New York's state lookups are fewer than its size suggests. The courts' eCourts system and the voter lookup refused an automated read, the DCJS criminal history is released only to its own subject by fingerprint, and the DOCCS lookup is required by law to drop a class of non violent offenders five years after their sentences end. What is open is the Department of State's entity database with assumed names, the registry's directory of Level 2 and 3 offenders, and the Comptroller's unclaimed funds, which returned $566 million in 2026.
The order to use: the DOCCS lookup and the registry for status, the entity database and the Office of the Professions for livelihood, eCourts for the cases once its wall is passed in a browser, then the county offices and, in the city, ACRIS for deeds, listed on the New York county pages at SearchSystems, with the Department of Health or the New York City registry for certificates.
- In custody: the DOCCS Incarcerated Lookup, by name or DIN, for current and certain former incarcerated individuals.
- Registered offenders: the DCJS Sex Offender Registry, an online directory of Level 2 and Level 3 offenders.
- Companies and assumed names: the Department of State Corporation and Business Entity Database.
- Courts and licenses: the Unified Court System's eCourts, which refused an automated read, and the Office of the Professions verification.
- Certificates, money and FOIL: the Department of Health vital records, the Comptroller's Unclaimed Funds and the Committee on Open Government.
Written by SearchSystems.net from New York's own systems: the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, the Division of Criminal Justice Services, the New York State Department of State, the New York State Department of Health, the Office of the New York State Comptroller, the Committee on Open Government, the New York City Department of Finance Office of the City Register, each read on October 13, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
The DOCCS lookup, and the names it must remove
The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision's Incarcerated Lookup was reporting a system error when SearchSystems read it, but the department's lookup instructions and the state's service page describe it: real time information on the status and location of current and certain former incarcerated individuals in DOCCS facilities, searched by name to find the DIN, the department identification number, which is the more direct key. Correction Law section 9, Access to information of Incarcerated Individuals via the internet, requires DOCCS to remove from its website the information for a limited class of non violent offenders five years after they complete their maximum term of imprisonment or their term of supervision, and if such a person is returned to DOCCS custody the information reappears. A missing name is therefore not proof of no record. The department is at 1220 Washington Ave, Building 4, Albany, NY 12226. New York City's own Department of Correction runs a separate person in custody lookup for the city jails.
The registry: Levels 2 and 3 online
The Division of Criminal Justice Services maintains the Sex Offender Registry as the official source of information about individuals required to register in New York State, and state law requires it to keep an online directory of individuals determined to have a Level 2 or Level 3 risk of re-offense. The directory the law requires covers Levels 2 and 3; the page says nothing about Level 1. The search itself is reached from the overview page.
The entity database, with assumed names
The Department of State's Corporation and Business Entity Database includes business and not for profit corporations, limited partnerships, limited liability companies, limited liability partnerships and other businesses, and also the assumed name filings for corporations, LLCs and limited partnerships, so a trade name leads back to the entity behind it. A search chooses the search type, enters the name or ID, optionally filters by entity status and type, and sets the name matching to begins with or contains; the department says the system is not for judging the acceptability of a proposed name and that completeness cannot be guaranteed, with questions to the Division of Corporations at (518) 473-2492, weekdays 8:45 AM to 4:30 PM. Officers are not a search field; the entity name is.
The courts, licenses and voters
The Unified Court System's eCourts and its e-courts page both answered an automated read with a wall, as did the State Board of Elections' voter lookup, so neither is described here; the New York county pages at SearchSystems list each county clerk and court. The State Education Department's Office of the Professions verification search answered with its title only, so its fields are on the page; it is the state's verification for the licensed professions the department regulates.
Vital records outside New York City
The State Department of Health's Birth, Death, Marriage and Divorce Records page handles records for the state outside New York City, pointing to the city's separate records, and offers original pre adoption birth certificates for adoptees, the Adoption Information Registry, pregnancy loss and stillbirth certificates, genealogy records and resources, corrections and amendments, apostilles and the Database Application for Vital Events. The ordering terms and eligibility rules are on the pages it links.
Unclaimed funds: $566 million returned in 2026
The State Comptroller's Office of Unclaimed Funds reported $566,256,078 returned in 2026 and says it returns over $2 million every day, free, with no time limit to claim. Unclaimed property is lost or forgotten money, old bank accounts, uncashed checks, stock certificates and unused gift cards, turned over to the Comptroller after a period of inactivity; the office reunites some properties with verified owners without a claim, mails notification letters, holds outreach events and updates its database daily, and it encourages current and former New Yorkers to search for themselves, their businesses, friends and family. Claims for deceased owners and estates have their own process.
The ACP, FOIL and ACRIS
The Department of State's Address Confidentiality Program provides eligible participants a substitute address and free mail forwarding to keep their real address safe, with applications through certified application assistance providers and questions at 1-855-350-4595 or P.O. Box 1110, Albany, NY 12201. The Committee on Open Government oversees the Freedom of Information Law, the Open Meetings Law and the Personal Privacy Protection Law, offering sample FOIL requests, appeals and responses, the time limits for a response, written advisory opinions, case summaries and its 2025 annual report. In New York City, property records are indexed in ACRIS at the Department of Finance's Office of the City Register, which blocked SearchSystems' automated read with a bandwidth notice and offers subscription data through the register at 212-487-6300 and its index data through NYC Open Data.
The criminal history only its subject can request
The Division of Criminal Justice Services is the only official source of New York State criminal history records, and its record request page is written for the subject: a person submits fingerprints and receives either a copy of their own rap sheet or a no record response, so that they or their attorney can review and correct it. The page describes no public search of another person's record, and the court system's page on criminal records basics refused the automated read; a stranger's view of a New Yorker's criminal case is through the court record, not DCJS.
New York: DOCCS, the registry levels and FOIL
In New York the entity database and the registry are the open name searches, the DOCCS lookup answers custody with its five year rule in mind, and the Comptroller's database shows money the state is holding. The cases are in eCourts and at the county clerk, the deeds at the county offices or, in the city, ACRIS, and the certificates at the Department of Health or the city, listed on the New York county pages at SearchSystems.
Paid people search reports on New Yorkers are compiled from these records and cannot include a DCJS rap sheet, which only its subject may obtain; the county records and the entity database are where their claims are checked.
County Starting Points
Questions about finding someone in New York
Every New York Guide
The full set: arrest records, background checks, inmate search, offender registry, birth certificates, unclaimed property, business search, and the New York records law that opens every door on this list.