Arrest records have always been public, but were often difficult to obtain. These days criminal records in New York are stored in online databases and can be acquired within minutes for a nominal fee or for free. Such accessibility makes it easy to check the criminal history of potential employees, babysitters, neighbors and even blind dates. You can also search for your own arrest records u2024 a smart idea if you have ever been the victim of identity theft.At a minimum, you should have the person's first and last name. It is also important to have the correct spelling, otherwise, you can receive information on the wrong person. Having the estimated age will also help you correctly identify the records when there are several people that have the same name as your target person. Knowing the middle initial or the current address of your target will increase the chances of making an accurate match as well.Select an online database to conduct your search. Numerous online databases prcriminal information, but not all databases offer the same information. For example, if you would like to know if an adult has ever served jail time in New York, then search the New York State Department of Correctional Services. If you would like to know if the person has been arrested for a sexual offense, check the New York State Sex Offender Registry.Search for arrest records offline. Although this method generally takes a bit longer and costs more, the New York State Office of Court Administration (OCA) will conduct a New York statewide criminal history record search for $55. To conduct this search, you will need the exact name of the person and the exact date of birth. The OCA will search the public records of all 62 New York counties, and pryou with any information regarding pending felonies or misdemeanors committed by the individual you are investigating.Arrests records are usually matters of public record, which means that unless the records have been sealed or expunged, the general public has access to them. A variety of instances might arise in which people want to look up other peopleu2019s records. Although there are a variety of online services that charge individuals to complete such actions, there are ways to look up peopleu2019s arrest records for free by following the appropriate channels.State and County WebsitesSome states and local countiesu2024 websites have search features on them that allow people to search for a personu2019s arrest record within that state or county. Such services are usually free to use and merely require that the searcher input the subjectu2019s name, date of birth and ethnicity. Obviously, the more information that a searcher has on a subject, the more likely that the search results will return the right individual. Some statesu2024 corrections websites will contain everything that an individual has been charged with in all states. However, for this type of information, some states require a processing fee.County CourthousesSome smaller counties donu2019t have search features on their websites, which means that people who want to obtain the arrest records of other individuals free of charge might have to visit the courthouses and look up the information themselves. Although this process might require time and effort, it is one way to ensure that the information is obtained directly from the source and that it is free.Federal Bureau of PrisonsThe Federal Bureau of Prisons has a website that allows people to input other individualsu2024 names to determine whether the individuals have ever been to prison, are currently in prison or are on parole and so on. People may search this website with the subjectu2019s names, federal identification numbers or Social Security numbers. The accuracy of the results depends upon how much information is known about the subject, however, and all states and counties might not have their information updated in the federal database. The federal database only contains the information that local states and counties submit to it.Of course, for a quicker solution, individuals can always pay a fee to conduct a background check on someone. Such services are abundant online. Many states also offer background checks on individuals for a fee. Getting a background check on a individual through a government agency is more likely to offer more thorough results.How do you find someone's arrest record in the US?A criminal record might sound like something sinister, however, at least among U.S. citizens, it's becoming more and more common. What's the reason for the change? Is it merely due to population growth? Has there been a dramatic increase in law enforcement? Are the laws stricter than they were in the past? In reality, there are far too many factors to give a definitive answer. What we can say is that a criminal record tends to stay with an individual for life -- often getting in the way of certain freedoms that persons who have a clean record take for granted.A criminal record is simply information that's kept about a person's arrests and convictions. State, local and federal authorities store and use them for many purposes. They can be used for identification and to locate possible suspects in unsolved cases. Courts can also use criminal records to determine sentences for crimes that are committed by that same person at a later time. Another use for criminal records, one that's becoming more frequent in recent years, comes in the form of background checks. Similar to the example that you just read, a background check is often used to determine if a person applying for a job has ever committed a crime.A criminal record begins when a suspect is arrested for a crime. The person is fingerprinted and photographed. All of his or her personal information is recorded along with the information about the current arrest. If he or she is convicted of the crime, that information is also stored.Criminal records began as handwritten or typed files that were kept at local police stations. Obviously, that type of system had its downside. Sharing of information contained within these files rarely occurred between police agencies. It was fairly easy for a person to escape his or her criminal past by simply moving to another city, state or even out of the country.Criminal records are now stored in massive computer databases that are accessible throughout the world. As you can imagine, this ease of access makes it makes it simpler for law enforcement agencies to keep a detailed record a person's criminal activity.So what's in a criminal record, anyway? And is there any possibility of making a criminal record go away once you do have one?