Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and September 25, 2026.
Ithaca, New York, in Tompkins County, has about 34,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In New York the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the County Clerk; the statewide criminal history kept by the New York State Office of Court Administration is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Ithaca is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests, directory links and common questions.
Related guides: Ithaca public records, Tompkins County criminal records, Ithaca arrest records, Ithaca warrants, Ithaca inmate search, Ithaca court records, New York arrest records and New York inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Tompkins County Supreme and County Courts
In New York the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Ithaca are heard by the Tompkins County Supreme and County Courts, which hear divorces and major civil cases in the Supreme Court, felonies in the County Court; the city, town and village courts take misdemeanors, traffic cases and small claims, and the file of each case is kept by the County Clerk.
For Tompkins County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at tompkinscountyny.gov/All-Departments/County-Clerk/Civil-Services (page title: Civil Services | Tompkins County), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Statewide, eCourts is the Unified Court System's free online case search (WebCivil, WebCrims and WebFamily).
The New York Criminal History and Your Own Copy
In New York the public route to a statewide criminal record is the court system's own search: the Office of Court Administration sells a statewide search of criminal court records by name and date of birth, at $95 a search. It covers cases that reached a court, not arrests that never did. The search is on the New York State Office of Court Administration site.
To see your own record, the route is a fingerprint-based Record Review through the Division of Criminal Justice Services. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at criminaljustice.ny.gov/ojis/recordreview.htm.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Ithaca
The Tompkins County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Ithaca (filed by the FBI as Ithaca Police Department) keep the arrest records in and around Ithaca: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Tompkins County: Ithaca College and Cornell University (campus police); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the five agencies in Tompkins County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,415 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Ithaca arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Ithaca in 2025
The agency that reports for Ithaca had 59 violent and 998 property crimes reported for 2025; each one is a report on file with it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The District Attorney for Tompkins County
The District Attorney decides which arrests in Tompkins County become charges and files them in the Tompkins County Supreme and County Courts or the city, town and village courts; the office answers questions about pending prosecutions, and the case files themselves are court records.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at tompkinscountyny.gov/All-Departments/District-Attorney (page title: District Attorney | Tompkins County), phone (607) 274-5461, 320 N. Tioga St. Ithaca, NY 14850, Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Ithaca
Registered sex offenders living in Ithaca are listed on the New York Sex Offender Registry, run by the Division of Criminal Justice Services at criminaljustice.ny.gov/nsor. Level 2 and Level 3 offenders are listed online; Level 1 offenders are not.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Tompkins County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Freedom of Information Law a county office must answer a request within 5 business days, at least with an acknowledgment and a date for the full answer, and it may charge copying at 25 cents a page.
More Official Criminal Records Pages for Tompkins County
The SearchSystems directory, online since 1997, lists the official pages for Tompkins County and New York. These criminal records pages from its Tompkins County listing were opened again on October 2, 2026 and each one still answers:
- Most Wanted (tompkinscountyny.gov)
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Ithaca?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the New York State Office of Court Administration: the Office of Court Administration sells a statewide search of criminal court records by name and date of birth, for $95. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Freedom of Information Law.
Can I search Ithaca criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at tompkinscountyny.gov (page title: Civil Services | Tompkins County). Statewide, eCourts is the Unified Court System's free online case search (WebCivil, WebCrims and WebFamily).
How do I get my own New York criminal history?
A fingerprint-based Record Review through the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Who prosecutes crimes in Ithaca?
The District Attorney, reached at (607) 274-5461, which files its cases in the Tompkins County Supreme and County Courts or the city, town and village courts.
Is this the official Ithaca website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.