The District has no state bureau of identification; the record of an arrest in Washington lives with the Metropolitan Police Department, and the public counter is the Arrest and Criminal History Section at 441 4th Street NW, Room 550 South, described on the department's police clearances page. The section says at least 95 percent of the people it serves want a police clearance, for employment, licensing, adoption, apartment rental, taxicab hacker licenses or the FL-20 letter used for travel abroad, and that someone with an arrest record will wait a little longer. The request is PD Form 70, the Criminal History Request, available at the counter; the page says most requests take about 24 hours to process and, under each option, that processing can take up to 10 business days. The fee is $7, by cash or credit card at the counter, with no money orders or personal checks taken there.
The two options on the form decide what the paper says. Under Option A, an individual may request the arrest record for the purpose of deciding eligibility to seal or expunge it under Chapter 8 of Title 16 or a similar statute here or elsewhere, and for filing the motion; that document lists all adult arrests, whatever the disposition and however old. Under Option B, for any other purpose, the document lists only adult convictions whose sentence was completed within the ten years before the request, plus forfeitures of collateral in court within the same ten years. Either way the person must be 18, can get information only about themselves, is told to read the record before leaving the counter and to note the clerk's name, and must book an appointment for in person service, though the page also notes walk in appointments are available Monday to Friday. Court records, by contrast, are open to anyone, as the District of Columbia page on this site sets out.
- $7: the fee for a police clearance at the counter by cash or card, or by money order to the DC Treasurer for a mailed request; checks are not accepted.
- Yourself only, at 18: the Arrest and Criminal History Section releases information only to the subject, who must be at least 18.
- Option A or B: a complete list of adult arrests for a sealing motion, or only convictions completed within the last ten years for every other purpose.
- Not yet in effect: the Superior Court states that the automatic sealing and expungement provisions of the Second Chance Amendment Act of 2022 have not taken effect, and no cases are being sealed automatically.
Written by SearchSystems.net from District of Columbia's own systems: the Metropolitan Police Department page on police clearances, the Metropolitan Police Department page on accident and incident reports, the Superior Court case search page of the District of Columbia Courts, the Superior Court Criminal Division page on arrests, the Superior Court page on sealing criminal records, the Superior Court instructions for filing a motion to seal or expunge, the Department of Corrections page on locating an inmate, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Hours, mail and the drop off window
The Records Division keeps extended hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 7 pm and is otherwise open 9 am to 5 pm on weekdays, with the section reached at 202-727-4245. Identification is a driver license, a non driver ID, or an original birth certificate together with a Social Security card. People outside the District, or unable to come in, mail a notarized letter asking for a background check, with a copy of their ID, full name, date of birth, Social Security number, telephone number, email address, a self addressed stamped envelope and a $7 money order payable to the DC Treasurer, to the Criminal History Section at the Room 550 South address; the department asks for six weeks from the date of the request.
A newer drop off service needs no appointment. The requester appears in person with the license or non driver ID or the birth certificate and Social Security card, an email address, a callback number and a self addressed stamped envelope, chooses at the time of drop off whether to return for pick up or have the report mailed, and waits about two weeks. The number for that service is 202-727-4429.
The incident report is a different form
An arrest usually begins with a PD-251, the incident or offense report, and that comes from a different counter, the Public Documents Section in the same room, reached at 202-727-4357. The department's report request page says the PD-251 has been provided by email, in person and by mail since January 1, 2016, and that the fees for producing one are temporarily waived. An email or mailed request should give the full name, the date, time and location of the incident and the six digit report number known as the CCN, which the police district that responded can supply; mailed requests take about six weeks.
Accident reports, PD-10, go only to a first party, meaning someone involved or their attorney or investigator, at no charge, and third parties use the department's FOIA office. The District of Columbia public records law guide covers that FOIA route.
From arrest to arraignment
The Superior Court's arrests page describes what follows a booking. A person arrested in the District is scheduled for arraignment or presentment in DC Superior Court, the same day or the next depending on the hour of arrest, with no court on Sunday. The prosecutor may file a felony, a US misdemeanor, a DC misdemeanor or a criminal traffic charge; US misdemeanors are the more serious ones, such as simple assault, threats and misdemeanor drug possession, and are prosecuted by the United States Attorney's Office, while the Attorney General for the District handles DC offenses.
After identification, charging and booking at a police district, a defendant may be released on citation with a date to appear, released on bond, or, for certain traffic and lower level offenses, allowed to post and forfeit collateral, which the court does not treat as an admission of guilt.
One line on the page explains a gap many people meet later. The Criminal Customer Service Office does not provide any information or paperwork about an arrest after 2011 in which the prosecutor declined to proceed, known as an arrest only or no paper case. For those, the only record is the MPD arrest history under Option A.
Searching Superior Court criminal cases
The court's case search page, last updated February 13, 2026, sends criminal cases, criminal tax cases and domestic violence cases to eAccess, while civil, landlord and tenant, small claims, probate and civil tax matters are on the Portal, where most case information can be viewed without registering. Criminal citation cases are not available online at all; the court date comes from the police district that issued the citation.
Docket entries and images appear within minutes of entry into the court record, but the court warns that update cycles and quality reviews can leave occasional outdated information and disclaims the accuracy of the system. The eAccess user guide lists the case types available, and questions go to EOCommunications at dccsystem.gov with one to two business days for a first reply.
Sealing a record: three documents and up to six months
The Criminal Division's sealing page, last updated February 2, 2026, says the Council enacted the Second Chance Amendment Act of 2022, which permits people to have records sealed or expunged if they meet its criteria, and then states that the act's automatic sealing and expungement provisions are not yet in effect and that no cases are being sealed or expunged automatically. Until that changes, a motion is filed with the Criminal Information Office, with the original and one copy.
The court's instructions, revised June 30, 2026, set out three steps. Call 202-727-4245 for an appointment with the Metropolitan Police Department and request the arrest history report, which is the Option A clearance. Request the case disposition from DC Superior Court in person between 8:30 am and 5 pm on business days or by email to criminalcustomerservice at dcsc.gov. Then prepare the motion yourself or through an attorney; the sheet lists DC Resource Bridge, Legal Aid DC, Neighborhood Legal Services, the Public Defender Service, Rising for Justice and the Christian Legal Society as organizations that help.
The arrest record, the disposition and the motion are emailed together to criminalmotionsealteam at dcsc.gov or filed in person, the Seal Team assigns a case number if there is none and sends the motion to a judge, and the whole process can take up to six months. The team answers questions at 202-879-1362.
The jail and the Department of Corrections
The Department of Corrections runs the District's jail, and its locate an inmate page offers no online search; general inmate information comes from the Records Office at 202-523-7060, and a victim holding a DC Department of Corrections inmate number, a Metropolitan Police identification number known as a PDID, a full name or a court case number can register for automated custody updates with VINE at 1-877-329-7894. The department's own records are requested through the DC government public FOIA portal, or by mail, fax or email, with the department noting that online requests are easier to track.
The District of Columbia inmate search guide covers the jail, the Correctional Treatment Facility and the federal prisons where sentenced District felons serve.
Employers and the limits of the clearance
Because the section releases information only to the subject, an employer in the District does not order a clearance; the applicant obtains it and hands it over, and under Option B the employer sees convictions from the last ten years and nothing older or unproven. The fingerprint based checks that licensing boards and agencies run are a separate matter covered in the District of Columbia background check guide, and the public registry of sex offenders kept by the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency is explained in the District of Columbia sex offender registry guide.
Questions about District of Columbia arrest records
Related District of Columbia records
District readers can continue with the District of Columbia background check guide for fingerprint checks by agencies and boards, the District of Columbia inmate search guide for the jail and federal custody, the District of Columbia sex offender registry guide, the District of Columbia public records law guide for FOIA requests to the police, and the District of Columbia page for the courts and agencies.