Criminal Record Searches & Certificates of Disposition

RECORD SEARCHES

Effective July 14, 2003, all criminal history searches will be conducted by the Office of Court Administration Criminal History Search Unit in New York City. The Court is no longer allowed to conduct criminal history searches. The cost for the search is $95 per name.

Application Instructions & Form

If you are requesting 'poor person status' to waive the cost of the search fee, your search application and indigency application must be sent to the Criminal History Search Unit. A Poor Person application can be obtained from the City Court Clerk.

If your agency is exempt from search fees pursuant to statute, the prescribed search form and your request/letterhead indicating the reason for the exemption must be forwarded to the Criminal History Search Unit.

If you will be requesting copies of documents within a court file or a Certificate of Disposition AND you know the docket number of the case or approximate date of the offense or arrest, the requirement for search fees is not necessary. The Court will provide information on any record which is not sealed.

If a case is sealed and you are the defendant, proper proof of identification or a notarized statement will be required to release the information. If you are acting as an agent for an individual that has a sealed record, you must provide a notarized statement from the defendant indicating permission for the sealed record information to be released.

If a record is sealed and you are not the defendant or do not have the written permission of the defendant, the Court can not acknowledge that a record exists or release any information pertaining to that record (Criminal Procedure Law sec. 160.50 ).

 

CERTIFICATE OF DISPOSITION

A Certificate of Disposition is an official court document affixed with the Court Seal that indicates the disposition of the case.

The Court will not prepare a Certificate of Disposition in advance of the receipt of the proper fee. The required fee must be paid in cash or money order payable to the City Court; the court does NOT accept personal checks.

If a case is sealed and you are the defendant, proper proof of identification or a notarized statement will be required to prepare a Certificate of Disposition. If you are acting as an agent for an individual that has a sealed record, you must provide a notarized statement from the defendant indicating permission for the sealed record information to be released in the form of a Certificate of Disposition.

If a record is sealed and you are not the defendant or do not have the written permission of the defendant for the release of the information, the Court can not acknowledge that a record exists (Criminal Procedure Law sec. 160.50 ).