Requesting Your New York State Criminal History
The Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) is responsible for maintaining the New York State’s official criminal history records. The agency is the only source of these official records.
You must submit your fingerprints when you request a criminal history record response. This allows DCJS to match your fingerprints to fingerprint-based records the agency is required by law to keep.
You will get either:
- A copy of your New York State criminal history record, commonly called a “rap sheet.”
- A “no record” response, which verifies that you have no New York State criminal history record.
If you have submitted fingerprints as required by law for employment, licensing or other purpose (for example, adoptions), you also will see that information on your criminal history record response. These responses also may be called fingerprint-based criminal background checks, police certificates or police certifications.
New York State’s Clean Slate Act
New York State’s Clean Slate Act takes effect Nov. 16, 2024, and provides the state Office of Court Administration (OCA) up to three years to develop the required processes to automatically seal eligible conviction records. Once that work is complete, convictions that meet certain criteria will be sealed for certain civil background check purposes.
It is important to note that until OCA implements these sealing processes, any criminal history record provided through the DCJS Records Review process will continue to include convictions that eventually will be sealed because of Clean Slate. DCJS cannot seal records until receiving an order from the court to do so.
NOTE: Records of individuals convicted of sex crimes and non-drug Class A felonies, including murder, will not be sealed. Police departments, sheriffs’ offices, prosecutors, the courts, and any employer permitted by to perform fingerprint-based background checks on job applicants will continue to have access to all criminal records under the law.
Additional information about the Clean Slate Act >>
What You Need to Know
- Official criminal history records maintained by the Division of Criminal Justice Service detail arrest, indictment, and conviction and sentence information reported to the state by police departments, district attorneys’ offices, the courts and other criminal justice agencies.
- These records are not considered public records. They cannot be provided under the state’s Freedom of Information Law and DCJS does not release criminal history records to third parties or businesses that sell “background checks.”
- Third parties or businesses that sell “background checks” get that information by searching public databases and records by name, date of birth or other demographic information, such as home addresses. Those records are not fingerprint-based.
- There must be a local, state, or federal law that allows a potential employer or licensing agency to ask you to submit fingerprints to DCJS so you can be considered for a job or professional license. The potential employer or agency that grants the license must make you aware of that requirement.
- This Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance provides additional information for job applicants with criminal records.
- You cannot request a criminal history record response for another person to determine if that person has a criminal history.
- Requesting your criminal history record gives you and/or your attorney the chance to review criminal history record information reported to and maintained by DCJS to ensure it is accurate and/or to correct incomplete or incorrect information. Review these FAQs for more information.
- You can request a criminal history record response that is either unsuppressed or suppressed. If you need both responses, you must submit a separate request for each.
- Unsuppressed criminal history record: This response contains all criminal history records, including those suppressed (hidden) or sealed (as ordered by a court) under New York State Criminal Procedure Law (CPL), including:
- CPL 160.50 dismissed casesCPL 160.55
- violation/infraction convictions
- CPL 160.58 eligible substance abuse and related convictions
- CPL 160.59 eligible convictions granted by the court
- CPL 720.35 youthful offender adjudications
- Individual charges dismissed in court and the equivalent arrest charges, if the case was disposed on or after Nov. 1, 1991.
- Suppressed criminal history record: This response does not include sealed or suppressed information, as detailed above.
- Unsuppressed criminal history record: This response contains all criminal history records, including those suppressed (hidden) or sealed (as ordered by a court) under New York State Criminal Procedure Law (CPL), including:
For more information about the criminal history record request process, please email us at RecordReview@dcjs.ny.gov. Alternatively, we can be reached at 518-457-9847 or 518-485-7675 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday (except legal holidays).