Department of Corrections for prison records.

Check the state’s criminal-history repository

Many states provide a separate official criminal-history search through state police, a bureau of investigation or public-safety department.

Search PACER for federal cases

Federal criminal cases are separate from state and county records.

Verify the final disposition

Never stop at an arrest or charge. Confirm whether the case resulted in conviction, dismissal, acquittal, diversion, deferred adjudication or another outcome.

Step 1: search official state and county criminal court records

For most searches, court records are the most useful starting point because they can show the filed charge and what happened after the arrest.

Use the official state judiciary website to locate the appropriate state, county or municipal court. USAGov explains that state and territory courts operate separately, while county and municipal courts can handle local offenses and traffic or other lower-level violations.

Find U.S. state and local court systems
Search the courthouse where the case would have been filed. Someone’s current home address may have nothing to do with the county where an arrest or prosecution occurred.

Which criminal court should you search?

Court names differ by state, but the practical structure often looks like this:

Record type Typical place to search What you may find
Felony State trial court / district / circuit / superior court Charges, docket, hearings, plea, judgment, sentence
Misdemeanor County, district, circuit or lower trial court Complaint, hearings, disposition, sentence
Municipal offense City / municipal court City-code, fine-only or local cases
Traffic criminal offense Traffic, municipal, justice or county court Citation, plea, conviction or dismissal
Criminal appeal State appellate court Appellate briefs, opinions and final appellate result
One person can have cases in multiple courts. A felony and an unrelated municipal or misdemeanor case may appear in entirely different systems.

How to tell whether a court result is actually a criminal conviction

Do not treat every criminal case search result as a conviction.

Arrest

Police action

An arrest means law enforcement took a person into custody or initiated criminal processing. It does not establish guilt.

Charge

Accusation

A criminal complaint, information or indictment shows an allegation was formally filed.

Disposition

Outcome

The disposition tells you whether a charge resulted in conviction, dismissal, acquittal, diversion, deferred adjudication or another result.

Useful terms to look for can include:

  • guilty
  • convicted
  • dismissed
  • not guilty
  • acquitted
  • nolle prosequi / nolle prossed
  • deferred adjudication
  • diversion
  • probation
  • sentence imposed

Step 2: check the state’s official criminal-history repository

Court searches show individual cases. Many states also maintain a statewide criminal-history repository, commonly operated by:

  • state police
  • department of public safety
  • state bureau of investigation
  • criminal-justice information agency

Public access varies significantly by state. Some states provide inexpensive online name searches. Others require fingerprints, consent or a mailed request. Some release only convictions or other statutorily public information.

A statewide repository may not contain every local detail. Reporting delays, statutory restrictions, sealed records and agency submission errors can affect what appears. Verify important information in the underlying court file.

Step 3: check county jail records for a recent arrest

If the event happened recently, a county sheriff or jail roster may show custody before the court case or statewide criminal-history repository has been fully updated.

Search the official county sheriff or detention-center website for:

  • inmate search
  • jail roster
  • booking search
  • current detainees
  • recent releases

A booking record can provide a useful case number, booking number, charge description, bond amount and arresting agency.

Booking does not mean conviction. Always follow the related case into the court system to see the final outcome.

Step 4: search the state Department of Corrections

If the person was convicted and sentenced to state prison, search the official Department of Corrections inmate or offender locator for that state.

State corrections searches can commonly show:

  • inmate or offender number
  • current facility
  • custody status
  • offense information
  • sentence information
  • release information
  • supervision information in some states
No prison result does not mean no criminal record. Someone may have received probation, a fine, local jail time, a suspended sentence or another disposition.

Step 5: search federal criminal cases with PACER

State court searches do not include federal prosecutions. Federal electronic court records are accessed through PACER.

PACER allows registered users to:

  • search a specific federal court
  • search the nationwide PACER Case Locator
  • open federal docket entries
  • view publicly available case documents
1 Create a PACER account Public federal court searching requires registration.
2 Search specific court if known Direct court searches update immediately.
3 Use Case Locator if unknown The nationwide index is updated daily.
4 Open the docket Verify charges, filings and disposition in the actual case.
Search Federal Court Records

Search federal prison records with the Bureau of Prisons

The Federal Bureau of Prisons provides an Inmate Locator for federal inmates from 1982 to the present.

You can search by:

  • first, middle and last name
  • BOP Register Number
  • FBI number
  • INS number
  • DCDC number
Important limitation: the BOP says older pre-1982 federal inmate records can require research through the National Archives. Also, a person can have a federal criminal case without serving a federal prison sentence.

Step 6: search the national public sex-offender website when relevant

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website provides one search interface for public sex-offender registries across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories and participating tribal jurisdictions.

Depending on jurisdiction support, NSOPW can search by:

  • name
  • address
  • ZIP code
  • city or town
  • county
  • jurisdiction
Verify the result on the underlying jurisdiction’s registry. NSOPW pulls public registry information from participating jurisdictions and links users back to the state, territory or tribal registry for detail.

How to check whether someone has an active warrant

There is no single complete national public warrant database for ordinary state and local warrants.

Depending on the jurisdiction, check:

  • county sheriff
  • city police department
  • county clerk
  • district or circuit clerk
  • municipal court
  • state wanted-person database
Warrant status can change quickly. If the warrant is important or may concern the person directly, verify it with the issuing court or law-enforcement agency rather than relying on an old web result.

What an FBI Identity History Summary can and cannot do

The FBI offers an Identity History Summary Check, sometimes called an FBI rap sheet. The current FBI fee is $18.

The process is fingerprint based and is designed principally so an individual can obtain and review the information associated with their own fingerprints.

The FBI explains that the Identity History Summary can contain information submitted through fingerprint records in connection with arrests and certain other federal matters.

FBI Identity History Summary Information

Can you order an FBI criminal record on someone else?

Not through the ordinary FBI Identity History Summary process as a casual public name search. The FBI requires positive fingerprint identification and describes the Departmental Order process as a method for a person to review their own Identity History Summary.

So do not tell readers to “search anyone through the FBI.” For another person’s public record, use public court systems, public state repositories, jail/corrections systems and other lawfully available government sources.

Employment, licensing, adoption and other authorised fingerprint checks can use different statutory routes through state identification bureaus, government agencies or authorised channels.

How to avoid matching the wrong person

Name-only searching is one of the biggest sources of criminal-record mistakes.

Names

Try reasonable variations

Search full legal name, middle name, maiden name and prior legal surnames where known.

DOB

Compare date of birth

DOB is often the fastest way to distinguish two people with the same name.

Location

Compare jurisdiction

Ask whether the county, city and case date fit what is known about the person.

Use multiple matching details. A name + DOB + known county + middle name is much stronger than a name alone.

Why you may not find a criminal record even when one existed

An empty search can have many explanations:

  • you searched the wrong county
  • the case used another legal name
  • the record is older and not digitized
  • the case is in municipal rather than county court
  • the case is federal
  • the record was sealed or expunged
  • juvenile confidentiality applies
  • the state limits public access
  • the arrest never resulted in a court filing
  • the portal has not yet updated
“No results” does not prove “no criminal history.” It only means the specific database and search terms used did not return a public match.

When you need a certified criminal court record

An online search result is often enough for informal research, but immigration, licensing, court proceedings and other formal purposes may require a certified document.

Contact the clerk of the court that handled the case and ask for the exact document needed, such as:

  • certified disposition
  • certified judgment
  • sentencing order
  • certified docket
  • certified complaint or indictment
  • certificate of no record where offered
Ask the receiving agency first. A plain printout may not satisfy an agency that specifically requires a certified disposition.

Checking someone’s record for employment or tenant screening is different

Public-record research for personal knowledge is different from obtaining a consumer report for employment, housing, credit or another regulated eligibility decision.

Employers and landlords using third-party background-screening companies can have additional obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other federal, state or local laws.

Do not assume that copying information from a public court website automatically satisfies employment or tenant-screening requirements. If the purpose is formal screening, use a legally appropriate process and confirm applicable rules.

Regardless of purpose, avoid describing an arrest or dismissed case as a conviction.

What not to rely on when checking someone’s criminal record

Avoid

Google snippets alone

Search-engine results can be outdated, incomplete or refer to another person with the same name.

Avoid

Mugshot pages alone

A booking photo says nothing about the final disposition and may remain online after dismissal.

Avoid

One private database

Commercial databases can miss records, duplicate records or fail to reflect expungement and later dispositions.

Use private databases only as leads, not as the final authority. Verify anything important in the official court or government system that maintains the original record.

A simple search example

Suppose you want to know whether someone named John Smith has a criminal record and you know he lived in Phoenix, Arizona and later Dallas, Texas.

1 Arizona Search Arizona court resources and Maricopa County criminal court records.
2 Texas Search Dallas County courts and Texas DPS public criminal-history resources.
3 Custody Check relevant county jail and state corrections databases if needed.
4 Federal Use PACER Case Locator to check federal court records nationwide.

At every stage, compare DOB, middle name and other identifiers before deciding that a case belongs to that person.

Finding out if someone has a criminal record: frequently asked questions

1. Can I find someone’s criminal record for free?

Often, yes for individual public court cases. Many state and county court systems provide free online case searches, although some jurisdictions charge for statewide criminal-history reports or certified copies.

2. Is there one website that searches every criminal record in the United States?

No single free public government website contains every state, county, municipal and federal criminal case. Searches usually require multiple court and government systems.

3. What is the best place to start?

Start with the official court system in the state and county where the person lived or where the suspected arrest or prosecution occurred.

4. Can I search federal criminal cases by name?

Yes. PACER allows registered users to search specific federal courts or use the nationwide PACER Case Locator.

5. Can I order an FBI background check on another person?

The ordinary FBI Identity History Summary process is fingerprint based and is principally for individuals to obtain their own record. It is not a public name-search database for checking anyone.

6. How much does an FBI Identity History Summary cost?

The FBI currently charges $18 for an Identity History Summary request, excluding any additional fingerprint or approved-channeler charges.

7. How can I check whether someone is currently in jail?

Search the official sheriff, detention center or jail roster in the county where the person may have been arrested.

8. How can I check whether someone served time in federal prison?

Use the Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator. Its electronic records cover federal inmates from 1982 to the present.

9. Where can I search sex-offender registration records nationwide?

Use the U.S. Department of Justice Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website at NSOPW.gov. It searches participating public registries across all states, D.C., territories and Indian Country.

10. Does no result mean the person has never had a criminal record?

No. The record may be in another jurisdiction, under another name, older than the online system, sealed, expunged, confidential, juvenile, federal or otherwise unavailable in the database searched.

Official resources for checking criminal records

Editorial note: Criminal-Record.org is an independent informational resource and is not affiliated with any court, law-enforcement agency or government body. Criminal-record access varies by jurisdiction and can change because of sealing, expungement, juvenile confidentiality, statutory restrictions, corrections and data-retention policies. Verify important information with the court or agency maintaining the original record. An arrest, jail booking, warrant or criminal charge should never be treated as proof of guilt.

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