You can find many criminal records for free by searching the right court or agency directly: state court online portals, public terminals at county courthouses, the federal PACER system (which waives fees under $30 a quarter), and the National Sex Offender Public Website. What no free tool gives you is a single nationwide search. Criminal records are held by whichever government took the case, so finding them for free means figuring out where to look before you start typing a name.
Which Government Holds the Record
Criminal history data sits across multiple levels of government, and the right place to look depends on the type of offense and where it occurred.
- County and city courts. Local courts handle most criminal cases, including misdemeanors and felonies prosecuted in their jurisdiction. The clerk of court at each courthouse maintains case files, docket entries, and sentencing records for cases tried there.
- State agencies. State police or departments of public safety usually keep a consolidated criminal history repository that pulls in records reported by local agencies across the state. This is where to go when a single county isn’t enough.
- Federal district courts. Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over federal offenses, including things like bank robbery, tax fraud, and interstate drug trafficking. A person convicted in federal court will not show up in any state or county system.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3231 – District Courts
- The FBI. The FBI maintains the most comprehensive national database, compiled from submissions by law enforcement agencies across the country. These records, called Identity History Summaries or “rap sheets,” are available by request but are not free and generally only to the person the record is about.
Searching the wrong level is the most common dead end. A clean county result means nothing if the case was filed in a neighboring county or in federal court. Start with the jurisdiction where the incident happened, then widen out.
Free Online Searches
The fastest free option for most people is an online case search through a state court system’s website. A growing number of states run publicly accessible databases where you can search by name and pull up charges, court dates, and dispositions. Quality varies. Some portals cover the entire state, others only certain counties or case types. A few states don’t offer public online search at all, and a handful charge fees even for basic name searches through the state repository.
Two federal tools are worth knowing. The National Sex Offender Public Website lets you search registered sex offenders across all states, territories, and tribal lands by name, zip code, or address radius at no cost.2National Sex Offender Public Website. Search Public Sex Offender Registries The RECAP Archive, maintained by the Free Law Project, offers free access to millions of federal court documents that PACER users have voluntarily shared. RECAP won’t have every case, but it’s a useful first stop before paying PACER fees.
Free online databases lag behind real time. A case resolved last week may not show up for days or weeks depending on how quickly the clerk updates the system. Many older cases were never digitized at all. Treat online results as a starting point, not the final word.
Searching at a Courthouse
Walking into a courthouse is the most reliable free option. Most courthouses have public access terminals or kiosks in the clerk’s office where anyone can search case records at no charge. You can view case details, hearing dates, charges, and outcomes on the screen without paying anything.
When you need the full case file rather than a summary, ask the clerk to pull the physical file or provide a digital version for on-site review. This usually means signing a viewing log or showing ID. The actual file has things that never make it into the online summary: motions, evidence lists, plea agreements, sentencing orders.
Viewing is free. Taking something with you is not. Photocopies generally run between a quarter and a couple of dollars per page depending on the jurisdiction. If you only need to confirm that a record exists and see the outcome, the terminal search itself costs nothing.
Using PACER for Federal Cases
Federal criminal cases do not appear in state court databases. The Public Access to Court Electronic Records system, known as PACER, is the online gateway for federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy court records.3United States Courts. Find a Case (PACER) Anyone can create a PACER account. The system technically charges $0.10 per page, but it waives all fees if your total charges stay at $30 or less per quarter.4PACER: Federal Court Records. PACER Pricing: How Fees Work
That quarterly waiver makes PACER effectively free for most individual searches. A single document is capped at $3.00 regardless of length, and a basic docket search for a specific person rarely runs more than a few dollars. The waiver does not apply to transcripts of court proceedings or large batch searches, so those can add up. Every search incurs at least a $0.10 charge even if it returns no results.4PACER: Federal Court Records. PACER Pricing: How Fees Work
PACER’s search interface lets you filter by date range, case type, and party name. Results come back as a chronological docket with links to individual filings. It takes some getting used to, but for anyone verifying whether a federal criminal case exists, PACER is the authoritative source.
What Information You Need
A full legal name is the minimum for any search. Add a date of birth and you sharply cut the chance of pulling up records for someone else with the same name. If the person has used other names, including maiden names or known aliases, search those separately, because records may be filed under whichever name was legal at the time of the arrest.
A specific case number makes everything faster. It lets you pull the exact file without scrolling through search results. Some state criminal history repositories accept a Social Security number for more precise matching, though most online portals rely on name and date of birth alone.
No universal form is required. The Freedom of Information Act, which governs access to records held by federal executive branch agencies, does not require any specific form.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 U.S.C. 552 – Public Information; Agency Rules, Opinions, Orders, Records, and Proceedings Court records operate under a different framework based on the common law right of public access to judicial documents. In practice, courthouse clerks and state agencies use their own request forms, but plenty of searches can be done without any paperwork at all.
When the Free Part Ends
The distinction that catches people out is between searching and obtaining. Searching a public terminal or online database is typically free. Getting a physical or digital copy costs money. Per-page copy fees generally range from $0.25 to $1.00 at most clerk’s offices.
Certified copies cost more. When you need a document stamped and authenticated by the clerk for a legal proceeding, employment verification, or an official application, expect a certification fee on top of the copy charge. These vary, but $5 to $10 per document is common for basic certifications. Multi-year searches or more complex verifications run higher. Most offices take credit cards, money orders, or cash.
State-level criminal history checks from a state police or public safety agency also carry fees, typically ranging from nothing to about $25 for a name-based search. Fingerprint-based state checks cost more. Each state sets its own price.
The FBI Identity History Summary
If what you actually want is a comprehensive check on yourself, the FBI’s Identity History Summary is the closest thing to a national criminal record. It compiles arrest and prosecution data submitted by law enforcement agencies across the country. It is not free. The current fee is $18, and the FBI does not accept personal checks or cash.6Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
You also need fingerprints. Unlike a name search, the FBI requires fingerprint verification. You can submit them electronically at participating U.S. Post Office locations, which may add their own fee, or mail a physical fingerprint card taken at a local law enforcement agency. Requests are processed in the order received.
If you cannot afford the $18 fee, the FBI has a fee waiver process. Contact them at (304) 625-5590 or identity@fbi.gov before submitting your request to get instructions.6Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions This is the most thorough single-source check available for your own history, but it is not one you can run on someone else.
What Free Searches Won’t Catch
Free tools have real limits, and leaning on them alone gives an incomplete picture. The biggest gap is geographic. A free search through one county’s court system tells you nothing about the next county over, another state, or federal court. No single free tool searches every jurisdiction at once.
Older cases are another problem. Many courts didn’t begin digitizing records until the 2000s or later. Anything before that may only exist as a physical file at the courthouse. Even in digitized systems, some record types are excluded from public searches by default, including juvenile cases, certain mental health proceedings, and records sealed by court order.
Accuracy is the third issue. Online databases sometimes show incomplete dispositions, meaning you might see an arrest without the dismissal or acquittal that followed. When something important rides on the result, confirm what you find online by requesting the actual case file from the courthouse or ordering an official record check from the state agency.