How to get your own criminal record

Before you ask a court to clear a record, it helps to see the record itself: every arrest, every charge and how each case ended. You can ask the state agency that keeps criminal history records for a copy of your own record, and you can ask the FBI for your federal record. This guide explains both and has a free letter and a checklist you can fill in your browser.

Your state record

Each state keeps a central criminal history record, usually at the state police or a state bureau. You can usually ask for a copy of your own record; some states ask for a form, a fee or fingerprints. Our 50 published state guides name the office and how it gives you your record. The table after this guide lists them, and the free letter below asks that office for a copy.

Your FBI record

• The FBI keeps a national record of arrests that were sent in with fingerprints. You can ask for your own copy to review it or to prove you have no record.
• Fee: $18
• With a mailed request, you can ask the FBI to waive the fee if you cannot afford it. Include your request for a waiver and proof that you cannot pay with your original request.
• Start online at edo.cjis.gov with your own personal email address. You get a secure link and PIN to finish the form, check status and get your results. You need fingerprints. After you finish the online request, you can have them taken electronically at a participating U.S. Post Office. Additional fees may apply. You can also choose to get your results by First-Class Mail.
• You can also mail a written request with your name, date and place of birth, a fingerprint card, and the $18 fee as a certified check or money order payable to the Treasury of the United States. Mail it to FBI CJIS Division, ATTN: SCU, Mod. D-2, 1000 Custer Hollow Road, Clarksburg, WV 26306.
• It lists the agency that sent the fingerprints, the arrest date, the charge and the outcome if the FBI knows it. The FBI did not create the arrest data. It comes from police, courts and other agencies. It may be missing outcomes or arrests kept only by your state.

Law: 28 CFR 16.30-16.34

If something is wrong

Records can have mistakes: a case shown as open after it was dismissed, or an arrest that belongs to someone else. The office that keeps the record can tell you how to ask for a correction. For reports made by background check companies, federal law gives you the right to dispute:

• A federal law, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), sets rules for companies that sell background checks to employers and landlords. It limits how long some records can be reported and lets you see and dispute what is in your file.

  Law: 15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq. (Fair Credit Reporting Act)

• If something in your file is wrong or incomplete, you can dispute it with the company. It must look into it for free, usually within 30 days, and fix or delete information that is wrong or cannot be verified. If your record was sealed or expunged, you can send a copy of the court order with your dispute.

  Law: 15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)

What to gather before you file

When you know what is on your record, gather the papers for each case. The checklist below lists what people usually need, with your state's forms and fees.

What the free letter says

The letter asks the state office for a copy of your own criminal history record. It gives your full name, any other names you have used and your date of birth, so the office can find your record, and the mailing address where it should send the record. It asks the office to tell you if it needs a fee, a form, fingerprints or a copy of your ID. You sign it and send it yourself; keep a copy and note the date you sent it.

Some offices handle requests only online or in person. The letter lets you choose that option, and your state page links the office's own instructions.

This is general information, not legal advice. Whether a record can be cleared depends on the whole record and the state's law; the court decides. A legal aid office can check your case for free, and each state page lists free help.