The Kansas Bureau of Investigation retains all criminal history records for the state. On its website, it’s possible to search and seek records of various kinds.
What Are Criminal Records?
Criminal records are those that hold all of a person’s criminal history. This can include local, state, and federal criminal information. The record may also include information about the person, such as their address, date of birth, name, any aliases, fingerprints, and a photograph.
Your criminal records may include:
- Past arrest information
- Current and pending charges
- Acquitted charges
- Dismissed charges
- Warrants
Any misdemeanors or felonies will also be listed in this report.
How Are Criminal Records Used?
Criminal records can be used in many ways. Usually, they are searched during a background check.
Background checks may happen for several reasons, such as:
- Employment, where a company wants to know about a potential employee
- School admittance, such as when you apply to a college or university
- Property rental
- Obtaining a security clearance
- Purchasing weapons or firearms, since felons are not able to purchase or own weapons in most cases
- Military service
- Fostering or adopting
- Voter registration
- For international travel
- For law enforcement purposes, like as a part of a criminal investigation
How Can Someone Access Your Criminal Records?
Depending on the jurisdiction, you may have to give another person or organization permission to access your records. However, law enforcement and those in the government may have open access. You may also have to permit certain kinds of purchases, such as purchasing a firearm.
General Public
The public can access some criminal records as public records. For example, you can perform a background check and find out more about a person’s public records, such as their divorce or marital history, DUI records, and past addresses. A criminal record check is more specific and includes information like a person’s arrests, penalties, and convictions. Additionally, a criminal record check may include more information about what they look like, including their height, weight, tattoos, and other defining features. In Kansas, the public can access many criminal records by paying a fee and searching online. The public can access information about:
- Court convictions for violations of Kansas law that are felonies or misdemeanors and court convictions for violations of municipal ordinances or county resolutions equivalent to misdemeanors under state statute.
- Confinements in Kansas Department of Corrections facilities.
- Active diversions that have not yet been completed.
- Records of arrests within the past 12 months are also released when the disposition records have not yet been received.
Sex Crimes
Sex crimes are open to the public because of the sex offender registry. Visiting the state’s sex offender website, such as the KBI Registered Offender Website, makes searching simple. Depending on their crime and whether they are first offenders, adults remain on the registry in Kansas for 15 years, 25 years, or life.
How Can You Request a Criminal Record?
If you want to request your criminal record or another person’s, you first pay $20 to subscribe to the KBI criminal history search site. You then receive a log-in ID and can search online.