Philadelphia County Background Check Records

Philadelphia County is the most populous county in Pennsylvania and the only consolidated city-county in the state. Background check records here span two distinct court systems: the Court of Common Pleas for felony cases and the Philadelphia Municipal Court for misdemeanor cases. Both systems are accessible online and in person. This page explains how to search criminal records, access public records, and use state resources for a Philadelphia County background check.

Philadelphia County Criminal Records Overview

Philadelphia County operates under the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania. This court system handles all criminal cases filed within the city and county. The Court of Common Pleas Criminal Division processes felony cases and misdemeanor appeals. The Philadelphia Municipal Court handles misdemeanor trials, preliminary hearings, and summary offenses. Both courts keep records that form part of a Philadelphia County background check.

The City of Philadelphia is the county seat and the only municipality within the county. Because Philadelphia is a consolidated city-county, there is no separate county government. City agencies such as the Philadelphia Police Department, the Department of Prisons, and the Department of Records all serve functions that county offices handle elsewhere in Pennsylvania. This consolidation makes Philadelphia unique compared to the other 66 counties in the state.

Criminal dockets from Philadelphia County follow specific case number formats. Court of Common Pleas cases use the prefix CP-51-CR. Municipal Court criminal cases use the prefix MC-51-CR. The number 51 identifies Philadelphia County in the statewide system. These docket numbers help you search online through the UJS Portal or when making in-person requests at the courthouse.

The city government website at phila.gov links to each major department, including the courts and police. You can find contact information, hours, and procedures for most public records requests through that central resource.

Philadelphia City Government and Public Records

The City of Philadelphia official website serves as the starting point for most public records requests in the county. This portal connects residents and researchers to dozens of city departments.

The city site links directly to the courts, the police department, the Department of Records, and the Open Records office. Each of these plays a role in background check research for Philadelphia County.

Philadelphia processes Right-to-Know requests through the Open Records office at phila.gov/open-records. You can reach the Right-to-Know officer at (215) 686-2276 or by email at openrecords@phila.gov. This office handles requests for city agency records that are not already available online. Many police department records and city administrative files fall under the Right-to-Know process in Philadelphia County.

How to Search Philadelphia Criminal Records

You have several options when searching for criminal records in Philadelphia County. Online searches through the statewide UJS Portal work for most recent cases. In-person visits to the Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice give you access to the full court file. For older cases or certified copies, contacting the Office of Judicial Records directly is often the most reliable path.

To search online, visit the UJS Portal at ujsportal.pacourts.us. Enter a name in last, first format or enter a docket number if you have one. You can filter results by county, court type, and date range. Philadelphia County dockets are searchable back many years. Basic docket viewing is free. Document copies cost $0.25 per page when requested through the court.

For in-person access, visit Room 206 at 1301 Filbert Street in Philadelphia. This is the Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice, which houses both the Criminal Division and the Municipal Court criminal records window. Hours run Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Bring valid photo identification. Staff can assist with name searches, case lookups, and copying.

You can also contact the Office of Judicial Records by email. Use OJRCriminal@courts.phila.gov for criminal cases handled by the Court of Common Pleas or the Municipal Court. Include the case ID number, case caption, and the title of the document you need when submitting by email. The courts at courts.phila.gov provide additional contact and access information.

Philadelphia Municipal Court Background Check Records

The Philadelphia Municipal Court handles a distinct set of cases from the Court of Common Pleas. Misdemeanor trials, preliminary felony hearings, summary offenses, and non-traffic charges all go through Municipal Court. Any conviction or disposition from this court becomes part of the criminal record associated with a Philadelphia County background check.

Municipal Court operates out of the Stout Center at 1301 Filbert Street, Room 206. The phone for the criminal division is (215) 683-7290. Preliminary arraignments happen within 24 hours of arrest and take place in Room B-08, which is open around the clock. Bail acceptance also runs 24 hours a day in Room B-01. These early proceedings appear in the docket and are visible in background check searches for Philadelphia County.

Misdemeanor cases tried in Municipal Court may be appealed to the Court of Common Pleas for a new trial. When that happens, records appear in both systems. Searching both the Municipal Court dockets and the Common Pleas dockets gives the most complete picture of a Philadelphia County criminal history.

Philadelphia Criminal Division Court Records

The First Judicial District Criminal Division handles all felony prosecutions in Philadelphia County. It is located at the Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice, 1301 Filbert Street, Room 310B, Philadelphia, PA 19107. The criminal division phone number is (215) 683-7700. A secondary location for records is City Hall, Broad and Market Streets, Room 266, Philadelphia, PA 19107.

Certified copies of court records cost $41.58 per document in Philadelphia County. Plain copies are $0.25 per page. To request by mail, send a typed request with the case ID, case caption, document title, and your contact information to the Office of Judicial Records at City Hall, Room 266. Include payment by cashier's check, attorney's check, or money order made payable to the Office of Judicial Records. Personal checks are not accepted. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope for return.

Philadelphia Police Department Records

Arrest records and incident reports from the Philadelphia Police Department often appear as part of a background check. The department handles Right-to-Know requests for most records not covered by Act 22.

The Public Safety Records Unit is located at City Hall, Room 170, 1400 John F. Kennedy Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19107. Phone is (215) 686-2257. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM. Police record checks cost $40. A Letter of Good Conduct also costs $40. Police incident reports cost $25. Processing time for police record checks is about 10 business days. Standard incident reports take 10 to 12 weeks to process.

Payment must be made by cash, money order, business check, or certified check made payable to the City of Philadelphia. Personal checks are not accepted for police records. For audio and video recordings including body camera footage, requests go through the Open Records section under Act 22 rules, not the standard Right-to-Know process. Submit those requests to the Open Records officer at 400 North Broad Street, 4W-72, Philadelphia, PA 19130.

PATCH System and UJS Portal for Philadelphia County

The Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History system, known as PATCH, is the official source for statewide criminal background checks. Requests go through the Pennsylvania State Police. PATCH pulls from the central criminal history repository maintained by PSP. Results include cases from Philadelphia County and all other counties where the person has a record in Pennsylvania.

The PATCH system requires users to create an account and submit requests online. Standard results come back within 7 to 14 business days. Some requests take longer if manual review is needed. PATCH results carry official weight and come directly from the Pennsylvania State Police central repository. For Philadelphia County cases, PATCH draws from charges, dispositions, and sentences filed with the statewide system.

The UJS Portal offers free, public access to case dockets for all Pennsylvania courts, including Philadelphia County. You can search by name or docket number. Docket sheets show charges, hearing dates, plea entries, dispositions, and sentences. The portal covers both the Court of Common Pleas and the Municipal Court in Philadelphia. The UJS Portal also offers the PAeDocket mobile application for Android and Apple devices.

Keep in mind that UJS dockets are not a substitute for official criminal history records. The Pennsylvania State Police cautions that docket information may not reflect the most current status and should not replace an official PATCH background check for Philadelphia County or any other county.

Philadelphia Prisons Inmate Records

The Philadelphia Department of Prisons operates four facilities in the county: Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, the Detention Center, the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center, and Riverside Correctional Facility.

An online inmate locator is available at incarceratedperson-locator.phila.gov. You can search by Police Identification Number or by name and date of birth. The locator shows current facility, housing assignment, booking date, custody status, and charges. Records update daily, though recent bookings or transfers may take time to appear. For state-sentenced individuals housed outside of Philadelphia, use the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections inmate locator at inmatelocator.cor.pa.gov instead.

For phone assistance locating an inmate, call (215) 685-8394, (215) 685-8395, or (215) 685-8396. Spanish-language assistance is available at (215) 685-8392. The Office of Community Justice and Outreach can be reached at (215) 685-7288 or (215) 685-7711. Bail can be paid at the Criminal Justice Center, Room B-01, which is open 24 hours a day.

Philadelphia Public Records and Right-to-Know

The Philadelphia Department of Records manages city records and archives dating back to 1683. For background check purposes, the most relevant records are public safety reports, land records, and historical documents. The main office is at City Hall, Room 154, 1400 John F. Kennedy Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19107. Phone is (215) 686-2261.

Public safety reports such as police incident reports, crash reports, fire reports, and EMS reports are available through the Public Safety Records Unit in Room 170. Police incident reports cost $25. Fire and EMS reports cost $20 and $6.50 respectively. The City Archives at 548 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123, phone (215) 685-9401, holds historical records that may include older criminal justice documents and historical records useful in extended background research.

Right-to-Know requests for Philadelphia city records go through the Open Records office at phila.gov/open-records. The state-level Office of Open Records at openrecords.pa.gov handles appeals when a city or county agency denies a request. Philadelphia processes these requests in line with the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law, which gives the public broad access to government records not covered by specific exemptions.

Philadelphia County Sex Offender Registry

Pennsylvania's Megan's Law Registry, maintained by the Pennsylvania State Police, lists registered sex offenders across the state, including those residing in Philadelphia County. The registry is available to the public at pameganslaw.state.pa.us.

You can search by name, county, municipality, or geographic radius. Offenders are classified as Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III under Pennsylvania's Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. Public listings show the offender's name, photograph, address, offense history, and registration status. Philadelphia County, given its large population, has a substantial number of registered individuals. An email notification service allows you to receive alerts when a registered offender moves into a specified area.

Registry information alone does not constitute a complete criminal history for Philadelphia County. Use the registry as a supplement to a full PATCH background check. The Pennsylvania State Police updates registry data regularly based on verifications and compliance checks conducted through local law enforcement, including the Philadelphia Police Department.

Clean Slate and Expungement in Philadelphia County

Pennsylvania's Clean Slate law, codified at 18 Pa.C.S. Section 9122.2, automatically seals certain misdemeanor convictions older than 10 years from public view. This happens without requiring the individual to file a petition. Once sealed, those records will not appear in standard PATCH criminal history searches for Philadelphia County or anywhere else in Pennsylvania. Serious offenses including violent felonies, sexual offenses, and crimes endangering children are excluded from automatic sealing.

Expungement goes further than sealing by removing records from the criminal history database entirely. In Philadelphia County, a petition for expungement must be filed with the Court of Common Pleas at 1301 Filbert Street. Cases where charges were dismissed, the defendant was acquitted, or an Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program was completed may be eligible. Once the court issues an expungement order, the Pennsylvania State Police processes the removal and coordinates with the FBI for federal records.

The DHS clearance system at compass.state.pa.us handles child abuse history clearances required under Act 153 of 2014. These clearances are separate from criminal background checks and apply to individuals working in roles that involve direct contact with children in Philadelphia County and statewide.

City in Philadelphia County

Philadelphia County is a consolidated city-county. The City of Philadelphia is the only municipality. All background check records, criminal cases, and public records for the entire county are filed within the city's court and administrative system.

Nearby Counties

Philadelphia County borders four Pennsylvania counties. If you need to search criminal records in a surrounding area, each county has its own Clerk of Courts and participates in the statewide UJS Portal.

View All 67 Counties