Virginia Criminal Records

Virginia Criminal Records Search

There are many meanings of the term ?criminal record?. For example, the term may refer to a particular individual?s criminal convictions or to the records held by the courts in Virginia. In simple terms, a criminal record is the record of an individual?s criminal history. Information about your previous history with the law is what Virginia criminal records provide. The Virginia State Police maintains the criminal records in Virginia. The Central Criminal Records Exchange (CCRE) is where the Virginia State Police maintains all Virginia criminal records.

The Virginia State Police makes criminal records available to people seeking their own record, schools, child welfare agencies, childcare institutions, state agencies, employers, and law enforcement agencies. There are a number of reasons to request for a criminal record. The most common reason for an individual to request for Virginia criminal records is employment. A criminal record validates the information provided by a person with a criminal history. Also, before you reach out to prospective employers, your criminal records help you to know precisely what?s in your criminal history.

There are a few ways to request for Virginia criminal records including in person, by mail or online. Using the Non-Criminal Justice Interface, the Virginia State Police performs name-based searches for the record when an online request for a criminal record is made. If you choose to request by mail, you?ll need to fill out and submit a request form to:

Virginia Department of State Police

P.O. Box 85076

Richmond, VA 23261-5076

It is important that you fill out and submit the appropriate form. For requests that require notarization, you need to fill out and submit ?Criminal Record Name Search? form SP-167. People who can use this form include individuals, the general public and private companies. On the other hand, submitting form SP-230 is required for requests that don?t require notarization. People who can use this form include childcare institutions, employers, and government or law enforcement agencies in other states. You can download and/or print both forms by visiting the Virginia State Police forms page. Whether you make an online or mail request for the Virginia criminal records, you?ll need to pay a $15 processing fee.

Apart from the aforementioned ways, you can obtain Virginia criminal records online through public databases. To avail this service, you?ll need to pay a convenience fee in addition to the $15 fee required for processing the request.