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Jump to: Statewide Criminal Background Check Resources


Criminal Records

 

A criminal history record describes any arrests and subsequent dispositions attributable to an individual. Complete, accurate, and immediately accessible records enable states to:
  • immediately identify individuals with prior criminal records in any state
  • more effectively identify felons and others prohibited from firearm purchases
  • check backgrounds of persons responsible for child, elder and disabled care
  • identify individuals who have a history of domestic violence or stalking
  • make informed decisions relating to pretrial release and detention of offenders, prosecutions of career criminals and appropriate correctional confinement
  • conduct background checks to protect public safety and national security

Criminal records are maintained by each state in a central repository. To facilitate the interstate exchange of criminal history records, the FBI maintains the Interstate Identification Index (III) which is an “index-pointer” system to records of persons arrested for felonies or serious misdemeanors under state or federal law.

On December 31, 2003 —

  • Over 71 million criminal history records were in the criminal history files of the state criminal history repositories. (An individual offender may have records in several states.)

     
  • Ninety-four percent of the criminal history records maintained by the state criminal history repositories were automated. Approximately 4.1 million records, or 5.7%, were not automated.

     
  • All of the reporting states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia had automated at least some records in either the criminal history record file or the master name index.
                                                                               ~ US Department of Justice

Statewide Criminal Background Check Resources

Important Notes:
Not all states allow public access to statewide criminal records information. Some allow online access, while others require written application forms. Fees vary, and access may require a specific authorization form and/or specific identifying information such as full name, address, date of birth, social security number, and county of residence.

Information provided by a statewide record system may be incomplete due to limited date ranges or the limited number of courts and offenses for which records are maintained. “Offender” or “inmate” searches are generally limited to individuals who were sentenced to state prison. Many states provide free online access to sex offender registries (SORs), but information provided through these registries is also limited. Check with the sources listed about such limitations.

Criminal records checks include convictions and sometimes arrests. Child abuse registry checks can reveal if a person was named in a report, but registry checks are not available in all states. Contact the state child protective services agency for information on access.

The information below was current as of April, 2003. Websites, telephones, and addresses may have changed.

Alabama
Inmate search. http://www.doc.state.al.us/inmsearch.asp
Criminal records: Setup fee plus 35 cents per minute
State Court Administration; (800) 392-8077.

Alaska
Appellate: http://www.appellate.courts.state.ak.us/mainpage.asp  court searches from 1990.
Department of Public Safety Records Section, 450 Whittier Ave, Room 103, Juneau, AK 99801-1745; (907) 465-4343.

Arizona
http://www.supreme.state.az.us/publicaccess/default.htm
Phone or fax requests: Arizona Department of Corrections; Fax: 602-542-2859; Phone requests: 602-542-5586.
SOR: http://www.azsexoffender.com/

Arkansas
Inmate searches.
Arkansas Crime Information Center, One Capitol Mall, Little Rock, AK 72201; (501) 682-2222.

California
Department of Justice Records Review Unit, P.O. Box 903417, Sacramento, CA 94203; (916) 227-3849.

Colorado
Electronic Clearance System (ECS). $6.85 per search. https://www.cbirecordscheck.com/Index.asp
SOR: accessible by state residents only
Bureau of Special Investigations, 690 Kipling Street, Room 3000, Denver, CO 80215-5844.

Connecticut
Mail requests only. $25.
State Police Bureau of Identification, PO Box 2794, Middletown, CT 06457-9294.
Form: http://www.state.ct.us/dps/SPBI.htm
SOR: http://www.state.ct.us/dps/Sor.htm

Delaware:
http://www.state.de.us/dsp/sbi.htm
State Bureau of Identification; 302-739-5880.
SOR: http://www.state.de.us/dsp/sexoff/search.htm
Bureau of Special Investigations, P.O. Box 430, Dover, DE 19903.

District of Columbia
Metropolitan P.D. Criminal Records Section, 300 Indiana Ave. NW MPD HQ Room 3055. Washington D.C. 20001; (202) 727-4245.

Florida
Offender search. http://www.dc.state.fl.us/inmateinfo/inmateinfomenu.asp
Criminal records: $23 (no charge for SOR); http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/CriminalHistory/
Department of Law Enforcement CJIS Services, USB/Public Records PO Box 1489, Tallahassee, FL 32302.

Georgia
Offender search: http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/OffenderQuery/asp/OffenderQueryForm.asp
Fees vary up to $20.00
http://www.ganet.org/gbi/crimhist.html
Georgia Crime Information Center, Security Operations, PO Box 370748, Decatur, Georgia 30037-0748.
SOR: http://www.ganet.org/gbi/sorsch.cgi

Hawaii
$15 for name search; $25 fingerprint. Form: http://www.state.hi.us/hcjdc/forms/i-chrc.pdf
Criminal Justice Data Center, 465 S. King St, Room 101, Honolulu, HI 96813.

Idaho
Offenders search: https://www.accessidaho.org/public/corr/offender/search.html
Bureau of Criminal Identification, (208) 884-7130.
SOR: http://www.isp.state.id.us/identification/sex_offender/public_access.html

Illinois
Offenders search http://www.idoc.state.il.us/subsections/search/default.shtml
SOR http://www.isp.state.il.us/sor/frames.htm
$12 name only; $14 fingerprint. Forms can be ordered online at http://www.isp.state.il.us/services/uciaformreq.htm  or from State Police, Bureau of Identification, (815) 740-5216. 260 North Chicago Street, Joliet, IL 60432-4075.

Indiana
Felonies and class A misdemeanors. http://www.in.gov/isp/lch/index.html http://www.insd.uscourts.gov/casesearch.htm
Up to $17.50 per search.
SOR: http://www.state.in.us/serv/cji_sor
Criminal Justice Institute, 302 West Washington Street, Room E209, Indianapolis, IN 46204.

Iowa
Forms available at: http://www.state.ia.us/government/dps/dci/crimhist.htm  or from Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Wallace State Office Building, Des Moines, Iowa 50319.

Kansas
Released offenders. http://docnet.dc.state.ks.us/POSTREL.htm
Criminal records request forms: http://www.accesskansas.org/kbi/info_rci.htm
SOR: https://www.accesskansas.org/apps/kbiro_search.html
Bureau of Investigation, 1620 SouthWest Tyler Street, Topeka, KS 66612-1837.

Kentucky
Offenders search. http://www.cor.state.ky.us/
Criminal records: $10; Administrative Office of the Courts; 800-928-6381

Louisiana
Bureau of Criminal ID & Information, 265 South Foster Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70806; (225) 925-6095.
SOR: http://www.lasocpr.lsp.org/socpr/

Maine
$25. State Bureau of Identification (207) 624-7009.
Online requests: http://www.informe.org/PCR/
Bureau of Identification, State House Station 42, 36 Hospital Street, Augusta, ME 04330
(207) 624-7009.

Maryland
http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/refserv/html/criminalrecordslist.html
SOR: http://www.dpscs.state.md.us/sor/online_view.shtml
CJIS Central Repository
1201 Reisterstown Road, Building G, Pikesville, MD 21208; (410) 764-5160.

Massachusetts
http://www.state.ma.us/chsb/cori/cori_cert.html $30.
Criminal History Systems Board, 200 Arlington St., Suite 2200, Chelsea, MA 02150; ATTN: CORI Unit.


Michigan
Offender search: http://www.state.mi.us/mdoc/ASP/otis2.html
Internet Criminal History Access Tool: http://mi-mall.michigan.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10201&langId=-1&catalogId=10201
SOR: http://www.mipsor.state.mi.us/
CJIS Center, General Office Building, Wing 1-A 7150 Harris Drive, Lansing, MI 48913.

Minnesota
Offender search: http://info.doc.state.mn.us/publicviewer/main.asp
Criminal records: Written requests to: Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, 246 University Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55104-4197; (651) 642-0670. $4.

Mississippi
Criminal Information Center, 3891 Hwy 468 West, Pearl, MS 39208; (601) 933-2600.
SOR: http://www.sor.mdps.state.ms.us/

Missouri
Felonies and aggravated misdemeanors: Name search $5; fingerprint $14. Missouri State Highway Patrol at (573) 526-6153. P.O. Box 568, Jefferson City, MO 65102.

Montana
Written request to Criminal Records and Identification Services, 303 N. Roberts, P.O. Box 201403, Helena, MT 59620-1403. $8.

Nebraska
Criminal Justice Information Systems, P.O. Box 94907, Lincoln, NE 68509-4907; (402) 479-4938.

Nevada
Highway Patrol Records & ID Services, 555 Wright Way, Carson City, NV 89711-0585; (775) 687-5713.

New Hampshire
Written requests: http://www.state.nh.us/safety/nhsp/cr.html
New Hampshire Department of Safety, Division of State Police, Central Repository for Criminal Records, 10 Hazen Drive, Concord, NH 03305 ; (603) 271-2538.
SOR: http://www.state.nh.us/soupermail/secure/disclaimer.html

New Jersey
State Police Records and ID Section, River Road West, Trenton, NJ 08628-0068; (609) 882-2000, ext 2311.
SOR: http://www.njsp.org/info/reg_sexoffend.html

New Mexico
Written request: form at http://webapp.nm.net/menu/dps_back.htm
Department of Public Safety – Records, 4491 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505; (505) 827-3375.

New York
Offender search: http://nysdocslookup.docs.state.ny.us/kinqw00
SOR: 900-288-3838 $5.00 per call
Division of Criminal Justice Services, 4 Tower Place, Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, NY 12203-3764.

North Carolina
Bureau of Investigation, P.O. Box 29500, Raleigh, NC 27626; (919) 662-4500.
Offender search: http://webapps.doc.state.nc.us/apps/offender_servlets/menu1
SOR: http://sbi.jus.state.nc.us/DOJHAHT/SOR/Default.htm

North Dakota
Bureau of Criminal Investigations, P.O. Box 1054, Bismarck, ND 58502; (701) 328-5500.
SOR: http://www.ndsexoffender.com/

Ohio
Offender search: http://www.drc.state.oh.us/cfdocs/inmate/search.htm
Bureau of Criminal ID & Investigation, 1580 State Route 56 SouthWest, London, OH 3140; (614) 466-8204.

Oklahoma
Bureau of Investigation Criminal History Unit, 6600 North Harvey, Building 6, Suite 140, 73116; (405) 879-2689.
Mail-in application. $15. http://www.osbi.state.ok.us/CrimHistQuest.htm
Offender search: http://docapp8.doc.state.ok.us/servlet/page?_pageid=395&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30

Oregon
Oregon State Police, Unit 11, PO Box 4395, Portland, Oregon 97208-4395. $15.

Pennsylvania
$10. http://www.psp.state.pa.us/patch/site/default.asp
State Police, Central Repository-164, 1800 Elmerton Ave, Harrisburg, PA 17110; (717) 783-9973.

Rhode Island
Attorney General Bureau of Criminal Identification, 150 South Main Street, Providence, RI 02903; (401) 421-5268.

South Carolina
$25; $8 for nonprofit organizations. http://www.sled.state.sc.us/SLED/default.asp?Category=SLEDCRC&Service=CRC
State Law Enforcement Division, P.O. Box 21398, Columbia, SC 29221-1398; (803) 896-7043.

South Dakota
Attorney General Division of Criminal Investigation, 500 East Capitol Ave., Pierre, SD 7501-5070; (605) 773-3331.

Tennessee
Offender search: http://www.ticic.state.tn.us/Database/ISC_search_oct.htm
SOR: http://www.ticic.state.tn.us/SEX_ofndr/search_short.asp
Bureau of Investigation, 1144Foster Ave., Nashville, TN 37210.

Texas
http://records.txdps.state.tx.us/default.cfm
SOR: http://records.txdps.state.tx.us/soSearch/default.cfm
$3.15 per online search; $15 for paper requests, including fingerprint searches
Department of Public Safety Crime Records, 5805 North Lamar, Austin, TX 78765.

Utah
Court records: http://www.utcourts.gov/records/
SOR: http://corrections.utah.gov/community/sexoffenders/
Bureau of Criminal Identification, P.O. Box 148280, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-8280; (801) 965-4445.

Vermont
http://www.dps.state.vt.us/cjs/questions.htm
Criminal Information Center, 103 South Main Street, Waterbury, VT 05671-2101; (802) 224-8727.

Virginia
http://www.vsp.state.va.us/cjis_chrc.htm
State Police Criminal Record Exchange, P.O. Box C-85076, Richmond, VA 23261-5076; (804) 674-2070.
SOR: http://sex-offender.vsp.state.va.us/Static/Search.htm

Washington
$10. https://watch.wsp.wa.gov/
State Patrol Criminal History Division, P.O. Box 42633, Olympia, WA 98504-2633.

West Virginia
State Police Criminal Records, 725 Jefferson Road, South Charleston, WV 25309; (304) 746-2177.
SOR: http://www.wvstatepolice.com/sexoff/websearchform.cfm

Wisconsin
$2 to $10. http://www.doj.state.wi.us/dles/cib/crimback.asp
Crime Information Bureau, P.O. Box 2688, Madison, WI 53701-2688; (608) 266-5764.

Wyoming
Division of Criminal Investigation, 316 West 22nd Street, Cheyenne, WY 82002
(800)676-6856.
http://attorneygeneral.state.wy.us/dci/chc.html
 

 

 

 

 

 


 

    

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