PA State Criminal Record Check

Use PATCH for the Pennsylvania repository check

Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History, known as PATCH, compares the submitted information with the Pennsylvania State Police Central Repository. It serves requests for criminal-history checks; it is not a court-document search. Public and non-criminal-justice requests are subject to statutory release criteria, so they are not identical to a criminal-justice agency’s access to an entire history.

The check concerns Pennsylvania law-enforcement criminal-history records, not federal records or a nationwide search. A Pennsylvania court docket can help explain a named prosecution but does not replace a PATCH check. If a job or volunteer role also requires the separate Child Abuse History Certification or another clearance, confirm that checklist with the recipient rather than assuming PATCH covers it.

Choose the paid, volunteer or personal-review route

Use the volunteer route only for the unpaid volunteer purpose it describes. An ordinary individual can submit as a non-registered user; a recurring agency billing account is not necessary for one personal request. Online payment accepts Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express. Mail-in payment uses a certified check or money order, following the selected form.

Prepare the identifiers and retain the transaction

For a paper SP 4-164 request, complete the requester’s contact and mailing details and the subject’s identifying fields, including names, aliases, birth date and the other information requested on the form. Write legibly and check the spelling before sending it. The form sends the response to the requester and warns that an incomplete or illegible application will be returned unprocessed.

• ✓
  After an online request, save the control number, submission date and subject’s name exactly as entered. These identify the particular transaction.
• ✓
  For an existing request, use Record Check Status instead of paying for a duplicate simply because manual review is pending.
• ✓
  If a mailed request needs a control number, call 888-783-7972 and choose option 1. The PATCH help line is staffed Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–4 p.m.

Read the status and open the completed certificate

Request Under Review means that potential matching information requires manual work; it does not itself establish a criminal record. Record and No Record are completed outcomes. Open the blue control number and then the Certification Form link to save or print the actual certificate. Retain it with the request details instead of relying on a status screenshot.

No Items Found on the tracking screen means the request-search details were entered incorrectly, not that the subject has no history. Recheck the original name, control number and request date. A miss while locating a transaction and a completed No Record certificate answer different questions.

Some no-record results are immediate. The current request guide allows two to four weeks for checks needing investigation; the overview also contains shorter two-week language elsewhere. Plan around the two-to-four-week guidance, track the original transaction and ask PATCH about an overdue request. Do not treat either estimate as a guaranteed completion date.

Use personal access and review for a fuller self-check

SP 4-170 is limited to the subject or a legal representative and is not an employment clearance. Include the subject’s government photo ID, any applicable affidavit or representation letter, and a $20 certified check or money order payable to Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The fee is nonrefundable; cash and personal checks are not accepted for this form.

Mail it to Pennsylvania State Police, Central Repository – RCPU, 1800 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17110-9758. The form warns that a response can take three months or longer, so do not apply the ordinary online PATCH estimate to this separate product. The returned information is mailed to the requester.

Follow a disputed entry to the court or repository

If a result contains an unfamiliar case or appears to omit a later disposition, first compare the person’s identifiers and obtain the relevant court docket or filed order. Keep that document alongside the PATCH certificate, with its court and case number. Contact PATCH for questions about the repository entry; a clerk’s case copy does not automatically update the state response.

For expungement, Pennsylvania’s published process starts with access and review and then directs the person to the Clerk of Courts for the court petition. Obtaining the history is not itself an expungement. The state explains that it acts on a qualifying court order and that the Pennsylvania process does not remove out-of-state or federal records. Ask a qualified legal professional about eligibility if that is the issue.