New York Criminal Records

New York splits its criminal records in a way no other state does: the police repository is closed, the court system sells a statewide search, and the free online court tool shows only pending cases. A background check company's "New York criminal records" therefore come from one of two places, the court system's $95 search or a hand-collected copy of county court indexes, and never from the state's fingerprint file. This page gives the New York rule and the New York search for each record, with government sources only.

The Division of Criminal Justice Services holds New York's fingerprint-based criminal history, and its record review page says who can see it: the records "cannot be provided under the state's Freedom of Information Law and DCJS does not release criminal history records to third parties or businesses that sell 'background checks.' Third parties or businesses that sell 'background checks' get that information by searching public" name-based sources. That sentence, from the state itself, is the whole story of the private databases in one line.

A person can see their own record through the Division's personal record review program, with fingerprints and a $17.50 fingerprint processing fee, waived on application for those who cannot pay. Employers and licensing bodies that a statute authorizes get fingerprint checks through the Division at "the standard DCJS processing fee for background checks" of $75, plus the FBI's $14.75 when a federal check is included, per the Division's record review questions. Nobody else gets the file.

New York is one of the few states whose court system sells a statewide criminal search. The Office of Court Administration's Criminal History Record Search costs "$95.00," and the office describes its limits precisely: "the search criteria is strictly based on an exact match of Name and DOB (variations of Name or DOB are not reported)," "sealed records are not disclosed," and "Town & Village criminal disposition data is limited." It is available by mail or through the office's online direct access program, and it covers the state's county, city, district and supreme courts, which is why it is the record most New York employers actually buy.

The free tool is narrower than people think. The court system's WebCrims "provides information on criminal cases with future appearance dates for selected New York State Courts of criminal jurisdiction." A case that is closed is not in it; a case in a court that does not participate is not in it. So a clear WebCrims search means only that the person has no upcoming court date in a participating court, and the closed history is in the $95 search or at the county clerk's counter. Sealed cases, under Criminal Procedure Law sections 160.50, 160.55 and 160.59, and the convictions sealed automatically under the Clean Slate Act since November 2024, are excluded from both.

New York's Freedom of Information Law, Public Officers Law article 6, opens arrest records and police blotters, with the law enforcement exemption for records that would interfere with an investigation. Since 2019 it treats the booking photograph differently. The state's Committee on Open Government records in its 2019 annual report that "on April 12, 2019, the Governor signed legislation, as part of the fiscal year 2020 Public Protection and General Government Article VII Budget Bill, amending the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) to expressly provide that 'an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy'" includes the disclosure of arrest and booking photographs unless releasing them serves a specific law enforcement purpose. New York agencies therefore no longer hand mug shots to the public as a matter of course, which is why the mug shot sites have far fewer New York photographs than Florida ones.

Who is in custody is posted by the correction departments. The New York City Department of Correction's person in custody lookup finds "the current location of a person in custody in DOC custody, along with basic case information" for the five boroughs; the State Commission of Correction keeps a directory of county jail locators for the rest of the state; and the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision's incarcerated lookup covers state prison, noting that information about a person who leaves custody is removed and "will reappear" if they return.

A New York money judgment is enforceable for twenty years and is a lien on the debtor's real property in the county where it is docketed for ten years, renewable, under the Civil Practice Law and Rules; the court records page covers where each is searched. Small claims run to $10,000 in the New York City Civil Court since the 2019 amendment, $5,000 in the city courts outside the city, and $3,000 in the town and village courts, which hear most of the state's misdemeanors and traffic cases outside the cities and whose "criminal disposition data is limited" in the statewide search, in the court system's own words.

New York is divided into four federal judicial districts under 28 U.S.C. 112. The Northern District covers Albany, Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Otsego, Rensselaer, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Tioga, Tompkins, Ulster, Warren and Washington, with court at Albany, Auburn, Binghamton, Malone, Plattsburgh, Syracuse, Utica and Watertown. The Southern District covers Bronx, Dutchess, New York, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan and Westchester, with court at New York and White Plains. The Eastern District covers Kings, Nassau, Queens, Richmond and Suffolk, with court at Brooklyn, Hauppauge, Hempstead and Central Islip. The Western District covers Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates, with court at Buffalo, Canandaigua, Elmira, Jamestown and Rochester. A federal case from any New York county is on one of those four dockets and on PACER, whose prices and gaps are on the criminal records page.

Whether a person has a New York conviction: the court system's $95 statewide search answers it, on an exact name and date of birth, sealed cases left out, town and village dispositions incomplete. The state's fingerprint file answers it only for the person and the authorized agencies.

Whether a person has a pending case: WebCrims answers it, free, for the participating courts.

Whether a person is in custody now: the city, county and state lookups above answer it.

Whether an old case can still be found: a sealed case is out of every state search, a judgment is live for twenty years, and a copy that predates a sealing is reached through the federal rule.