Texas Criminal Records: Top 3 Government Websites

If you are looking to verify a sex offense, an online search of Texas criminal records is free. If you are conducting a general criminal history background check in TX, then the search will require an access fee. This is true whether you use the Judiciary or the Public Safety website.

Texas criminal records and felony information are available online through the Judiciary and the TX Department of Public Safety. Depending on the nature of the crime, a records search may or may not involve a fee. In general, when an offender threatens public safety in a substantial way, state and federal government policies and laws require that Texas criminal records be available to the public free of charge.

TX Criminal Records Online: Where to Go?

1. To conduct a statewide criminal records search
One of the 29 states where it is possible to conduct a statewide criminal history background check is Texas. A search engine at the Department of Public Safety website (www.txdps.state.tx.us) accesses a database from the Department's Computerized Criminal History System.

Records are only accessible to the public once the Department receives a deferred adjudication or conviction that classifies it as an offense.

The cost of access is as follows:

Pay With a Credit Card
One criminal history search = one credit
One credit = $3 + convenience fee (2.25% x credit $ cost) = $3.0675 for one search
Transaction fee = $.50 per purchase no matter how many credits you buy

Pay With a Mailed Check
One search = $3 + convenience fee ($1.25) = $4.25 for one search
The convenience fee is $1.25 not matter how many searches you buy

2. To search criminal case court dockets
Criminal case dockets can turn up information on the nature of the crime and the judgment of the court, among other things. The cost of access through the federal judiciary's PACER system is $0.08 per page. Pages can be viewed as PDF files using Acrobat Reader.

3. To access the state's sex offender registry
The TX Sex Offender Registration Program requires that both juvenile and adult sex offenders register with the local police in the city or county they live in.

The registry can be searched by specific name or by zip code. The latter will yield all sex-offender Texas criminal records in the area. A sex offender search is free across the United States.

Useful Texas Criminal Records Links:

To conduct a general criminal conviction history check
To check the sex offender registry

To access court dockets:
   Northern District Court
   Southern District Court
   Eastern District Court
   Western District Court
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Texas criminal records can be very powerful tools of information. So if you ever want to conduct a criminal check on someone, do so in the most time-efficient and hassle-free way; check out our unbiased reviews of today's leading online criminal records search service providers!