Maine sells its criminal history to anyone with a name and a date of birth, for $21 and usually within two hours by email, and it publishes its prison and community corrections population in a search updated daily. Its court records are mid transition: electronic files are searchable on re:SearchMaine only in the counties where eFiling has arrived, with the last trial courts due by February 2027, and older cases stay on paper at the clerk's office or the Judicial Branch Service Center. Vital records are held both by the state since 1892 and by most town offices.
The order to use: the corrections search and the registry for status, re:SearchMaine for the registry of actions in eFiling counties and a records search request for the rest, the licensee search for professions, the corporate name search for companies, the criminal history request when the birth date is known, then the town office for vital records and the county registry of deeds for property, listed on the Maine pages at SearchSystems.
- Courts: re:SearchMaine for electronic records where eFiling exists, and the Judicial Branch records search request for paper files.
- Criminal history, $21: the State Police Criminal History Record and Juvenile Crime Information Request, by name and date of birth.
- Prison and supervision: the Department of Corrections Adult Resident and Community Corrections Client Search, updated daily.
- Registered offenders: the Maine Sex Offender Registry, updated daily by the State Bureau of Identification.
- Licenses, companies, certificates and money: the licensee search with downloadable lists, the corporate name search, vital records at Maine CDC and Maine Unclaimed Property.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Maine's own systems: the State of Maine Judicial Branch, the Maine State Police State Bureau of Identification, the Maine Department of Corrections, the Office of Professional and Financial Regulation, the Maine Secretary of State, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the State of Maine Freedom of Access Act site, each read on October 13, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Court records: electronic where eFiling has arrived, paper everywhere else
The Maine Judicial Branch began moving from paper files to electronic records and eFiling in 2018, starting with statewide traffic infractions, and its court records page says all trial courts will have made the transition for active cases by February 2027, court by court. Closed cases that were stored on paper and not reopened for eFiling, which the branch calls legacy cases, will stay on paper and will never be available electronically, so depending on the court, the date and the case type a record is most likely on paper. Paper records are obtained by a Records Search Request form mailed with a self addressed stamped envelope to the Judicial Branch Service Center, P.O. Box 266, Lewiston, ME 04240, 207-753-2901, or in person or by phone at the clerk's office of the court where the case was heard, with some clerks unable to take telephone requests and older records subject to the retention schedule.
Electronic records are reached through re:SearchMaine under the Maine Rules of Electronic Court Systems, which sort records into those for attorneys and parties only, those the public may see remotely, and those the public may see only at a courthouse with eFiling. Members of the public register free, search only public cases in eFiling courts, and view the Registry of Actions, the list of court events, for criminal, civil violation, statewide traffic, business and consumer docket, tort, contract, declaratory relief, civil rights, real estate title, appeal and money judgment cases, plus eviction, small claims and foreclosure cases after a plaintiff's judgment; other public documents are viewed at the courthouse, where paper copies are free. Criminal, juvenile and civil violation records are available only from each county's eFiling date: Androscoggin after June 2025, Oxford and Franklin after September 2025, Kennebec and Somerset after February 2026, York after March 2026, Aroostook after June 2026, Hancock and Washington after July 2026, and Cumberland, which went live on September 28, 2026. Sealed, impounded and nonpublic records need a court order.
The $21 criminal history, by email
The Maine State Police State Bureau of Identification's Criminal History Record and Juvenile Crime Information Request returns all the conviction and adjudication information for adult and juvenile crimes committed in Maine that the bureau has on record, plus pending cases less than one year old, from a name and date of birth. The response is either NO MATCH WAS FOUND FOR YOUR REQUEST or a record of convictions and pending charges, delivered by email usually within two hours, with manual cases taking up to two weeks and results available for 30 days. The fee is $21.00 for Maine InforME subscribers and $31.00 for out of state subscribers, non refundable, paid by credit card or InforME subscription, with a notarized report $10.00 more. The bureau warns that a record found by name and date of birth may belong to another person with a similar name and birth date, and that only a fingerprint comparison assures identity; a conviction sealed under Title 15 MRSA section 310-A does not show on the public record.
The adult resident and community corrections search
The Maine Department of Corrections' Adult Resident/Adult Community Corrections Client Search is a free service, available around the clock with data updated daily, for anyone searching active adult residents or community corrections clients. An adult resident is an adult incarcerated at a department facility or held under the department's jurisdiction in a county jail, another state or a federal facility; a community corrections client is an adult supervised in the community on probation, supervised release for sex offenders, supervised community confinement or parole. Juveniles are not included. The department states that the service is not a complete criminal history, points to the public criminal history request for that, and explains that the earliest custody release date shown assumes all possible good time is earned and none lost. Questions go to the Corrections Webdesk or (207) 621-2600.
The sex offender registry
The Maine Sex Offender Registry, maintained by the State Police State Bureau of Identification, lists only those required to register under Title 34-A MRSA, Chapters 15 and 17, not everyone convicted of a sex crime. It is updated daily with the update date shown on each page, registrants must verify their address periodically and on any move, and the date a registrant last updated appears beside the address; the bureau says registrants may have moved without notice and does not guarantee the listed address. A Maine convicted registrant who moves out of state stays on the registry until the obligation expires but may no longer be updated, so a listing marked moved out of state should not be relied on, and the national registry at nsopw.gov is suggested instead. Corrections go to the registry office at 207-624-7270.
Licenses as lists, and the corporate name search
The Office of Professional and Financial Regulation's Licensee Search finds an individual, a company or another entity such as a boiler or elevator by name or license number, with license discipline searchable by board and status codes of active, expired, inactive, pending and terminated. The office also lets anyone download a list of all licensees in a profession as a comma delimited file, chosen from the regulator drop down, which is the fastest way to find every licensed plumber, nurse or real estate agent in the state. The Secretary of State's Corporate Name Search runs on a keyword from the name or a charter number and provides general entity details, with standard and certified copies in PDF and documents retrievable free for 15 days after purchase; the Division of Corporations prohibits data mining and automated tools, and answers at 207-624-7752. The search is by entity name, not by officer.
The Voter Information Lookup Service, vital statistics and Maine Unclaimed Property
The Secretary of State's Voter Information Lookup Service works from a home address and returns the voting place, the candidates and sample ballot and the elected officials for that address, not a lookup of other voters by name. All of Maine's vital records, births, marriages, divorces, deaths and fetal deaths, are housed at the Maine CDC's Data, Research and Vital Statistics office and at most municipal offices statewide; the state began preserving them on January 1, 1892, and earlier records come from the municipality or the Maine State Archives. The office issues certified and non certified copies to eligible applicants, registers genealogists, maintains the domestic partner registry established in 2004 and the adoption reunion registry established in 1979, and houses sealed adoptions and gender marker changes. Maine Unclaimed Property answered with its title only.
The ACP and the Freedom of Access Act
The Secretary of State's Address Confidentiality Program gives victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking who have moved to a location unknown to their abuser a designated address and free first class mail forwarding, so that state and local agencies deny abusers the use of public records; participation is recommended by the counselors, shelters and services that work with victims, and the ACP manager answers at 207-626-8400. The state's Freedom of Access Act site describes a broad right of access to public records balanced against governmental interests and individual privacy, with public meetings required to be open, and offers guidance on making a request, a list of statutory exceptions and the Right to Know Advisory Committee.
Maine: a $21 criminal history and re:SearchMaine
Maine answers the criminal question directly for $21, and its corrections and registry searches are free and current to the day. The court record depends on where and when: re:SearchMaine for the registry of actions in eFiling counties, the Service Center or the clerk for paper. Licenses come as whole lists, companies by name. Births, deaths and marriages are at the town office as well as the state, and deeds are at the county registry of deeds, both listed on the Maine pages at SearchSystems.
Paid people search reports on Mainers repackage these sources and resell the State Police check; the state sells it directly, by email, for $21.
County Starting Points
Questions about finding someone in Maine
Every Maine Guide
The full set: arrest records, background checks, inmate search, offender registry, birth certificates, unclaimed property, business search, and the Maine records law that opens every door on this list.