PA Criminal Record Search

Choose the Pennsylvania record search that matches your need

Pennsylvania record products are not interchangeable. A Pennsylvania Access To Criminal History (PATCH) search is a Pennsylvania State Police criminal-history product. A court docket search is a separate Unified Judicial System (UJS) court-record route. Federal or national searches are different products and are not included in a Pennsylvania PATCH result.

PATCH products also differ by purpose. Ordinary criminal history checks, unpaid volunteer checks, and Access & Review requests follow different rules. Access & Review is an individual's own record review route and is not an employment background-check substitute.

Ordinary public PATCH dissemination is a Pennsylvania criminal-history product with Pennsylvania-specific limits; it is not a full unrestricted national history. Access & Review is a separate full own-record review route that includes nonconvictions and is available to the subject or authorized legal representative, not as an employment background-check substitute.

Submit a Pennsylvania PATCH request

Individual requesters use the nonregistered Submit a New Record Check route. Registered access is for approved companies, agencies, or offices; individuals do not register for that access. Volunteer checks use a separate unpaid organization certification route and cannot be submitted through registered accounts.

Volunteer checks use the signed unpaid SP4-164A organization route with required organization/contact preparation and Central Repository–RCPU routing. Volunteer checks cannot be notarized, and Access & Review requests cannot be notarized.

A request uses requester details such as reason, name, address and phone information. Subject matching uses name and date of birth, with additional identifiers such as SSN, sex, race, maiden name and aliases available where applicable. Review the request before payment and retain the reference information.

Fees, payment, status and result retrieval

The ordinary PATCH check fee is $22. Eligible unpaid volunteer checks are free. Access & Review is $20. Current portal notices include a 2% credit-card transaction fee effective April 22, 2026 with the stated check-payment exception. Online payment supports Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express.

Access & Review uses the current SP4-170 route. It is mail-only, uses subject identifiers and a government photo ID copy, and may require a representative letter or affidavit where applicable. The fee is $20 by certified check or money order payable to Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; cash and personal checks are not accepted. Mail goes to PSP Central Repository–RCPU, 1800 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17110-9758. Access & Review may take three months or longer. Challenges use the Repository Challenge Form with disputed information, corrected facts and support. The subject submits the supplied challenge with specific disputed facts, corrected facts and supporting information within 30 days from receipt of the challenge information. Repository review is completed within 60 days of receipt of the challenge.

Ordinary SP4-164 mail payments use certified check or money order payable to Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Cash and personal checks are not accepted. The route is nonrefundable and uses PSP Central Repository–164, 1800 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17110-9758. Notarized SP4-164 requests have a $27 total and are mail-only for the stated international employment/adoption and visa/citizenship purposes.

PATCH status uses the control number, request date, and subject first and last name exactly as entered. Status lookup provides Certification Form printing and receipt access. Pending recheck and Request Under Review are workflow states, not criminal-history conclusions. No Items Found means the supplied status inputs did not locate the request, not that the person has a clean history.

Status lookup requires selecting the matching control number before accessing Certification Form printing and receipt information. The PATCH helpline is 888-783-7972 on weekdays 8–4; option 1 provides mailed request control numbers. A manual 2–4 week estimate is qualified and is not a guarantee. No Record responses must be read with the identifiers, repository scope and as-of date rather than treated as a universal clean-history statement.

Current portal instructions state online Record and No Record responses are printed by the requester. PATCH retrieval information is retained for one year; this does not describe destruction or retention of underlying criminal records. The receiving organization determines renewal needs. Ordinary/manual processing is an estimate, not a guarantee.

Court records and correction routes

UJS Case Search and Case Information are free public court routes separate from PATCH. Public search, view and print access covers appellate, criminal Common Pleas, Magisterial District and Philadelphia Municipal records. Secure additional content requires login. Searches can use Docket Number or Participant Name with available filters such as name, DOB, county, date, type and status.

Court records provide docket, filing, charge and outcome information where available. Recent, older or restricted material may be absent online. Obtain filings, dispositions and certified copies through the responsible court or clerk and identify the exact filing needed.

Electronic case record corrections go to the filing court. The correction form requires case information, the precise error, supporting facts or documents and signature. Common Pleas and Philadelphia Municipal requests go to the clerk; Magisterial District requests go to that court. Copies are provided according to the form instructions. This process is not an appeal or a judgment rewrite.

The correction form is one request per case. Copies follow the form instructions to all parties, the district court administrator and AOPC. Secure court content requires login, and court copy or certification fees depend on the responsible custodian. A charge is not a conviction; do not merge conflicting identities into one official report. PATCH repository facts and UJS court facts retain separate source attribution even when the identities match; they are not combined into a single official report.

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  Keep PATCH references, submitted identifiers, status information and final responses for history-check follow-up.
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  Keep UJS court, docket, charge and outcome details when using court records.
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  Verify identity and obtain the outcome order when a record result is unclear.