Criminal Records For Residents Of New York

April 27, 2014 by Arkady Bukh

The State of New York keeps several different archives of information on criminal records. However, a minor problem is that majority of these sources of New York criminal records deal mostly with convictions. Criminal records for New York State do not necessarily warrant convictions. In fact, not all criminal records for New York result in convictions. And for this reason, databases maintained by the New York State Government may not be as comprehensive a source as we would like them to be. Therefore, it is advised that when you conduct a criminal records search, you do not use the state repository as your only source of information. There are also various other sources of New York criminal records that are rarely tapped into. These are the following:

State Police

As stated earlier, the most obvious choice for you to search for New York criminal records is the state repository. It is the New York State Police that maintains the official database of criminal history record information. Here you can find an archive of all New York criminal records of felonies or misdemeanors of a serious nature. The New York criminal records contained in the New York State Police database are actually fingerprint-based arrest records. By statute, law enforcement agencies and court clerks are required to create fingerprint cards for each record of arrest that are sent to the New York State Police. If the New York criminal records are not accompanied by fingerprint cards, then they will be included in the repository.

Department of Corrections

The Department of Corrections keeps a database of criminal records of everyone who has served time in prison. The New York criminal records stored here contain good details about the crime and the database even includes pictures of the criminal. The inclusion of photos are good for minimizing cases of mistaken identities wherein someone who is without a record may appear to have one because of names that are similar. The DOC database only contains criminal records of imprisonment and criminals who have been sentenced to prison do not show up here.

County Clerks of Court

Perhaps the most excellent way to verify whether a New York criminal action has been initiated against someone is to check whether there are criminal records of it in the Offices of the County Clerks of Court. Each court case is documented first by the Clerk of Court of the county where the case is to be heard. These documents are based on the information provided during the arrest incident.

Records of Arrests

New York criminal records of arrests at the county jail level are excellent sources, too, but they may not be as readily available as the others. However, there are some private sources that you can contract to legally provide you with these.