New Jersey Criminal History Records Search: Checks & Access

Find the correct service before paying

Where Can You Search New Jersey Criminal History Records?

New Jersey records are divided between the State Police, the Judiciary, municipal courts, law-enforcement agencies and correctional institutions.

Official criminal-history repository

What Is a New Jersey State Police Criminal History Records Check?

The New Jersey State Police State Bureau of Identification (SBI) is responsible for the state’s central criminal-history records system.

The repository contains fingerprint-supported criminal-history information and receives records from law-enforcement agencies, courts and other authorized sources.

The State Police’s Criminal Records Integrity Unit creates, updates and reviews criminal-history records, including information received from New Jersey court-disposition systems.

What information may appear in an NJ criminal-history record?

Depending on the available record and the type of authorized request, information may include:

• Personal identifiers and assigned State Bureau of Identification number
• Fingerprint-supported New Jersey arrest entries
• Law-enforcement agency and arrest dates
• Criminal charge information
• Reported prosecutorial and court dispositions
• Qualifying conviction and sentencing records
• Subsequent correctional or legal-status information

Not all information is released to every requester. Access depends on applicable New Jersey and federal law and the purpose of the request.

Is a court case search the same as a police rap sheet?

No. The State Police repository is an official consolidated criminal-history system, while PROMIS/Gavel is a Judiciary case-management and public-access system.

A public court search might display a qualifying indictable conviction, but that result is not equivalent to the individual’s full NJSP criminal-history record.

Fingerprint-based personal criminal-history review

How to Request Your Own New Jersey Criminal History Record

New Jersey residents can request their own state criminal-history information through a fingerprint-based Personal Record Request (PRR).

The request is processed through the New Jersey State Police with fingerprint collection provided by IdentoGO.

This is the appropriate process for reviewing your own record, verifying whether it contains a criminal-history entry, or obtaining information needed to challenge an inaccurate record.

How to complete a New Jersey personal record request

1. Identify the purpose of your request

   Determine whether you need an ordinary copy of your own criminal history, a notarized no-record letter, or a personal record review to challenge an error. Different request categories may use different IdentoGO service codes.

2. Obtain the proper NJSP request instructions

   Use NJSP’s current Personal Record Request process. Do not substitute the Form 212A licensing application for a personal criminal-history request.

3. Select the appropriate fingerprint service

   Open IdentoGO and use the service code provided by the official NJSP instructions. Select the correct request type before continuing.

4. Schedule the appointment

   Choose an available enrollment location and appointment time. Confirm the current fingerprinting cost during the booking process.

5. Prepare accepted identification

   Bring a valid photo identification document that meets IdentoGO’s requirements and any required fingerprint enrollment confirmation.

6. Complete fingerprinting

   Attend the appointment and have your fingerprints electronically captured for submission to the New Jersey State Police.

7. Retain your PCN or TCN

   Keep the Process Control Number or Transaction Control Number on your fingerprint receipt. NJSP uses this number to authenticate online Personal Record Request responses.

8. Check the NJSP Personal Record Request portal

   For an eligible no-record result, enter your PCN/TCN, surname and date of birth exactly as recorded during enrollment.

9. Review the response or mailed criminal-history record

   NJSP permits online download of qualifying no-record letters. If criminal-history information exists, the record is sent by mail rather than through the online no-record letter portal.

How quickly are NJSP personal record results available?

The NJSP Personal Record Request portal publishes different procedures depending on whether a criminal-history record is found.

What does a Personal Record Request cost?

An NJSP Universal Fingerprint Form for a Personal Record Request lists a charge of $42.80.

That published amount includes the background-check and fingerprint vendor components. However, the exact fee may differ by service-code category, applicant location or later fee revisions.

Always check the amount displayed by IdentoGO before submitting payment.

What about out-of-state applicants?

NJSP also provides an out-of-state personal criminal-history request process.

Depending on the applicant’s location and eligibility, fingerprints may be collected through an IdentoGO Universal Enrollment site or submitted using the approved fingerprint hard-card and Card Scan process.

Out-of-state enrollment may involve additional convenience or fingerprint collection charges.

The applicant must follow the specific out-of-state service-code and fingerprint verification instructions rather than mailing an ordinary photocopy of fingerprints.

IdentoGO — Out-of-State Enrollment and Card Scan

Authorized name-based criminal-history checks

New Jersey Form 212A Criminal History Records Check: $20 Online Application

Form 212A is a New Jersey State Police criminal-history request used by specified local police departments and state agencies for qualifying noncriminal justice purposes.

The official online service costs $20 per submission.

It is commonly associated with certain licensing, local ordinance and other legally authorized agency requests.

Who should use Form 212A?

The applicant should use this form only after receiving instructions from the local police department or state agency responsible for the licensing or authorization.

The applicant must obtain the correct Originating Agency Identifier (ORI) number from the responsible authority.

Step-by-step Form 212A submission

1. Confirm that your agency requires Form 212A

   Contact the local licensing authority before beginning. Not every agency or license category uses this online process.

2. Obtain the correct ORI number

   Ask the agency for its current Originating Agency Identifier. Do not copy an ORI from another city, police department or unrelated application.

3. Open the official Form 212A service

   Use the NJSP service hosted at njportal.com.

4. Enter the requested applicant information

   Complete the personal information required by the form accurately.

5. Enter the agency’s ORI

   Verify that the selected agency is the organization responsible for your particular license or authorization.

6. Review the submission

   Check spelling, date of birth, licensing information and agency selection before payment.

7. Pay the $20 service fee

   Submit payment through the official portal using an accepted credit or debit card.

8. Save your confirmation

   Retain the transaction reference and confirmation email as proof of submission.

9. Follow up with the licensing authority

   The criminal-history result is returned to the designated agency. Ask that agency about its application status or any further action required.

What is an ORI number?

ORI stands for Originating Agency Identifier. It identifies the police department or state agency authorized to receive the result.

The official Form 212A portal warns that an incorrect ORI can result in a rejected or unprocessed application, with no refund.

What is an SBI number?

A State Bureau of Identification number identifies an individual’s New Jersey fingerprint record.

Not everyone has an SBI number. The Form 212A help page notes that the SBI field generally is not mandatory for ordinary applicants unless required for a particular authorized purpose.

Form 212A versus a fingerprint background check

Employment, schools, licensing and regulated positions

NJ Criminal History Background Checks for Employment and Licensing

New Jersey employers and licensing agencies do not all use the same background-screening procedure.

Some positions require NJSP and FBI fingerprint checks. Other authorized licensing categories use Form 212A or different agency-specific procedures.

Example: New Jersey school employment

For a first-time school employee covered by the Office of Student Protection process:

1. Obtain the correct school, district, vendor or sponsoring-agency information.
2. Complete the New Jersey Department of Education’s authorized online application.
3. Pay the required administrative processing charge.
4. Schedule IdentoGO fingerprinting through the link provided.
5. Bring the required identification and enrollment documents.
6. Follow the Office of Student Protection’s instructions for checking employment approval status.

The Department of Education’s published FAQ lists a $68.98 Livescan fingerprinting fee for new school employment applicants under the fee schedule effective July 1, 2023, plus a separate $10 department administrative charge and applicable transaction fee.

Fees and procedures may change by application category, so confirm the amount displayed during the current application.

Free public Superior Court conviction search

How to Search New Jersey Criminal Convictions Using PROMIS/Gavel

New Jersey Courts operates PROMIS/Gavel Public Access, a free search tool for qualifying Superior Court criminal conviction information.

The publicly accessible application focuses on defendants who were convicted and sentenced in Superior Court. It should not be treated as an unrestricted statewide database of all arrests, complaints or pending cases.

How to search by defendant name

1. Open the PROMIS/Gavel Public Access website

   Use the official njcourts.gov portal rather than a commercial people-search page.

2. Complete the security verification

   Follow the CAPTCHA or other displayed human-verification requirement.

3. Select defendant name search

   Choose the name fields in the public search menu.

4. Enter the defendant’s identifying information

   Use the complete surname, given name and optional middle initial where available.

5. Submit the search

   Review the publicly displayed results and compare the county and available case identifiers.

6. Verify the correct person

   Do not assume a shared name means the record belongs to the individual you are researching.

7. Review the reported conviction and sentence

   Check the available indictment, accusation, case and sentencing information.

8. Obtain the actual judgment where necessary

   Use the Criminal Judgments Public Access database or the relevant Superior Court Criminal Division records office.

How to search by indictment or accusation number

PROMIS/Gavel also supports case-identifier searches.

An indictment or accusation number can be especially useful when several defendants have similar names.

These identifiers may include a county code, year, month or sequential case number, depending on the type of record.

Why does PROMIS/Gavel show only some criminal cases?

The ordinary public version of PROMIS/Gavel is designed to display specified conviction and sentencing information, not the entire range of records maintained internally by the Judiciary.

For pending cases, cases that ended without conviction, or records absent from the public portal, contact the relevant Superior Court Criminal Division about lawful inspection of available documents.

Certified outcome research

New Jersey Criminal Judgments Search: Convictions, Dismissals & Acquittals

New Jersey Courts provides a separate Criminal Judgments Public Access service.

It includes publicly accessible judgments finalized on or after June 30, 2017, including qualifying:

• Judgments of Conviction
• Judgments of Dismissal
• Judgments of Acquittal

This is often a better starting point when you need the formal recorded outcome of a particular Superior Court criminal case.

How to find a criminal judgment

1. Open the official Criminal Judgments portal

   Use the Judiciary’s public judgment search.

2. Select the relevant case criteria

   Use the county, defendant, indictment, accusation or other supported search fields.

3. Identify the correct public judgment

   Match the person, case and judgment details carefully.

4. Review the outcome

   Determine whether the available document records a conviction, dismissal or acquittal.

5. Request certified documentation if required

   For an official-purpose request, ask the appropriate Criminal Division records office whether certification is necessary.

What if the judgment was entered before June 30, 2017?

The Judiciary instructs requesters seeking older criminal judgments to contact the Criminal Division records staff in the county where the case was disposed.

Provide the case number and the approximate disposition year whenever possible.

Local criminal and traffic matters

New Jersey Municipal Criminal Records Search and NJMCDirect

New Jersey Municipal Courts handle many disorderly persons offenses, petty disorderly persons offenses, traffic matters, municipal ordinance violations and other proceedings within their jurisdiction.

These matters are not the same as Superior Court indictable criminal convictions.

How to search a municipal complaint or ticket

1. Open the official NJMCDirect service.
2. Select the available search or case-inquiry option.
3. Enter the ticket number, complaint number or supported identifying information.
4. Review the available municipal court information.
5. Contact the originating Municipal Court for a complete disposition or records request.

What if the municipal complaint was filed recently?

The Judiciary’s NJMCDirect guidance states that a newly issued complaint may take approximately one to four days to become viewable online.

If you cannot locate a recently filed complaint, check again or contact the original Municipal Court.

How do you obtain an old municipal criminal case record?

Contact the Municipal Court that handled the matter.

Ask for the public complaint, docket information, certified disposition or other appropriate document.

If the case originated in Municipal Court but was transferred to Superior Court as an indictable matter, check both proceedings where appropriate.

New Jersey Superior Court Criminal Divisions

New Jersey Criminal Records by County: Newark, Jersey City, Hackensack & More

New Jersey has 21 counties. Public Superior Court criminal information can be searched through statewide Judiciary systems, but copies and older records may require contacting the appropriate county Criminal Division.

All 21 New Jersey counties

The Judiciary provides county-by-county Criminal Case Management contact information, including Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Salem, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren.

Use the official directory to confirm the department and current courthouse before visiting.

Compare official fees

New Jersey Criminal History Records Check Fees

The cost of a New Jersey criminal-history records check depends on the specific service and the legally authorized purpose.

NJSP, IdentoGO, Judiciary and program-specific fees can change. Confirm the final cost before payment.

Official disposition and certified court documents

How to Obtain Certified New Jersey Criminal Court Records

A criminal-history report and a certified court disposition serve different purposes.

If you need proof of a dismissal, conviction, acquittal or sentence, request the appropriate court judgment or record from the New Jersey Judiciary.

How to request the correct criminal record

1. Identify the filing court

   Determine whether the case belongs to Superior Court, Municipal Court or an appellate court.

2. Collect the case identifiers

   Use the indictment number, accusation number, complaint number or other available case number.

3. Complete the Judiciary request form

   Enter the county, court division and requestor information in the applicable sections.

4. Specify the document you need

   Ask for a judgment of conviction, judgment of dismissal, acquittal, sentencing order or another particular filing.

5. Choose your preferred delivery method

   The form provides options such as pickup, mail, onsite inspection and email where appropriate.

6. Request certification when needed

   Specify certified with seal, certified without seal, or another accepted format as required by the receiving authority.

7. Submit through the Judiciary’s official process

   Use the Judiciary’s designated electronic submission procedure or the relevant court records office.

8. Verify the final case disposition

   Review the returned document to confirm that it belongs to the correct case and reflects the intended final court action.

What if you do not know the case number?

The Judiciary request form provides additional fields for criminal or municipal cases when the docket number is unavailable.

Useful information may include:

• Full defendant name and known aliases
• Date of birth where lawfully available
• Approximate arrest or indictment date
• County where the case was prosecuted
• Complaint, accusation or indictment information
• Sentencing date
• Name of the sentencing judge if known

The more accurate information supplied, the easier it is for the Clerk to identify the case without confusing individuals who share a name.

Police arrest records and incident reports

How to Request New Jersey Police Arrest Records

An arrest report or police investigative document is generally maintained by the police department or law-enforcement agency responsible for the incident.

That may be:

• New Jersey State Police
• Newark Police Division
• Jersey City Police Department
• Paterson Police Department
• Camden County Police Department
• A municipal police department
• A County Sheriff’s Office or prosecutor’s office

How to request a particular police record

1. Identify the investigating agency

   Use the agency listed on the incident, arrest or investigation paperwork.

2. Find its official records request procedure

   Look for a Records Unit, OPRA, government records or incident-report request page.

3. Identify the record

   Provide the incident date, location, report number and requested document type.

4. Follow the privacy and authorization requirements

   Some records cannot be disclosed to an ordinary public requester because of investigation, privacy, juvenile or expungement restrictions.

5. Review the agency’s response

   The agency may provide a redacted record, request more details or explain a lawful nondisclosure decision.

New Jersey State Police report inquiries

NJSP’s Criminal Justice Records Bureau lists the following contact for non-prosecutor record inquiries:

Email: NJSPRecords@NJSP.gov
Phone: 609-882-2000, ext. 2234

This records unit is not the same as the SBI personal criminal-history fingerprint request service.

Official NJSP Criminal Justice Records Bureau

Prison, incarceration and registered-offender records

New Jersey Offender Search and Criminal Custody Records

New Jersey Department of Corrections provides an official Offender Search Engine for qualifying state correctional records.

This free search is useful for locating available state incarceration information but is not a substitute for a complete NJSP criminal-history report.

How to use the NJ offender lookup

1. Open the official Department of Corrections Offender Search.
2. Read the public-access disclaimer.
3. Enter the offender name, SBI number or other supported identifiers.
4. Review matching public records carefully.
5. Confirm the correctional information through the appropriate authority when necessary.
6. Use the original Superior Court judgment to verify the actual sentence and conviction.

What details can the offender search provide?

Depending on the record, it may include:

• Offender name and identifying information
• SBI or corrections identifier
• Current facility where applicable
• County of commitment
• Sentencing information
• Parole eligibility and release-related dates
• Other publicly releasable corrections information

The Department of Corrections warns that projected release dates and custody information can change.

What about county jail bookings?

Someone held at a county correctional institution or recently arrested by municipal police may not appear in the state Department of Corrections Offender Search.

For current county jail custody, contact the correctional institution or county detention authority.

New Jersey Sex Offender Internet Registry

NJSP also operates a public registry for qualifying individuals required to register under Megan’s Law.

This registry has separate statutory reporting criteria and is not a complete list of every individual convicted of a crime in New Jersey.

Restricted, dismissed and cleared criminal records

New Jersey Criminal Record Expungement and Clean Slate Relief

New Jersey permits expungement of qualifying criminal and juvenile records under N.J.S.A. 2C:52-1 et seq.

Expungement restricts the ordinary public availability of covered arrest, court and criminal-history records.

It does not mean every record is physically destroyed or that no legally authorized exception to access exists.

What types of cases may qualify?

Eligibility depends on the case, statute and criminal history.

New Jersey provides different rules for:

• Arrests that did not result in conviction
• Dismissed criminal complaints
• Certain disorderly persons and petty disorderly persons offenses
• Qualifying indictable convictions
• Selected marijuana-related matters
• Qualifying Clean Slate applications
• Other specialized statutory relief

Expungement is different from dismissal

How to apply for expungement in New Jersey

1. Review your complete case history

   Collect the dates, charges and outcomes for all relevant New Jersey criminal and municipal matters.

2. Identify your eligibility category

   Determine whether the petition concerns nonconviction relief, an eligible conviction, Clean Slate or another statutory category.

3. Use the official Judiciary expungement instructions

   New Jersey Courts provides an online application process for qualifying petitions.

4. Enter the requested case information

   Include required criminal and municipal case details, prior convictions and other information requested by the application.

5. Submit the petition

   Follow the Judiciary’s electronic filing instructions and retain the confirmation.

6. Respond to any required court action

   Review notices, objections or hearing instructions issued during the proceeding.

7. Check the signed order and implementation

   If granted, confirm the order and follow official instructions for questions about agency processing or lingering records.

New Jersey Clean Slate expungement

New Jersey’s Clean Slate process allows qualifying individuals to seek broader record relief after satisfying the applicable statutory conditions, including the relevant ten-year period.

Eligibility also depends on the criminal history, sentence completion, financial obligations and other statutory requirements.

Some qualifying marijuana matters have been subject to special automatic expungement procedures. Do not assume all convictions are automatically cleared.

Find missing records and fix common errors

Why Can’t I Find New Jersey Criminal History Records Online?

New Jersey’s different criminal record systems do not contain identical information. A missing result can occur for several reasons.

How to correct inaccurate New Jersey criminal-history information

If your own NJSP record contains an inaccurate arrest entry or an incomplete disposition, gather supporting records before asking the State Police about correction.

Useful documents include:

• Certified dismissal or acquittal
• Judgment of Conviction
• Sentencing order
• Expungement order
• Corrected identification information
• Other official court documents addressing the disputed entry

Contact the NJSP Criminal Information Unit or appropriate records integrity staff and follow their current correction instructions.

NJSP Criminal Information Unit: 609-882-2000, ext. 2918

For certain fingerprint-background-check disputes, New Jersey agencies direct applicants to the NJSP records integrity contact at extension 2302.

Federal criminal records are separate

Federal Criminal Records in New Jersey

Federal criminal prosecutions in New Jersey are filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

The federal court serves proceedings in Newark, Trenton and Camden.

An FBI Identity History Summary is also different from a public federal court search. It is a fingerprint-based personal criminal-history review service.

Public record accuracy and lawful use

What Does a New Jersey Criminal Record Actually Prove?

An arrest, criminal complaint, indictment, guilty plea, dismissal and conviction are different legal events.

Before relying on a criminal-history result, verify identity and check for later court action, including amended judgments or expungement orders.

Employment, tenant, credit and other regulated consumer-background screening can implicate the Fair Credit Reporting Act and applicable New Jersey laws.

A free court docket does not automatically qualify as a compliant employment or housing screening report.