Philadelphia Criminal Records

Match the Philadelphia record to your purpose

A Philadelphia criminal court record, a city police-record check and a Pennsylvania State Police history are different products. Use the First Judicial District for a filed judgment, order or other case document; the Department of Records for the city police product; and PATCH for state criminal-history screening. Ask the recipient which result and certification it will accept before paying.

Find the docket and verify the case identity

Start with Pennsylvania’s judicial docket-sheet service to identify the court, docket number and procedural history. PATCH expressly warns that a public docket is not a substitute for its State Police background check. Match the name with available identifying details and the known court/date, then record the precise filing or disposition you need.

A pending charge, hearing entry or arrest reference does not establish a conviction. Read the disposition rather than drawing a conclusion from a case title. If the entry is incomplete or the document is unavailable online, use the court-record request; absence from a public search is not a guarantee that no restricted or unentered information exists.

Email a specific request to the criminal division

The First Judicial District uses one Request for Access to Case Records form for Common Pleas and Municipal Court records. Enter the date, your name, address, telephone and email, and a precise description. Include the docket number, defendant, court, document title and filing date when known. A broad request for every criminal record may be too vague to locate the intended document.

For Common Pleas Trial Division–Criminal and Municipal Court–Criminal, email the completed form to [email protected]. The listed assistance number is 215-683-7700, Room 310B at the Stout Center, 1301 Filbert Street. The form supplies different contacts for traffic, delinquency and transcripts; route those products to their named office rather than the general criminal mailbox.

Plan for copy fees and the required authentication

The public-access page currently links the schedule effective July 1, 2018. It sets $0.25 per page for paper or electronic case-record copies unless another applicable authority provides otherwise. Postage is actual cost; requested CD, DVD or similar media carries a minimum $10 or actual-cost charge.

State in the request if a certified copy is required. The linked general schedule does not establish one universal certification total for every criminal document. Have the custodian confirm the document-specific charge and delivery arrangement before payment. Retain the estimate with the document list so a copy charge is not mistaken for a background-check fee.

Respond to clarification or an access denial

The court promises completion as promptly as circumstances permit, not a fixed number of days. If it cannot promptly provide access, the custodian should state the specific delay or denial reason. An incomplete form can delay access; resubmit the missing details rather than treating a returned form as a negative criminal-history result.

For a denied case-record request, the published policy allows a motion in the court holding the records. Common Pleas review is assigned to the relevant division’s Administrative Judge or designee; Municipal Court review goes to its President Judge or designee. Keep the denial and request together. A copy request does not itself change a sealing or confidentiality restriction.

Order the city police product only when it is wanted

The Department of Records publishes a police-check/letter-of-good-conduct form charging $40 for either listed service. Send the completed form and fee to Department of Records, 170 City Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19107. The form requires all blocks and a return address, has subject-authorization and petitioner-signature sections, and calls for business checks payable to City of Philadelphia. Do not mail cash.

Its result contains local arrest information based on supplied identifiers, not statewide history. The form also restricts duplication and requires destruction after the specific purpose is fulfilled. An incident/offense report has a different application on the same public-safety forms page. A police check is not the court’s final disposition.

Use PATCH for the Pennsylvania history and its follow-up

Pennsylvania’s ordinary individual history check costs $22; qualifying volunteer checks are free. Online credit-card transactions add 2% under the PATCH notice effective April 22, 2026. Notarization adds $5 and must be requested by mail. Online requesters must print their response because PATCH no longer mails online results.

Checks cover Pennsylvania law-enforcement history, not federal records. For your own access-and-review report, the State Police lists mail-only form SP 4-170 and a $20 fee; it cannot be notarized. Keep your PATCH control number and request date for status checks. For assistance or an inaccurate result, call 888-783-7972 and identify the exact entry and underlying court disposition.