How to Find Out Someones Criminal Record for Free

Free U.S. public-record search guide

A free criminal-record search works best when you start with the correct jurisdiction

There is no single free federal website that contains every person’s complete criminal record from every state, county, city and federal court. The most reliable no-cost approach is to identify where the person lived or where the possible arrest or prosecution occurred, search that jurisdiction’s official court system, then check corrections, jail, sex-offender and federal sources only when they are relevant.

Coverage: United States Goal: Free official-source searching Information checked: October 2026

Fast answer: Start with the person’s state court system, then search the county where the possible case occurred. Check the state Department of Corrections if prison history is relevant, the county sheriff for recent jail records, and the free federal NSOPW registry when sex-offender registration is the specific question. Federal court records use PACER, which is not completely free, although many low-usage accounts ultimately owe no quarterly fee.

Search court cases Usually the best free starting point for charges and dispositions.

State court →

Search county records Useful when statewide court access is incomplete.

County search →

Check recent custody County sheriff or jail systems can show current bookings.

Jail records →

Search prison records Use the state’s official Department of Corrections locator.

Corrections →

Check federal records PACER and BOP are separate from state criminal records.

Federal search →

“Free criminal record search” does not mean every record is free everywhere

Many government agencies let the public search basic criminal case or custody information online without charge. Others charge for name searches, document downloads, fingerprints or certified copies. Public-access rules also differ from state to state.

Record source	Often free?	What it can answer	Important limitation
State judiciary case search	Often	Filed criminal cases, docket, disposition	Coverage and document access vary by state.
County court/clerk portal	Often	Local criminal cases and older records	Some counties charge search or copy fees.
County sheriff/jail	Usually	Current inmate, booking and custody information	Does not prove conviction.
State Department of Corrections	Usually	State prison and supervision information	Does not include every county-jail detainee.
State criminal-history repository	Varies	Statewide criminal history when public access is allowed	Some states charge or restrict third-party access.
NSOPW	Yes	Public sex-offender registry information nationwide	Not a complete criminal-history search.
PACER	Not fully	Federal court dockets and documents	Usage fees can apply.
BOP Inmate Locator	Yes	Federal inmate information from 1982 onward	Federal custody only.
FBI Identity History Summary	No	Your own fingerprint-based FBI history	Not a public lookup of another person.

The cheapest reliable strategy: exhaust official court, jail and corrections searches before paying a commercial people-search company. Public government systems often provide the information needed to identify the real case.

Collect a few details before searching

Free searching becomes much easier when you can narrow the person to a state, county and approximate time period.

full legal first and last name
middle name or middle initial
former or maiden names
approximate date of birth
current or former state
county connected with the possible offense
approximate arrest or case year
court case number, if already known

A first-and-last-name match is not enough. Common names can produce unrelated criminal cases. Compare middle name, age, birth date when lawfully displayed, county, case date and other identifiers before deciding that a record belongs to the person you are checking.

Follow this order to find criminal records without wasting money

1 Find the state Identify where the person lived or where the possible offense occurred.

2 Search courts Start with the official state judiciary or local court portal.

3 Check county Search the clerk or court if statewide access is incomplete.

4 Check custody Use the sheriff, jail or state corrections locator.

5 Verify outcome Read the disposition before calling something a conviction.

Identify the likely jurisdiction

Criminal cases normally remain in the court system where the alleged offense was prosecuted. A person living in Florida today could have a criminal case in Ohio from years earlier.

Locate the official state judiciary

Use the state’s judicial-branch website and look for Case Search, Case Lookup, Public Access, Criminal Records or Docket Search.

Search the county if needed

Some states centralize court searching. Others leave important records with county clerks, circuit courts, district courts, superior courts or municipal courts.

Check jail or corrections only when relevant

A recent arrest is often easier to find through a county jail. An old prison sentence may be easier to locate through the state Department of Corrections.

Search federal records separately

Federal criminal cases are not normally included in state court searches. Use PACER and the Federal Bureau of Prisons when the possible case is federal.

Verify the final disposition

Do not stop after finding an arrest or charge. Determine whether the case was dismissed, resulted in acquittal, conviction, diversion, deferred adjudication or another outcome.

Start with the official state court system

For most people, this is the best free starting point because court records can show whether prosecutors actually filed a criminal case and how that case ended.

The federal government’s USA.gov court directory can help you locate federal, state, territory, county and municipal court systems.

Find an official court

Do not assume every state works the same way. One state may offer a free statewide search, while another may require separate county searches. Follow the court structure of the jurisdiction you are researching.

Search the county when statewide access is incomplete

County-level searching is especially important when a state does not provide one comprehensive statewide trial-court search.

Depending on the jurisdiction, criminal cases may be maintained by:

Clerk

Clerk of Court

Common in states where one elected clerk maintains trial-court case records.

Trial court

Superior / Circuit Court

Often handles felony and higher-level criminal cases.

Lower court

District / County Court

Can handle misdemeanors and other criminal matters depending on state law.

City

Municipal Court

May handle ordinance, misdemeanor or traffic matters in some jurisdictions.

How to find the correct county

Use the location where the alleged offense or arrest occurred, not simply the person’s current home. If you know the city, determine which county serves that city and then locate the official clerk or court.

USA.gov also provides access to state and local government directories.

An arrest record is not the same thing as a criminal conviction

An arrest record is usually created by the police department, sheriff or another law-enforcement agency. A court record begins when charges are filed with a court.

Record	Usually kept by	What it may show	What it does not prove
Arrest	Police / sheriff	Date, agency, alleged offense	Guilt or conviction
Booking	County jail / sheriff	Custody, booking date, listed charges	Final court outcome
Criminal case	Court	Filed charges, hearings, disposition	Nothing beyond what the court record actually states
Conviction	Court / state repository	Finding or plea resulting in conviction	Other unrelated allegations

Never describe someone as convicted because you found a mugshot or arrest log. Search for the related court case and read the final disposition.

Use sheriff and jail searches for very recent arrests

When an arrest happened recently, the county jail may show useful information before the court case becomes easy to find online.

Search the official county website for terms such as:

inmate search
jail roster
booking search
inmate locator
custody search
recent arrests

Jail systems can show current custody, booking date, bond information and listed charges depending on local policy.

Timing matters. Booking charges can differ from charges later filed by the prosecutor, and a person can be released before their court case is resolved.

Check the state Department of Corrections for prison history

A state corrections locator is useful when you believe the person served or is serving a state-prison sentence.

USA.gov’s State Departments of Corrections directory helps locate each state’s official corrections agency.

Find a state corrections department

Depending on the state, an offender locator may show:

offender or inmate number
current facility
custody status
sentence information
projected release information
parole or supervision information

A DOC search is not a complete criminal-record search. Someone may have misdemeanor convictions, probation, dismissed cases or county-jail history without ever entering the state prison system.

Use the state’s criminal-history agency when it offers public access

Most states maintain a centralized criminal-history repository, but public access rules differ widely. The agency may be called a State Police bureau, Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice or State Identification Bureau.

The FBI maintains an official State Identification Bureau Listing covering the states, District of Columbia and U.S. territories.

Find the state criminal-history agency

Before paying for a state search, check the access rules

Some state repositories offer free public conviction searches. Others charge a small fee. Some make detailed criminal-history reports available only to the subject of the record or authorized requesters.

Free-search strategy: first use the official state and county courts. Pay for a state criminal-history search only when the court results are incomplete or when you specifically need the repository’s statewide record.

There is one genuinely free nationwide government registry search

The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) is managed by the U.S. Department of Justice’s SMART Office and searches public registry information supplied by states, territories and participating tribes.

Search NSOPW free

No membership or payment is required. Depending on information supplied by participating jurisdictions, searches can include:

name
jurisdiction
address
ZIP code
county
city or town

NSOPW is not a nationwide criminal-record database. It searches qualifying public sex-offender registry information. A person who does not appear there can still have another type of criminal record.

Federal criminal cases are separate from free state-court searches

Federal prosecutions are handled by U.S. district courts rather than state or county courts. The official electronic federal court service is PACER.

PACER can search a specific federal court or the nationwide PACER Case Locator.

PACER does not include state or county courts. Use it only when you believe the case is federal.

Is PACER free?

Not entirely. PACER currently charges $0.10 per page for most electronic access, with most individual case documents capped at $3.

However, if your total PACER charges are $30 or less in a calendar quarter, the fees are currently waived. Court opinions are free, and federal courthouse public-access terminals can also provide free case viewing.

Search federal cases Check current PACER pricing

Cheapest PACER method: if you know the federal court and case number, search that court directly instead of running broad nationwide name searches that can create extra billable result pages.

Federal prison information is free through the Bureau of Prisons

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

Search federal inmates

Users can search by federal identifying number or by name. Name searches can also use age, race and sex fields to narrow results.

A BOP result is a custody record, not automatically proof of conviction. Some people can enter federal custody for reasons other than serving a final federal sentence. Use the associated federal court record when you need the legal outcome.

For federal incarceration before 1982, the Bureau of Prisons directs researchers toward the National Archives because many older records are held there.

You cannot use the FBI website as a free search of someone else’s rap sheet

The FBI’s Identity History Summary is a fingerprint-based record available for a person to review their own FBI-maintained identity-history information.

It is not a free public lookup where you can enter another person’s name.

The current FBI fee for an Identity History Summary is $18.

FBI Identity History Summary

Checking yourself? A fingerprint-based record review can be more reliable than name searching because fingerprints establish identity. For employment, licensing or adoption inside the United States, the required procedure may instead run through a state agency or authorized channel.

Always find the final court disposition

A free search is only useful if you interpret what you find correctly.

Term	General meaning	What to do
Arrested	Law enforcement took the person into custody or formally accused them.	Search for the later court case.
Charged	A formal criminal allegation was filed.	Do not call it a conviction.
Pending	The case has not reached final disposition.	Check recent docket entries.
Dismissed	The charge ended without conviction on that charge.	Check all counts in the case.
Acquitted / Not guilty	No conviction was entered for that adjudicated charge.	Represent the result accurately.
Convicted / Guilty	A conviction was entered.	Review sentence and later appeal if relevant.
Sealed / Expunged	Public access has been restricted under applicable law or order.	Do not assume the event never existed.

“No records found” does not prove someone has no criminal record

A negative online search has several possible explanations.

the person has no record in that jurisdiction
the record is in another county or state
the case predates the online database
the name is spelled differently
the record is under a former or maiden name
the matter was sealed or expunged
the case is juvenile or otherwise restricted
the case is federal rather than state

Before giving up: try name variations, identify earlier addresses, search neighboring counties where the person lived, and check whether the court has a published online-record cutoff date.

Older criminal records may exist only at the courthouse or archives

Many free online case systems do not include the court’s entire historical archive. A courthouse may have decades of older records that were never fully digitized.

When an old case does not appear online

Check the court’s online coverage dates

Look for FAQs or record-access notes explaining how far back the electronic system goes.

Identify the original court

Find the county and court that would have handled the offense at the time.

Contact the clerk

Ask whether older indexes can be searched in person, by mail or through a clerk-assisted record request.

Ask about archives

Very old court or correctional records may have been transferred to a state archive or other repository.

Free inspection may still be possible. Even when the courthouse charges for copies, some jurisdictions allow public inspection of records at the clerk’s office or courthouse terminal without a document-copy charge.

How to make sure the criminal record belongs to the right person

Wrong-person matches are one of the biggest risks in public criminal-record searching.

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