Removal and correction requests

This is always free. We never charge to remove or correct a record, and we never will. Any site that asks you to pay for this is, in much of the United States, breaking the law — at least eighteen states specifically prohibit charging removal fees for criminal record information and booking photos.

Before you file

One thing worth understanding first: CourtRecordsFree does not maintain its own database of people. Search results are pulled live from public sources — mainly the Free Law Project's CourtListener archive and news indexes — and the state directory only links to official government portals.

That means removing something here does not remove it from the underlying source. If a federal docket is wrong, the fix has to happen at the court. If a news article is wrong, the fix has to happen at the publication. We can suppress it from our results, and we will, but we want you to know what that does and doesn't accomplish.

What we can do

Suppress a specific record from appearing in our search results
Correct an error in our state portal directory
Honor a sealing or expungement order
Remove a news link that has been retracted or corrected by the publisher

What we cannot do

Change a court record — only the issuing court can do that
Remove content from Google, other search engines, or other websites
Remove a record from an official state or federal portal
Seal or expunge a case — that requires a petition to the court, and often a lawyer

Submit a request

We respond within 10 business days. Requests accompanied by a court order sealing or expunging the record are honored immediately on verification. Information you submit here is used only to process your request.

Getting a record sealed or expunged

If you want a case removed at the source — which is the only permanent fix — that is a court process, not a website process. Eligibility varies enormously by state and offense. Two starting points that don't cost anything:

LawHelp.org — free legal aid referrals by state
Your state or county public defender's office — many run free expungement clinics

Be cautious of companies that charge several hundred dollars to "clear your record" — in many states the petition is a form you can file yourself for a modest court fee.