Criminal History

If you suspect that somebody you know has a criminal history you are probably wondering where to start looking for information. Most arrest records, convictions and mugshots are available online; this doesn't mean, though, that they are easy to find.

A few places to start looking
If you suspect that somebody has been in a county jail you might be able to find their mugshot online. Not all jails, though, choose to put mugs online. If you live in an area that does not put information online you can always either call or visit the jail to inquire whether somebody has been incarcerated.

The definition of "public" information varies from area to area. Some states believe that making information "public" means putting it online for the world to see. Other states (and counties) will consider information "public" if any member of the general public can walk in to the courthouse or jail and ask for information.

If you are unsuccessful in finding mugshot information or suspect that somebody has been charged with a misdemeanor or felony but possibly did not serve jail time (or was not arrested prior to a conviction) you might want to perform a background check. There are many services online that offer "free background checks" but the truth is that they will show you just enough information to make you want to pull out your credit card and buy the real information. Results seem to be hit and miss with these services - the sources of their data are generally unknown and some records must be collected by screen scraping data from government websites.

Use Google and Social Media
Many times you can find information about somebody's criminal past with a simple Google search. This is most likely to work if you are looking for information on somebody with a unique name - if you want to find information on "Ryan Smith" you are probably going to need to find more information.

You can also try searching social media sites to find more information about the person in question. Though you are unlikely to find out from somebody's Facebook profile whether they have a criminal history or not, you might learn other information that will be helpful in your search. You might learn, for instance, what cities they have lived in. This will be helpful when you find possible criminal records for somebody with a similar name and want to know whether you have found information on the right person.