Criminal History Search FAQs
ARE THERE CRIMINAL FILES AT THE COUNTY CLERK’S OFFICE?
There are a limited number of closed felony files from County Court warehoused at the County Clerk’s Office. But there are many more criminal files, that are either still open or from lower city town and village that never come though the County Clerk’s Office and are neither indexed nor imaged into document search website.
Those files could be held in a hodgepodge of locations. They may still be in possessions of the courts, or may be warehoused at a city, town or village hall.
CAN THE STAFF OF THE BROOME COUNTY CLERK’S OFFICE PERFORM A CRIMINAL RECORDS SEARCH FOR ME?
No. Our office has been advised by the NYS Office of Court Administration (OCA) that our staff should not conduct broad searches of our criminal case inventory to satisfy public requests, including general background checks. If a request is made for a Criminal Certificate of Disposition, the person or agency must provide information precise enough to identify a specific record, i.e. a specific case for a specific defendant. If an individual or agency requesting information, copies of a case file or any portion thereof, or a certificate of disposition on a defendant’s case cannot identify a case for a defendant with specificity, they must get their information by alternative mean, such as OCA’s New York Statewide criminal history record search (CHRS) at http://ww2.nycourts.gov/apps/chrs/index.shtml or the New York State Office of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) at https://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/ojis/recordreview.htm
