How to Find and Access Maine Arrest Records Online

Maine arrest records include a list of the crimes for which an individual has ever been charged with. The state's database is created by the collating all the submissions made by different counties, and the records are maintained at all three levels- national, state and county by different agencies of law enforcement. In case the arrests are the result of some other jurisdiction’s warrant, the report is made by the agency of origination. The main objective of making a comprehensive database is for the public disclosure of certain facts which are needed for identification and background checking. One of the ironical facts is that the information gathered from these databases are not admissible in the court as a proof.

Finding Maine Arrest Records

Previously, to gather facts about these records, one had to go to the nearest courthouse and wait for his or her turn to talk to the court clerk and check the document. To get copies of these documents was even difficult. Later, the addition of the electronic database made the access easy. You can visit the sheriff’s office or Department of Justice to fill out the request form for the exact record you are looking for and within 3-10 business days, the requested documents are sent to your address. An arrest record is by far the most targeted one of all searches done on criminal records.

Restrictions on Maine Arrest Records

Per the Right to Know clause in the Constitution, the general public has the right to examine these documents; yet, there are certain levels of restrictions. Any deferred or ongoing case is not accessible to anyone as there are apprehensions of jeopardizing the case by information disclosure. So, though public access to these records is possible, this is only to a certain limit. Even if some law enforcement agency requires information on Maine arrests, it can get all necessary details only if it serves the purpose of delivering criminal justice.

Accessing the Records Online

Anybody and everybody has free access to Maine arrest records if he or she has a computer and Internet connection. To access the detailed report of an arrest and gather a copy, you may need to pay some administration charges. These charges may vary according to the rules of the local jurisdiction, county or website. The sites providing reports of Maine arrests extract the information from the database of law enforcement bodies. Usually, you can trace the arrest records from the last seven years. For information on arrest records of Maine, you can visit http://www.maine.gov/dps/Sbi/resources/chr_sample.pdf.

The different websites available on Internet give you more options to locate the public accessible databases online. You simply need to fill out the requisite form by providing first and last names. These databases can be of great help if you are an employer hiring people or starting a new business venture with a partner. Yet, it is advisable to always refer to a government source to verify the information.

If you want to learn about the local criminal and court procedures, you can visit Maine’s Online Criminal History Record and Juvenile Crime Information page at http://www10.informe.org/PCR/. They are responsible for information and maintenance of the records section. For access to arrest records, you need to register with them. The sign up page can be visited at http://www10.informe.org/cgi-bin/PCR/step1.pl. When providing them with a name and date of birth, if they match with the names in their database, you will be supplied with the facts about the conviction but no personal information of the convict or witness. If they don’t match, you will see the page featuring “No Matches Found”.

Timeline and Fees for Accessing Arrest Records

In normal cases, you will receive an email within two hours of entering your query. In case there is no response for twelve hours, you may need manual intervention which can delay the process by ten business days. The postal address for written requests: State Bureau of Identification, State House Station #42, Augusta, ME 04333-0042. If you want visit the office personally, they are located at 45 Commerce Drive, Suite 1 in Augusta. The office remains open from 8.00 am to 5 pm on every weekday. They can be reached via phone at (207) 624-7240, TDD (207) 287-3659.

The fee structure to gain access to a Maine arrest record differs for Maine resident members, non-resident members and non-subscribers. A subscriber needs to pay $21 while non-scribers or subscribers from states other than Maine pay $31. If you want a notarized copy of the document, you will pay an additional $10 for the service.