🔍 Do Arrests Show Up on Background Checks? Complete 2026 Guide

Whether an arrest shows up on a background check depends on several factors — the type of background check being conducted, the state where the arrest occurred, whether the arrest led to a conviction, whether the record has been sealed or expunged, and what laws govern the reporting of arrest records in your jurisdiction. This guide explains exactly when and how arrests appear on different types of background checks, what legal protections exist, and what you can do if an old arrest is affecting your employment, housing, or other opportunities.

⚡ The Short Answer

Yes — arrests can and frequently do appear on background checks, even if the arrest never led to a conviction. However, whether an arrest should appear and whether an employer or other entity can legally use that arrest information are entirely different questions. The legal landscape around arrest records has shifted dramatically in recent years, with a growing number of states and cities restricting or prohibiting the use of non-conviction arrest records in employment decisions, housing applications, and other screening contexts. Understanding the distinction between what shows up on a background check and what can legally be used against you is critical — because even when an arrest record appears on a screening report, there are often significant legal protections that limit or prohibit the employer or landlord from using that information as the basis for an adverse decision. An arrest is not a conviction, and the law increasingly recognizes that treating them the same way creates unjust outcomes for millions of Americans who were arrested but never found guilty of any crime.

📊 Where Arrest Records Come From

Arrest records are created and maintained by multiple agencies at different levels of government, and each of these sources may or may not be accessible to different types of background checks. Understanding where arrest records live helps explain why they appear on some background checks and not others — and why the same arrest might show up on one report and be absent from another.

Record Source	What It Contains	Who Has Access	Reporting Limitations
👮 Local police department	Arrest records, booking information, mugshots, incident reports for all arrests processed by that agency	Law enforcement, courts, sometimes accessible through public records requests or online police blotters	Varies by department and jurisdiction; some publish online, others restrict access
📋 County court records	Criminal case filings, charges, arraignments, case dispositions (conviction, dismissal, acquittal, nolle prosequi)	Publicly accessible in most jurisdictions through court clerk offices and online court record systems	Public records in most states; some jurisdictions restrict access to non-conviction records
🏛️ State criminal repository	Statewide criminal history compiled from reporting agencies across the state — arrests, charges, convictions, dispositions	Law enforcement, authorized employers (with fingerprint-based checks), and screening companies (name-based searches)	State laws govern what can be reported; some states restrict non-conviction arrest records
🇺🇸 FBI / NCIC database	National criminal history compiled from submissions by federal, state, and local law enforcement nationwide	Law enforcement, government agencies, authorized employers for specific positions (fingerprint-based checks)	Federal regulations govern access; fingerprint-based checks only for authorized purposes
🔍 Commercial databases	Aggregated data from court records, corrections records, law enforcement data, and other public sources nationwide	Background screening companies (consumer reporting agencies) conducting checks for employers, landlords, and others	FCRA limits reporting of non-conviction arrests older than 7 years; state laws may impose additional restrictions
🌐 Online public records	Mugshot websites, arrest record aggregators, news articles, police blotters, court record search engines	Anyone with internet access — completely public and unrestricted	No legal restrictions on access; very difficult to remove even after expungement

⚖️ The Legal Framework: Arrests vs. Convictions

The legal distinction between an arrest and a conviction is fundamental to understanding your rights regarding arrest records on background checks. An arrest means law enforcement took you into custody based on probable cause that you committed a crime — it is an allegation, not a finding of guilt. A conviction means a court found you guilty (or you pleaded guilty or no contest) of the charged offense. These are fundamentally different things, and the law increasingly treats them differently in the background check context.

📋 Federal Protections

⚖️ Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): The FCRA is the primary federal law governing background checks conducted by consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) — the third-party companies that employers, landlords, and others hire to conduct background screening. Under the FCRA, non-conviction arrest records that are more than 7 years old cannot be reported on a background check if the candidate’s expected annual salary is under $75,000. For positions paying $75,000 or more, there is no federal time limitation on reporting arrests. This 7-year limitation applies only to arrests that did not result in conviction — convictions can be reported indefinitely under federal law regardless of salary level. Importantly, the FCRA does not prohibit reporting arrests that are less than 7 years old, even if they never led to a conviction — the federal limitation only removes older non-conviction arrests from the report. Many states have enacted laws that go significantly further than the FCRA in restricting arrest record reporting, as detailed below.

⚖️ EEOC Guidance: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued guidance stating that using arrest records as an automatic disqualification in employment decisions may constitute illegal discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act because arrest rates are disproportionately higher among certain racial and ethnic groups. The EEOC’s position is that an arrest alone — without a conviction — does not establish that criminal conduct actually occurred, and that blanket policies excluding all applicants with arrest records are likely to have a disparate impact on protected groups and violate federal anti-discrimination law. The EEOC guidance does not prohibit employers from considering arrest records entirely, but it requires employers to conduct an individualized assessment that considers the nature of the arrest, the time elapsed, and the relationship between the alleged conduct and the specific position — rather than applying an automatic disqualification based on the mere fact of an arrest.

⚖️ Ban-the-box laws: A growing number of states, cities, and counties have enacted “ban-the-box” laws that prohibit employers from asking about criminal history (including arrests) on initial job applications. These laws delay the criminal history inquiry until later in the hiring process — typically after the initial interview or after a conditional offer has been extended — to ensure that candidates are evaluated on their qualifications before criminal history enters the picture. While ban-the-box laws vary in their specific provisions, many cover arrests in addition to convictions, and some specifically prohibit employers from considering non-conviction arrest records at any point in the hiring process regardless of timing.

🗺️ State Laws on Arrest Record Reporting

State laws governing the reporting and use of arrest records in background checks vary enormously — from states with minimal restrictions beyond the federal FCRA floor to states that broadly prohibit reporting or using non-conviction arrest records for employment purposes. Understanding your state’s specific laws is essential because state protections frequently exceed federal protections and provide significantly more protection for individuals with arrest records that did not lead to conviction.

State Approach	What the Law Provides	Examples
🟢 Arrest records prohibited in employment	Employers cannot consider non-conviction arrest records in hiring decisions; background check companies cannot report them	California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Wisconsin, and others
🟡 7-year lookback limitation	Non-conviction arrests older than 7 years cannot be reported on background checks (consistent with FCRA baseline)	Many states follow the federal FCRA standard as the baseline
🟡 Individualized assessment required	Employers can see arrest records but must conduct individualized assessment before using them in hiring decisions	States and cities following EEOC guidance or enacting similar requirements through local law
🔴 Minimal restrictions	Arrest records can be reported and used in employment decisions with few limitations beyond the federal FCRA floor	Some states in the Southeast and Midwest with minimal state-level employment screening regulations

🟢 California (Strong Protections)

California provides among the strongest protections for individuals with arrest records. Under California law, employers cannot ask about or consider arrests that did not result in conviction, participation in diversion programs, or convictions that have been sealed, dismissed, or expunged. The California Fair Chance Act (AB 1008) bans criminal history inquiries on job applications and delays the inquiry until after a conditional offer of employment. If the employer decides to rescind the offer based on criminal history, they must provide an individualized assessment considering the nature of the offense, the time elapsed, and the nature of the job, followed by written notice and an opportunity for the applicant to respond before the final decision is made. Background check companies reporting on California residents cannot include non-conviction arrest records in their reports regardless of how recent the arrest was.

🟢 New York (Strong Protections)

New York provides robust protections under multiple overlapping laws. New York Correction Law Article 23-A prohibits discrimination based on criminal history and requires employers to conduct a multi-factor balancing test before denying employment based on a conviction — considering the relationship between the offense and the job, the time elapsed, the person’s age at the time, the seriousness of the offense, evidence of rehabilitation, and the employer’s legitimate interest. New York City’s Fair Chance Act goes further, prohibiting criminal history inquiries until after a conditional offer. For arrest records specifically, New York law prohibits employers from considering arrests that did not result in conviction (unless the case is still pending), sealed records, and youthful offender adjudications. Background check companies cannot report non-conviction arrest records on New York residents.

📋 Types of Background Checks and Arrest Visibility

🔍 How Different Checks Handle Arrest Records

🔍 Standard employment background check (CRA report): Standard employment background checks conducted through consumer reporting agencies are subject to the FCRA and applicable state laws. Whether arrests appear depends on the state where the candidate resides, the state where the arrest occurred, and the specific policies of the background check company. In states that prohibit reporting non-conviction arrests, the arrest will not appear on the report. In states with fewer restrictions, non-conviction arrests from the past 7 years may appear (or indefinitely for higher-salary positions under the federal FCRA threshold). Reputable screening companies comply with the most restrictive applicable law and may default to not reporting non-conviction records to minimize legal risk for their employer clients.

🔍 FBI fingerprint-based check: FBI criminal history reports (Identity History Summary checks) are the most comprehensive criminal record checks available and typically include all arrests on file regardless of disposition — including arrests that never led to charges, arrests where charges were dismissed, and arrests where the person was acquitted. FBI checks are not subject to the same FCRA reporting restrictions as commercial background checks because they are government records accessed through a different legal framework. FBI checks are required for specific purposes such as employment in law enforcement, government security clearances, work with children or vulnerable populations, immigration proceedings, and professional licensing in regulated industries. The comprehensiveness of FBI checks means they are the most likely type of background check to reveal old or non-conviction arrests that would not appear on a standard commercial background check.

🔍 State criminal repository check: State-level criminal history checks access the state’s centralized criminal records database, which compiles arrest and disposition information from all reporting agencies within the state. The comprehensiveness and accessibility of these databases vary by state. Some states include non-conviction arrests in their criminal history reports while others limit public access reports to convictions only. The distinction between a “name-based” state check (which matches records based on name and date of birth) and a “fingerprint-based” state check (which matches records based on fingerprint comparison) also affects what appears — fingerprint checks are more accurate and comprehensive, while name-based checks may miss records filed under different name spellings or miss records entirely due to common name matching limitations.

🔍 County court record search: Direct searches of county court records are a common component of employment background checks and are conducted by searching the court’s electronic records system or physical records for cases involving the candidate in that jurisdiction. County court searches typically reveal all case filings — including arrests that resulted in charges, regardless of whether the charges led to conviction, dismissal, or acquittal. The case record will show the initial charges filed, all court appearances and proceedings, and the final disposition. In jurisdictions where court records are fully public, this information is accessible to anyone who searches for it. However, the FCRA and state laws still restrict what a consumer reporting agency can include in a background check report — so even if the county court record shows an arrest that was dismissed, the screening company may be legally required to exclude it from the report provided to the employer depending on the applicable state law.

🔍 Online public records and mugshot sites: Arrest records, booking photographs, and criminal case information are widely available on the internet through law enforcement agency websites that publish arrest logs and booking information, mugshot aggregator websites that collect and republish booking photos from law enforcement agencies, court record search engines that provide public access to case filing information, and news articles reporting on arrests and criminal charges. This publicly available information is accessible to anyone including employers, landlords, romantic partners, neighbors, and anyone else who searches your name online — and it is not subject to the FCRA or state background check reporting restrictions because it is not a “consumer report” issued by a consumer reporting agency. This means an arrest record that a professional background check company would be legally prohibited from reporting may still be readily discoverable through a simple Google search, creating a practical problem even when the legal protections technically apply.

🚪 How Arrests Affect Employment

💼 Private Sector Employment

In the private sector, the impact of an arrest record on employment depends primarily on the applicable state and local laws, the employer’s policies, and the nature of the position. In states with strong protections (California, New York, Illinois, and others), employers are legally prohibited from considering non-conviction arrest records in hiring decisions and background check companies cannot report them. In states with weaker protections, employers have more discretion — but even in these states, the EEOC guidance discourages blanket disqualification based on arrest records and recommends individualized assessment. Practically speaking, many sophisticated employers have moved toward conviction-only policies (considering only convictions, not arrests) even in states that do not legally require this approach, because considering arrest records creates legal risk (potential disparate impact claims), provides unreliable information (an arrest is not evidence of guilt), and can result in the loss of qualified candidates who were arrested but never convicted. If you believe an employer has illegally used a non-conviction arrest record to deny you employment in a state that prohibits this practice, you may have a claim under state anti-discrimination law, the applicable ban-the-box or fair chance law, or federal Title VII (disparate impact) depending on the circumstances.

🏛️ Government and Regulated Positions

Government employment, law enforcement, military service, positions requiring security clearances, positions working with children or vulnerable populations, and positions in regulated industries (financial services, healthcare, education, transportation) generally involve more comprehensive background checks that may include arrest records regardless of disposition. These positions typically use FBI fingerprint-based checks or state fingerprint-based checks that are more comprehensive than commercial background checks and include arrests that would not appear on a standard employment screening report. The legal framework for these checks is different from standard commercial background checks — they are authorized by specific federal or state statutes that override the normal reporting restrictions. However, even in these contexts, an arrest without conviction does not automatically disqualify you — the reviewing agency or employer is still generally required to conduct an individualized assessment, and many government agencies have specific policies addressing how non-conviction records are evaluated in the context of employment suitability determinations.

🏠 Housing Applications

Landlords and property managers frequently conduct background checks on prospective tenants, and arrest records can appear on these reports depending on the state and the screening company used. The legal protections for tenants regarding arrest records are generally weaker than those available in the employment context, though a growing number of jurisdictions are extending fair chance principles to housing as well. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued guidance stating that blanket policies excluding tenants based on arrest records may violate the Fair Housing Act because of the disparate impact on protected racial and ethnic groups — similar to the EEOC’s guidance in the employment context. Some cities and counties have enacted laws specifically prohibiting landlords from considering non-conviction arrest records in tenant screening decisions. Where legal protections do not explicitly apply, landlords may still consider arrest records, though doing so based on arrests without convictions creates legal risk for the landlord and is increasingly viewed as an unfair screening practice by housing advocacy organizations, courts, and regulators.

📋 Professional Licensing

Professional licensing boards — for professions including law, medicine, nursing, teaching, real estate, accounting, financial services, and many others — often require applicants to disclose arrest records as part of the licensing application. The disclosure requirements for licensing applications are typically broader than what appears on a standard background check, and many licensing applications specifically ask about arrests in addition to convictions. Some states have enacted licensing reform laws that limit licensing boards’ ability to deny licenses based on non-conviction arrests or on convictions that are not directly related to the duties of the licensed profession. However, many licensing boards retain broad discretion to evaluate an applicant’s “moral character” or “fitness,” and arrest records may be considered as part of that evaluation even when they would not be reportable on a standard employment background check. If you are pursuing a professional license and have arrest records, research the specific licensing board’s policies and consider consulting with an attorney who specializes in professional licensing to understand how your record may affect your application and what steps you can take to strengthen your case.

🛡️ What You Can Do About Arrest Records

🔍 Know What’s on Your Record

Before you can address arrest records on your background check, you need to know exactly what is there. Order a comprehensive criminal background check on yourself through a reputable background investigation service that searches the same databases employers and landlords use. This shows you exactly what a prospective employer or landlord would see if they ran a background check on you. Also search your name on Google and other search engines to identify any publicly available arrest information, mugshot websites, news articles, or court records that appear in search results — because even information that a background check company cannot legally report may still be discoverable through a simple internet search. Understanding the full scope of what is available about your arrest history is the essential first step for developing a strategy to address it.

📋 Pursue Expungement or Sealing

If your arrest did not result in a conviction (the charges were dismissed, you were acquitted, or charges were never filed), you may be eligible to have the arrest record expunged or sealed. Many states allow expungement of non-conviction arrest records with minimal waiting periods or no waiting period at all — some states automatically expunge arrest records when charges are dismissed or the person is acquitted, while others require the individual to file a petition. Expungement or sealing removes the record from standard background check databases and, in most states, gives you the legal right to deny that the arrest ever occurred when asked on applications. Even in states where expungement is not automatic, the process for expunging non-conviction arrests is typically simpler, faster, and less expensive than expunging convictions — it is often the single most effective step you can take to prevent an old arrest from affecting your future opportunities. Consult the expungement laws specific to the state where the arrest occurred to determine your eligibility and the process for filing.

⚖️ Know and Assert Your Legal Rights

If an arrest that did not result in conviction appears on a background check and an employer or landlord uses it against you, determine whether you have legal protections. In states that prohibit the use of non-conviction arrest records in employment decisions (California, New York, Illinois, and many others), the employer has violated state law by considering that information, and you may have a legal claim for damages, injunctive relief, or reinstatement. If a background check company reported a non-conviction arrest in violation of state law, you may have a claim against the screening company under both state law and the FCRA. If the employer applied a blanket policy of rejecting all applicants with arrest records (rather than conducting an individualized assessment), you may have a disparate impact claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act regardless of your state’s specific arrest record protections. Document the adverse action, request a copy of the background check report used in the decision, and consult with an employment attorney to evaluate your specific situation and determine the strongest legal basis for challenging the decision.

🌐 Address Online Arrest Records

Even after expungement, arrest information may persist on mugshot websites, news sites, court record aggregators, and search engine results. Addressing online arrest records requires a multi-pronged approach: contact mugshot websites directly with a copy of your expungement order and demand removal (many states have enacted laws requiring mugshot sites to remove photos of expunged records within a specified timeframe, often 30 days), submit removal requests to search engines for pages containing expunged arrest information, contact news organizations that published articles about your arrest and request updates or removal (some organizations have editorial policies for addressing expunged records while others may decline), and contact data aggregator websites with documentation of the expungement and formal removal requests. The process of cleaning up online arrest records is time-consuming and may not achieve complete removal of every reference, but it significantly reduces the visibility of the information to casual searches by employers, landlords, and others who might discover it through a simple internet search even though it would not appear on a formal background check report.

📊 Dispute Inaccurate Reports

If a background check report contains inaccurate arrest information — wrong identity (the arrest belongs to someone else with a similar name), incorrect disposition (the report shows an arrest as pending or as a conviction when it was actually dismissed or resulted in acquittal), failure to reflect expungement (the record should have been removed but the screening company’s database has not been updated), or other errors — you have the right under the FCRA to dispute the inaccurate information directly with the consumer reporting agency that produced the report. The agency is required by law to investigate your dispute, correct any inaccuracies within 30 days, and provide you with an updated report. If the employer has already taken adverse action based on the inaccurate report, you may have a claim against the screening company for FCRA violations including statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 per violation, actual damages for lost employment or other harm, punitive damages for willful violations, and attorney fees. Inaccurate criminal background reports are one of the most common sources of FCRA litigation, and background check companies have a legal obligation to ensure the accuracy of the information they report.

📌 Pending cases are different. The protections discussed above apply primarily to arrests where the case has been resolved without a conviction — charges dismissed, acquittal, nolle prosequi, or charges never filed. Pending cases (where charges have been filed and the case has not yet been resolved) are treated differently under most laws. Most states allow employers to consider pending charges in hiring decisions because the case is still active and may ultimately result in a conviction. However, even with pending cases, many ban-the-box and fair chance laws delay the inquiry until after a conditional offer, and the EEOC guidance still requires individualized assessment rather than automatic disqualification.

🔍 Find Out What’s on Your Record Before Employers Do

People Locator Skip Tracing provides comprehensive criminal record searches that reveal exactly what appears on your record across federal, state, and county databases — giving you the information you need to address arrest records, pursue expungement, and protect your employment and housing opportunities. Results in 24 hours or less.

Order Criminal Record Search Questions About Your Record

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

📌 If I was arrested but never charged, will it show up?

An arrest that never resulted in charges being filed can still appear on certain types of background checks, though the likelihood decreases over time and varies by state. The arrest itself creates a record at the law enforcement agency that processed the booking — this record exists regardless of whether the prosecutor later decided to file charges. Whether this arrest-only record appears on a background check depends on the type of check being conducted: FBI fingerprint-based checks typically include all arrests on file regardless of whether charges were filed; state criminal repository checks may include the arrest depending on the state’s reporting practices; county court record searches will not show the arrest because no case was filed in the court system; and commercial background checks through consumer reporting agencies may or may not include the arrest depending on the state’s reporting restrictions and the screening company’s policies. In states that prohibit reporting non-conviction arrest records (California, New York, and others), the arrest cannot legally be included in an employment background check report regardless of the type of check. For arrests that never led to charges, expungement is typically available with minimal requirements and may happen automatically in some states — pursuing expungement ensures the record is removed from all standard databases and screening reports.

📌 How long do arrests stay on your record?

Arrest records do not automatically expire or disappear after a set period of time — they remain on your record indefinitely unless you take affirmative steps to have them expunged or sealed. Unlike some other types of records that have built-in expiration dates, arrest records in law enforcement databases, court systems, and state criminal repositories persist permanently unless a court orders them removed through the expungement or sealing process. The FCRA’s 7-year reporting limitation for non-conviction records does not remove the record from the underlying databases — it only restricts consumer reporting agencies from including arrests older than 7 years in their reports (and only for positions below the $75,000 salary threshold). The arrest record itself continues to exist in law enforcement databases, state repositories, and potentially in commercial database archives indefinitely. This permanence is precisely why pursuing expungement is so important for arrests that did not result in conviction — without active steps to remove the record, it will remain discoverable through various channels potentially for the rest of your life, even if the FCRA and state laws limit its appearance on formal background check reports.

📌 Can I be denied a job because of an arrest?

Whether an employer can legally deny you a job based on an arrest depends heavily on your state’s laws, the nature of the arrest, whether the arrest led to a conviction, and the type of position. In states with strong protections (California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Wisconsin, and others), employers are prohibited from considering non-conviction arrest records in employment decisions and cannot legally deny you a job based solely on an arrest that did not result in conviction. In states with weaker protections, employers may have broader discretion, but even in these states, the EEOC’s guidance establishes that blanket disqualification policies based on arrest records violate Title VII if they have a disparate impact on protected racial or ethnic groups — which they almost always do, statistically. Regardless of state law, no employer should automatically deny employment based on an arrest without conducting an individualized assessment considering the nature of the underlying conduct, the time elapsed since the arrest, the relationship between the conduct and the position, and any evidence of rehabilitation or changed circumstances. If you believe you were illegally denied employment based on a non-conviction arrest record, document the situation and consult with an employment attorney to evaluate your options under applicable federal, state, and local laws.

📌 Do dismissed charges show up on background checks?

Dismissed charges may appear on background checks, but whether they can be legally reported and legally used depends on the state and the type of background check. The initial arrest and the court case (including the filing and subsequent dismissal of charges) create records in both law enforcement databases and court systems. These records exist regardless of the fact that the case was dismissed. In states that prohibit reporting non-conviction records for employment purposes, the dismissed charges should not appear on a standard employment background check conducted through a consumer reporting agency. In other states, dismissed charges from the past 7 years may appear on commercial background reports (subject to the FCRA’s reporting limitations). Even when dismissed charges appear on a report, many states and the EEOC guidance require employers to conduct individualized assessment rather than automatically disqualifying candidates based on dismissed charges. Pursuing expungement of dismissed charges is typically straightforward in most states — many states allow immediate filing for expungement of dismissed cases, and some states automatically expunge dismissed charges without requiring the individual to file a petition. Expungement ensures the dismissed charges are removed from standard screening databases and no longer appear on any type of background check report.

📌 Will an arrest from another state show up?

Yes — arrests from other states can and frequently do appear on background checks, even if the arrest occurred many years ago or in a state with different reporting laws. There are several ways out-of-state arrests are discovered: nationwide database searches conducted by commercial screening companies aggregate records from courts, corrections departments, and law enforcement agencies across all 50 states; FBI fingerprint-based checks include arrests from every jurisdiction nationwide that has submitted records to the FBI; multi-state name-based searches conducted as part of comprehensive background checks search criminal databases in multiple states; and the specific county court search approach (where the screening company searches court records in every county where the candidate has lived) captures arrests that resulted in court filings in those jurisdictions. The reporting restrictions that apply to the arrest are generally determined by the state where the candidate currently resides or where the employment is located — so if you live in California (which prohibits reporting non-conviction arrests), an arrest from Texas should not appear on an employment background check conducted for a California employer, even though Texas itself has fewer reporting restrictions. However, the arrest record still exists in the Texas databases and could be discovered through direct searches of those databases, online public records, or non-employment background checks not subject to California’s employer-specific restrictions.

📌 How do I find out if I have an arrest record?

The most effective way to discover whether you have arrest records and what they contain is to conduct a background check on yourself using the same types of searches that employers and landlords use. You can order a criminal record search through a professional background investigation service that searches federal, state, and county databases nationwide — giving you the same information a prospective employer would receive. Additionally, you can request your FBI Identity History Summary (commonly called a “rap sheet”) directly from the FBI, which provides your complete federal criminal history including all arrests that have been reported to the FBI by any law enforcement agency nationwide. You can also request your criminal history from the state criminal records repository in any state where you have lived (typically through the state police or department of justice). Finally, search your name on Google and other search engines to identify any publicly available arrest information on mugshot websites, news sites, and court record search engines that would be discoverable by anyone searching your name online. Knowing exactly what is available about your arrest history — through both formal background check channels and informal internet searches — puts you in the best position to take corrective action through expungement, dispute processes, and online record removal efforts before the information causes problems with employment, housing, or other opportunities.

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