A $95 New York Criminal Records Search Can Miss Convictions

Yes, the state court system's $95 New York criminal records search can miss real convictions, because it needs an exact match on name and birth date and skips whole groups of cases by design. It is still the broadest search a member of the public can buy. A clean result simply proves less than most people think.

What’s Inside

10 sections

Like what you read? Show me more from NYIA on Google, then pick us as a preferred source.

Most guides stop at the fee and the form. The limits matter more, and the court system publishes them itself. Below is what the report skips and which official tools fill each gap. We also cover how the Clean Slate Act changes the picture by November 2027, and the order we would run the checks in.

The $95 Search Reports Only an Exact Match

Anyone may run this search, and no fingerprints are needed. The court system's Criminal Records Basics page says so plainly. The product is the Criminal History Record Search, run by the Office of Court Administration. It reports open or pending cases and convictions from County, Supreme, City, Town and Village courts in every county.

You need a full first name, a full last name and a date of birth. Online requests run around the clock through a program called Direct Access. A "No Results Found" answer comes back in real time. If any name hits a record, the whole request is held for a person to review. Results are then normally emailed by the next business day.

So a status of "processing" means the search found something that needs review. It does not yet tell you the match is the right person.

The real trap is the matching rule. The search FAQ says any variation of the name or birth date is not a match and is not reported. The middle initial is not used at all. One wrong digit in a birthday can return a clean report on a person with a long record.

If you search	It also checks	It does not check
Garcia-Rivera, James	The hyphen, a space, and the two names run together	Garcia alone or Rivera alone
O'Donahue	O Donahue and ODonahue	Any other spelling
John Smith Jr.	John Smith, with no suffix	Any other first or last name
John Smith	Nothing beyond that name	John Smith Jr.

That table comes straight from the FAQ, and the last two rows hold a useful tip. Enter the suffix if there might be one, because the search then checks both forms.

Each alias and each extra birth date counts as another search. At $95 each, a person with a married name, a maiden name and one old alias would cost $285 to check properly. Skipping those names is how people end up with a clean report and a false sense of safety.

Ten Gaps in the Statewide Report

The court system lists these limits itself, on the search page and in its FAQ. None of them is a glitch, because each one follows a law or a court policy.

What the report leaves out	What that means for you
Federal cases	A federal fraud or drug conviction will not appear
Other states	It is not a nationwide check and not an FBI check
Family and civil court cases	Orders, lawsuits and judgments need separate searches
Violations and infractions	These are not crimes under New York law, so they are not reported on their own. Charges that do not lead to fingerprinting are left out as well
One old misdemeanor	If a single misdemeanor over ten years old is the only conviction, it is withheld under the Misdemeanor Redemption Policy
Sealed and expunged records	Sealed cases and expunged marijuana convictions are not disclosed
Governor's pardons	Pardoned cases are withheld
Youth cases	Pending youthful offender eligible cases are not reported, and neither are cases moved to Family Court
Stale open cases	A case with no final result and no activity for five years is dropped, unless there is an open warrant
Town and village courts, 1991 to 2002	Results from May 1991 through 2002 are not available, and data through 2007 is limited

Three more cautions sit beside that list. The report is not certified. Only the original court can issue a sealed Certificate of Disposition. The court warns that data sent to it sometimes comes through with errors. Cases update about every 24 hours inside New York City, but only about once a week elsewhere.

A hit can be wrong too. Two people can share a name and a birthday, so never act on a report until you have matched the case to the person.

Every Official Tool and Its Blind Spot

No single official source shows everything, so the tools work best in layers. Each row below comes from the office that runs the tool.

Tool	Cost	What it shows	Blind spot
WebCriminal, also called WebCrims	Free	Current cases by name or case number	Current cases only, and only in listed courts. Those are New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, the County Courts of Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam and Dutchess, Erie County Court and Buffalo City Court
Statewide search	$95	Pending cases and convictions in 62 counties	The ten gaps above
State prison lookup	Free	The state corrections list, by last name alone or with a birth year	State corrections only, not a court history
NYC custody lookup	Free	Where a person in city jail custody is held now	Not for police, state or federal custody
Sex Offender Registry	Free	Level 2 and 3 registrants online. Level 1 and undecided cases by phone at 800-262-3257	Some Level 2 and 3 people are off the online list because of legal action
PACER	10 cents a page, $3 cap a document, waived at $30 or less a quarter	Federal court records	Federal courts only
Certificate of Disposition	A small court fee	The official outcome of one case, under court seal	You must already know the case and the court

The registry carries its own warning. Anyone who uses it to harass a person, or to commit a crime, may be prosecuted.

A Six Step Search in the Right Order

Start with the free tools and spend money only once you know which names to search. Every step uses a public source, with no fake name or pretext.

Avoid one offer outright. The Division of Criminal Justice Services says it does not release rap sheets to third parties or to businesses that sell background checks. Those businesses work from name based public records, not fingerprints. The court system adds that their reports are not always correct. Our comparison of licensed background checks and online services covers the differences in more detail.

Clean Slate Will Hide More Convictions by November 2027

A search you run today and the same search run in 2028 may not match. The Clean Slate Act took effect on November 16, 2024, and the courts have until November 16, 2027 to set up automatic sealing.

The clock is written into Criminal Procedure Law 160.57. A misdemeanor qualifies three years after sentencing or release from incarceration. A felony qualifies after eight years. A new conviction restarts the count for the older one. Sealing also waits while a new charge is pending, or while the person is on probation or parole for that conviction.

Sex offenses are never sealed under this law. Neither are class A felonies, except for drug cases. Cornell's Criminal Justice and Employment Initiative adds that it covers New York convictions only, so federal and out of state records are untouched.

How Long Ago New Yorkers With Convictions Were Last Convicted

Over 20 years ago47%

11 to 20 years ago26%

Within 10 years27%

That fact sheet counts more than 2.1 million people convicted in New York over those years. For 76 percent of them, the most serious conviction was a misdemeanor. So many of the records people worry about are old, and many are the kind this law aims to seal. Nobody should read that as a promise about any one person, because the exceptions above decide each case.

Sealed does not mean gone for everyone. The statute still lets police and prosecutors see these records, along with firearm licensing officials and employers hiring police or peace officers. Groups that must run fingerprint checks by law keep access too, and so do ride share companies under state rules. A neighbor or a date will not be on that list.

Checking Your Own Record Takes Fingerprints

Your official rap sheet comes from one agency, and only you can ask for it. The Division of Criminal Justice Services charges $17.50 for New York residents, as of its February 2026 fee list. People out of state pay $57.45 at a fingerprint center, and a fee waiver is available. The answer arrives by mail in three to four weeks.

Ask for the right version. An unsuppressed copy includes sealed and suppressed items, while a suppressed copy leaves them out. Each one is a separate request. Clean Slate adds a timing issue. The agency warns that a response may still list a conviction that will be sealed later.

Run the $95 search on yourself too, because that is the view a stranger can buy. If the two disagree, or a sealed case still shows, the court system has a guide to criminal records and sealing. LawHelpNY also says the Legal Action Center can help New York residents get a rap sheet for free, at (212) 243-1313.

Employers and Landlords Have More Rules to Follow

Finding a record is one question, and being allowed to use it is another. A curious person and a hiring manager do not stand under the same law.

• The Federal Trade Commission says an employer using a screening company must give stand alone written notice and get written permission. Before rejecting someone over the report, the employer must hand over a copy of it and a summary of rights.
• New York City's Fair Chance Act bars most employers from asking about criminal history before a conditional offer. An employer who wants to pull that offer must give the person a real chance to respond.
• Correction Law 753 lists eight factors an employer must weigh, including the job's duties, the time passed and the seriousness of the offense.
• Executive Law 296(16) makes it unlawful, with limited exceptions, to ask about sealed records or cases that ended in the person's favor. It also bars acting against someone over them. It reaches employment, licensing, housing, credit and insurance.
• General Business Law 380-j bars consumer reporting agencies from reporting an arrest or charge unless it led to a conviction or is still pending.

Our page on pre employment background checks covers the hiring side. Have employment counsel set up the process before a report ever decides a job or an apartment.

When a Licensed Investigator Earns the Fee

One name, a known birthday and a life spent in New York is a search you can run yourself. Most real cases are messier than that. You may not have the exact birth date, or the person may have used other names and lived in other states. The answer may also decide a wedding, a hire or a large sum of money.

Our background checks verify identity first and pull from the courthouse records themselves. A New York State criminal history search is $600 flat and ready in 3 to 4 days. A background check is $400 flat. If the person spent years in another state, tell us on the first call and we will price a criminal search there as well. On a pre marital investigation, your partner is never contacted.

New York Intelligence Agency has done this work since 1989 under New York licenses 11000178595 (New York) and 11000061564 (Haverstraw). If this started with a new relationship, read how to find out if someone is married in New York next. Or call David at (646) 461-4650 any hour, or text (646) 465-2006.

Things to Settle

Background Reading

Every rule, fee and figure above comes from one of these pages.

• New York Courts, Criminal History Record Search. The $95 fee, coverage and listed limits.
• New York Courts, Search FAQ. Name matching, update timing, and town and village gaps.
• New York Courts, Criminal Records Basics. Who keeps which record, and the courts WebCriminal covers.
• New York Courts, Clean Slate Act. The 2024 start and the 2027 deadline.
• New York Criminal Procedure Law 160.57. Sealing periods, exclusions and who keeps access.
• Division of Criminal Justice Services, Request Your Criminal History. Rap sheet fees, timing and third party limits.
• Division of Criminal Justice Services, Sex Offender Registry. Risk levels, the phone line and the use warning.
• State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Incarcerated Lookup. State prison search.
• NYC Department of Correction, Person in Custody Lookup. City custody search.
• PACER, Pricing. Federal record fees and the quarterly waiver.
• Data Collaborative for Justice, Convictions Fact Sheet. Statewide conviction counts for 1980 to 2021.
• Cornell Criminal Justice and Employment Initiative, New York Sealing. What sealing covers.
• LawHelpNY, Clean Slate Act and Sealing Convictions. Plain summary and free rap sheet help.
• Federal Trade Commission, Background Checks. Employer notice and permission rules.
• NYC Commission on Human Rights, Fair Chance Act. The conditional offer rule.
• New York Correction Law 753. The factors employers must weigh.
• New York Executive Law 296. Limits on asking about sealed cases.
• New York General Business Law 380-j. What consumer reporting agencies may not report.

Criminal Courts Building photo by Ajay Suresh, CC BY 2.0. Thurgood Marshall Courthouse photo by Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0. Alfred E. Smith Building photo by Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0. All three were resized for this page, and the first was cropped.