Revealed: Proven Methods to Find Someone's Criminal Record

Running a background check on tenants or looking up dates online is important to ensure your safety from potential criminal activity. Considering that 72% of murder-suicide cases involve an intimate partner, while the culprits in 3,462 murder cases were acquaintances or strangers.

Thanks to technology, doing a criminal background check and pulling out a person’s records online is possible. Discover how to find someone’s criminal record in this article.

Read on. 

4 Methods to Discover a Person’s Criminal Records

Most criminal court records are publicly accessible. Depending on the document's nature, you may get a copy by visiting the court’s clerk's office or the state’s agency website.

One equally accurate and fastest way to check someone’s criminal record is through the best background check services, like TruthFinder. These sites have vast databases of criminal court records that cover nationwide cases.

You only need a few pieces of PII about the person to access detailed reports about them. Records are often easy-to-read and shareable, given that their use complies with federal and state laws.

Method 1: Use TruthFinder

TruthFinder is a popular search tool that allows you to fetch background information on individuals and businesses. It retrieves over 350 million records from all 50 states.

This tool can acquire various information about a person, like their addresses, phone numbers, and even criminal history records. Follow the guide below to search for somebody’s criminal record with TruthFinder.

Setting Up a TruthFinder Account

Creating a TruthFinder account is necessary to make your search more seamless. Below are the steps to set it up:

Step 1: Set up an account to unlock the full view of TruthFinder reports.

Step 2: Subscribe to one of the membership packages. It’s a must, especially if you need unlimited reports. You can pay via Paypal or through a credit or debit card.

Step 3: Open your email account for login and verification instructions.

Doing a Background Check with TruthFinder

After creating your own TruthFinder account, you can initiate a search to dig into someone’s criminal records. Here’s how:

Step 1: Log in to your TruthFinder account.

Step 2: On the dashboard’s search bar, enter the first name, last name, city, and state of the person. Click Search.

Step 3: Pick the closest profile match according to your ID description and view their report.

Step 4: Under Report Overview, check Key Information and Social Media Summary to verify the report’s accuracy.

Step 5: Scroll down and click the Criminal Records option. If the person has a criminal record, the report will look like this:

For only $3.99 per month, you can download reports for offline viewing through the PDF/Report Monitoring add-on. Once you’ve added it to your membership, you just need to click Download PDF in the Report Actions section to get a copy of the report.

Method 2: Search Using Arrests.org

Arrests.org is a data broker that stores arrest records collected from all 50 states. The website allows free access to a person’s criminal record file—including mugshots, arrest records, court records, and booking information. 

Follow the steps to learn how to navigate the website:

Step 1: Go to Arrests.org. 

Step 2: Enter the full name and state of residence of the person you want to check. Click Search.

Step 3: Click the mugshot of the person you’re looking for.

Step 4: Select More Information to get more details about the arrest.

If you do not have any ID information about the person you’re looking for, Arrests.org has a “Face Search” feature. You can upload a photo of anyone, and the site will reverse image search it for any existing criminal records.

Method 3: Utilize PACER

PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) is an online service managed by the Federal Administrative Office. Its goal is to help the public find federal court files.

The site’s services have a certain fee to access, download, and print public records. Here’s a summary of how much it usually charges:

• $2.40 per audio file (generated in mp3 format)
• $0.10 per page for documents, search results, and transcripts of court proceedings

Read the step-by-step guide on creating your PACER account and searching for somebody’s criminal record below:

Step 1: Go to PACER’s official website.

Step 2: Click Register for an Account and choose the Register for an Account Overview option to get an overview of the different accounts you can sign up for.

Step 3: Select the account that best addresses your current need. If you will only use PACER to check for a person’s cases, select Case Search Only.

Step 5: Log in at the page’s upper right corner.

Step 6: Select the Find a Case option on PACER’s homepage. You can look for anybody’s criminal record through the National Index or the case’s specific court.

Method 4: Check NSOPW

There were more than 200,000 victims of sexual assault. 28.86% of them are children aged 11–15 years old. That is why websites like NSOPW were created to ensure public safety.

The National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) is an online federal database that stores information about sex offenders. It is a free online service that is also available as a mobile application.

Follow the steps below to use NSOPW to find someone’s criminal record:

Step 1: Go to NSOPW.

Step 2: Fill out the fields with the name and location of your target person.

Step 3: Utilize the Advanced Search feature if you have more details about the person’s ID. This feature lets you enter a zip code, city, and address radius.

Step 4: After you input the requested information, several matches will appear. Scour through the listings to find the person you are looking for.

Conclusion

Finding someone’s criminal record can be daunting, but the right source extracts an accurate and detailed rap sheet.

Not all free online criminal record checkers are outdated or inaccurate. State-governed sites are likewise free, and yet they give detailed and updated results. Paid criminal record checkers like TruthFinder ask for payment, as running a site and consolidating private records are not free.