Start with the systems most likely to change your read of a person. Then cross-check custody, registries, and paper-trail sources before you go wider.
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01 · The docket layer
Start with courts
2 sources
Run county and statewide court portals first. Civil, criminal, family, and lower-court systems are often separate, so this is where most missed records happen.
Single name search across every court in Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System: Common Pleas (felony, civil, family, probate), Magisterial District Courts (misdemeanors, landlord-tenant, small claims), and the Commonwealth Court. Free public docket sheets returned for all 67 counties.
This is the strongest state-level court tool in the country for our purposes. One search returns felony cases from any PA county AND eviction filings from any Magisterial District Court — the eviction signal is the one people actually try to hide. Always start here before going to a single county.
Statewide locator for state-sentenced inmates and parolees under PADOC supervision. Searchable by name or DOC number. Updated daily. Covers state prisons only — county jails and federal BOP facilities are separate searches.
If someone served state-prison time anywhere in Pennsylvania, this finds them. It will not find someone held in a county jail awaiting trial — for that, you go to the county sheriff. State-DOC custody is the marker of a felony conviction that actually stuck.
Statewide registry of persons convicted of qualifying sexual offenses in Pennsylvania who reside, work, or attend school in the Commonwealth. Searchable by name, address, or zip code. Maintained by the Pennsylvania State Police.
Search this by zip code to see who is registered nearby — useful for vetting a neighborhood, a date's home address, or a shared-custody pickup location. Not every offender is here (the registry has eligibility cutoffs) but everyone here is verified.
Searchable database of every corporation, LLC, partnership, fictitious name, and limited partnership registered in Pennsylvania. Returns entity number, filing date, status, registered office, and (when filed) officers, partners, or fictitious-name owners. Maintained by the Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations.
If a partner or vendor claims to own a Pennsylvania business, search here first. The state's database is the only authoritative answer to "is this entity real and in good standing." Officer names are often listed, which is how you cross-check who actually controls the company.
Pennsylvania's public records law presumes all state and local government records are public. Each agency must designate an Open Records Officer who must respond within 5 business days. The Office of Open Records (OOR) handles appeals when an agency denies a request. Standard RTK Request Form is available on the OOR site.
Free to request and to appeal; agencies may charge duplication fees
Use this when a record exists but is not in any online portal — older case files, internal agency documents, anything from a small jurisdiction. Free to file, free to appeal. Address the request to the agency's Open Records Officer, not OOR (OOR only hears appeals).
Federal District, Appeals, and Bankruptcy courts. Over 1 billion documents filed. $0.10/page (capped at $3.00/document); free if quarterly charges under $30. Account required for search. Confirmed live 2026-05-03.
PACER catches federal cases the state DOC and state courts will not. Account required, small per-search fees. Worth using for white-collar, federal drug, immigration, and bankruptcy.
All federal prison inmates, current and historical from 1982. Search by name (with race/sex/age filters) or inmate number. Note: search backend showed intermittent error during 2026-05-03 verification — likely temporary. If main tool is down, try https://www.bop.gov/mobile/find_inmate/byname.jsp as fallback.
All 50 states aggregated, plus DC, US territories, and tribal nations. Search by name or location. DOJ-operated. Named after Dru Sjodin. Also links to abuse reporting resources. Confirmed live 2026-05-03.