Puerto Rico Public Records

  Trusted Public Records Directory

Official Puerto Rico sources for criminal, court, vital, business and property records.

Sponsored
Statewide public records directory

Puerto Rico Official Records, Agencies & Answers

Start with four main Puerto Rico record topics, read the overview, then open the official sites listed below.

Top topic Criminal Records Background checks, inmates, sex offenders, and arrests
Top topic Court Records State court portals, dockets, filings, and case access
Top topic Vital Records Birth, death, marriage, and health records access
Top topic Property & Tax Property ownership, valuation, and tax record tools
PR

Puerto Rico public records at a glance

Where each kind of Puerto Rico record is kept.

Updated October 2026

Puerto Rico has no counties, so its records sit with territorial agencies, the courts and the 78 municipalities. Criminal record certificates come from the Puerto Rico Police, birth, marriage and death certificates from the Department of Health, corporations from the Department of State and property values from CRIM.

Official sources 17 Official sites listed on this page
FAQ / Q&A 9 Questions answered below

Local government

Puerto Rico has no counties; local government is run by its 78 municipalities.

State overview

About Puerto Rico public records

Court records are kept by the Judicial Branch: the Court of First Instance hears cases in judicial regions across the island, with appeals to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. Public information held by agencies is requested under Law 141-2019, explained below.

State snapshot Quick tip: Puerto Rico has no county jails or county courts. Arrests are made by the Puerto Rico Police or municipal police, and criminal cases go to the Court of First Instance. Bonus tip: the Puerto Rico Police certificate lists convictions, not arrests (Law 254-1974, Article 1).

How Puerto Rico's public information law works

Puerto Rico's Law 141-2019, the Transparency and Expedited Procedure for Access to Public Information Act, lets any person ask for public information in writing or by email without showing a particular interest. Each agency names Information Officers who receive and number the requests (text of the law, Articles 5 and 6).

Deadlines: 20 business days, or 30 business days when the file runs past 300 pages or is more than three years old. The agency can extend once by 20 business days if it tells the requester within the first period. No answer in time counts as a denial (Article 7).

Fees: inspecting records is free. Copies cost the direct reproduction cost and postage, and a person who shows indigence pays nothing (Article 8).

Appeals: a requester who is refused, or gets no answer in time, can file a special petition for access to public information in the San Juan region of the Court of First Instance within 30 days. There is no filing fee and no lawyer is required, and the court must rule within 10 days of the agency's answer or the hearing (Article 9).

What you cannot get in Puerto Rico

  • The official criminal record is the Certificado de Antecedentes Penales issued by the Puerto Rico Police. Sites that sell an instant Puerto Rico criminal history are not that record.
  • Juvenile records are generally confidential under Puerto Rico law and not available without court order.
  • Confidential information: anything classified as confidential by a law, regulation or court order before the request is not released (Law 141-2019, Article 7).

Clearing a conviction from the certificate

The rules are in Law 254-1974 (34 L.P.R.A. § 1725 and following; text of the law).

Misdemeanors: the Puerto Rico Police removes a misdemeanor conviction from the certificate automatically 30 days after the sentence is completed, if no new crime was committed and the person is not on the sex offender, corruption or domestic violence registries (Article 3).

Felonies: five years after completing the sentence, with no new crime, a good reputation in the community and any required DNA sample given, the person can ask the Court of First Instance to remove the conviction. People on the sex offender or corruption registries cannot (Article 4).

Revoked sentences and convictions already removed are left off the certificate, and a person with no file receives a negative certificate (Articles 6 and 7).

How to get your own Puerto Rico criminal record

The Puerto Rico Police (Policía de Puerto Rico), an independent agency again since Law 83-2025 took effect on July 30, 2025, issues the Certificado de Antecedentes Penales, a list of the convictions on a person's file.

  1. Open the certificate service on PR.gov.
  2. Identify yourself with a Puerto Rico driver's license or a DTOP identification card and choose the purpose, such as employment, studies or a passport or visa.
  3. Use the same service to validate a certificate someone hands you.
  4. Each certificate warns that it may leave out misdemeanor convictions more than six months after the sentence was served and felony convictions more than five years after (Law 254-1974, Article 2).

Puerto Rico record laws to know

  • Law 141-2019 (3 L.P.R.A. § 9915 to 9919): requests, deadlines, fees and court review for public information.
  • Law 254-1974 (34 L.P.R.A. § 1725 and following): the criminal record certificate and the removal of convictions.
  • Federal records: the FBI Identity History Summary is the national U.S. record and is requested from the FBI, not from Puerto Rico.
Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

Answers to common questions about Puerto Rico public records.

Q What is included in a Puerto Rico background check?
The official criminal record is the Certificado de Antecedentes Penales, requested through the certificate service on PR.gov. Checks with fingerprints for jobs and licenses go through the Department of Justice fingerprint portal, which sends the prints to the FBI. Sex offender status is public on the National Sex Offender Public Website, and court cases can be looked up with the judiciary's Consulta de Casos.
Q Where can I find police reports in Puerto Rico?
Ask the Puerto Rico Police (Policía de Puerto Rico) station that handled the incident, or file a written request under Law 141-2019, the public information law. A refusal, or no answer in time, can be taken to the Court of First Instance. Police headquarters: 601 Avenida Franklin Delano Roosevelt, San Juan, phone (787) 793-1234.
Q What are the procedures to obtain Puerto Rico vital records, and what information is included?
Birth, marriage and death certificates come from the Demographic Registry (Registro Demográfico) of the Puerto Rico Department of Health. Request them at a Registry office, by mail with the Department's form, or online through the platforms the Department approves. The Department's pages for birth, marriage and death certificates list the requirements and the approved online platforms.
Q Where is Puerto Rico school performance data published?
The Puerto Rico Department of Education publishes school data on its E-Data portal, including the Conoce tu Escuela school profiles and the community profiles made with the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics.
Q Where are Puerto Rico crime statistics published?
The Puerto Rico Police publishes crime, domestic violence and sexual crime reports on its statistics page. Certified figures come from the Police's Crime Statistics Division, phone (787) 793-1234, extensions 2603, 2604 and 2606.
Q Where is a person taken after an arrest in Puerto Rico?
A person arrested by the Puerto Rico Police is processed at a police station, and the case goes to the Court of First Instance, where it can be followed with the judiciary's Consulta de Casos. People held on Puerto Rico charges are in the custody of the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation, phone (787) 273-6464. People held on federal charges go to MDC Guaynabo, run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Q Can I find public records at a Puerto Rico library?
Historical government records are at the General Archive of Puerto Rico (Archivo General), part of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, which keeps government documents, maps, photographs, films and newspapers. The National Library of Puerto Rico shares its building and has an online catalog. Current records are asked for from the agency that holds them, under Law 141-2019.
Q Where is the Puerto Rico National Library?
The National Library of Puerto Rico and the General Archive share the Dr. Ricardo Alegría building at 500 Avenida de la Constitución, Puerta de Tierra, San Juan, across from Luis Muñoz Rivera Park. The Library is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Phone for the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture: (787) 724-0700.
Q Where can I get fingerprinted in Puerto Rico?
Fingerprints for background checks with the FBI are booked through the Puerto Rico Department of Justice fingerprint portal, which lists the fingerprint sites. Bring the printed request form and a current photo ID. The fee depends on the agency and the purpose.