To find out what someone was arrested for, start with the county sheriff or jail website where they were booked if the arrest was recent, and move to court records or a formal public records request if it wasn’t. Arrest records are generally public in the United States, so the real question is which source will actually have the information you need. That depends on how recent the arrest was, whether charges were ever filed, and which agency handled the case.
Start With the Jail Booking Roster
For a recent arrest, the county sheriff’s or jail website is the fastest route. Most county jails maintain searchable online inmate rosters that list current bookings along with the date, charges, and bail amount. These rosters update frequently and don’t require any kind of formal request. You need the person’s name and, ideally, an approximate date or location.
Two caveats matter here. First, booking logs show the charges at the time of arrest, not the final charges a prosecutor may end up filing. A preliminary booking charge like “aggravated assault” can be reduced, changed, or dropped entirely once the case reaches a prosecutor. What you see on the roster is what law enforcement believed warranted the arrest, not a final determination.
Second, not every jurisdiction posts booking records online, and those that do often display only inmates currently in custody. Once someone is released, the entry may disappear from the public roster within days. If you miss that window, you’ll need to use one of the methods below.
Search Court Records
Once a prosecutor files formal charges, the case enters the court system and generates a much more detailed trail. Court records show the specific charges filed, the case number, hearing dates, plea entries, and the final outcome. That makes court records far more useful than a booking log if you want to know not just what someone was arrested for but what actually happened after.
State and Local Courts
Most state court systems offer free online case search tools. You can usually search by name or case number. Coverage varies: some states have a single statewide portal covering every trial court, while others require you to search county by county. If the online portal doesn’t cover the jurisdiction you need, contact the clerk of courts directly or visit the courthouse. Many courthouses have public-access terminals for on-site searches.
Fees are generally modest. Viewing case information online is typically free. Physical or certified copies usually run a small per-page charge or a flat certification fee, commonly between $4 and $15 depending on the jurisdiction. Older cases that predate electronic records may require a manual search from the clerk’s office, which takes longer and can carry an additional fee.
Federal Courts
Federal criminal cases prosecuted by a U.S. Attorney’s Office are searchable through PACER, the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system. You’ll need a free account. Once registered, you can search by party name within a specific district court or use the PACER Case Locator for a nationwide index.1PACER: Federal Court Records. Find a Case
PACER charges $0.10 per page to view or download documents, capped at $3.00 per document. Judicial opinions are free. If your total charges stay at $30 or less in a billing quarter, the fees are waived entirely, which is more than enough for a casual search.2United States Courts. Electronic Public Access Fee Schedule
File a Public Records Request With the Arresting Agency
If online searches come up short, you can submit a public records request directly to the law enforcement agency that made the arrest. Every state has an open records law, sometimes called a sunshine law or freedom of information act, that gives the public the right to request government records, including most arrest records. Specifics vary by state, but the process is broadly similar: you submit a written request identifying the records you want, and the agency responds within a set timeframe.
Include as many identifying details as possible in your request: the person’s full name, date of birth if you know it, and the approximate date and location of the arrest. Most agencies accept requests by mail or email, and many now have online request portals. Some agencies require a specific form; others accept a plain letter or email.
Fees and response times vary. Copying charges commonly run a few cents per page, and some agencies add a flat processing fee somewhere in the range of $10 to $50. Response times generally fall between 10 and 30 business days, though simple requests often come back sooner. If your request is denied, the agency must typically cite a specific legal exemption, and most states give you a right to appeal.
Federal Arrest Records Have Real Limits
Getting federal arrest records about someone else is harder than getting state or local records. The FBI maintains a centralized criminal history database but does not release those records to private citizens requesting information about another person. You can only request your own FBI Identity History Summary, commonly called a rap sheet, by submitting fingerprints and paying an $18 processing fee.3Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
A Freedom of Information Act request to a federal law enforcement agency is technically possible, but FOIA has a broad exemption for law enforcement records. Agencies can withhold records compiled for law enforcement purposes if release could interfere with enforcement proceedings, deprive someone of a fair trial, or constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 5 – Section 552 In practice, a FOIA request for someone else’s arrest record will almost always be denied on privacy grounds unless the person has given written authorization or is deceased.5FOIA.gov. Freedom of Information Act Frequently Asked Questions
The realistic workaround for federal cases is PACER. If federal charges were filed, the case will appear in the federal court system. The FBI restriction blocks access to raw arrest history, not to the court file that opens once a case is charged.
Third-Party Background Check Services
Commercial background check websites aggregate public records from courts, law enforcement agencies, and other government sources into a single searchable report. They can be convenient when you don’t know which jurisdiction to search or when you want a broader look across multiple states. Subscription plans typically run between $20 and $50 per month, with some services offering single-report options.
The tradeoff is reliability. These services scrape from many sources with varying update frequencies. They sometimes return outdated information, confuse people with similar names, or miss records entirely. Anything you find on a background check service should be verified against official court or agency records before you act on it.
There’s a legal dimension too. Background check companies that sell reports used for employment, housing, or credit decisions are regulated under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The FCRA prohibits these companies from reporting arrests that did not lead to a conviction if more than seven years have passed since the arrest.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 – Section 1681c Some states go further, barring the reporting of non-conviction arrests entirely.
What an Arrest Record Doesn’t Tell You
Finding out what someone was arrested for tells you what law enforcement suspected at the time. It doesn’t tell you whether they actually did it. Charges get dropped, reduced, or dismissed all the time. A person arrested for felony theft might plead to a misdemeanor, be acquitted at trial, or have the case thrown out before it ever reaches a courtroom. The arrest record alone captures none of that, which is why pairing an arrest search with a court record search is usually worth the extra step.
This distinction matters if you’re planning to use what you find. EEOC enforcement guidance takes the position that excluding someone from a job based solely on an arrest record, rather than a conviction, is not job-related or consistent with business necessity under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. An employer can consider the underlying conduct if it makes the person unfit for the specific position, but the mere fact of an arrest is not enough.7U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act The federal Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits federal agencies and federal contractors from asking about criminal history before a conditional job offer, with limited exceptions for classified information, national security, and law enforcement roles.8U.S. Department of the Treasury. The Fair Chance to Compete Act Many states and cities have parallel “ban the box” laws for private employers.
Records You Won’t Be Able to See
Not every arrest is available to the public. Several categories are routinely restricted or entirely off-limits.
- Juvenile records. Arrest and court records involving minors are confidential in nearly every state. They’re typically sealed automatically once the person turns 18, and accessing them requires a court order even after that.
- Sealed or expunged records. A sealed record still exists but can only be viewed with a court order. Expungement goes further, deleting the record as though the arrest never happened. Either way, these records won’t appear in public searches, and the person is generally allowed to legally deny the arrest occurred.
- Active investigations. Law enforcement can withhold records tied to ongoing criminal investigations. Under federal FOIA, this falls under Exemption 7(A), covering records whose release could interfere with enforcement proceedings. Most state public records laws include similar carve-outs.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 5 – Section 552
An empty search result doesn’t always mean the person has never been arrested. It may mean the record has been sealed, expunged, or is being withheld while a case is still active.