Reviewed and updated October 4, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. Every office link on this page was opened and checked against the office's own website at review time.
Cincinnati is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, with about 315,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Its public records are split between the city and the county. The city keeps police reports, council records and its own licenses and permits; court cases, jail bookings, deeds and vital records are county or state records. This guide names the Cincinnati offices SearchSystems verified, links to each one's own website and gives the phone number and address where the office publishes them. SearchSystems verified 3 city office pages for Cincinnati, every one opened and checked.
In this guide: City or county, Police records, City Hall, Records requests, Other cities and Questions.
City or county record: where Cincinnati records are kept
- Kept by the City of Cincinnati: police reports, council and board meeting records, ordinances and the city's own licenses and permits.
- Kept by Hamilton County or the state: court cases, jail bookings, deeds and property values and birth and death certificates. These are not city records; they are in the Hamilton County public records guide under court records, jail lookups, property records and vital records.
Cincinnati police reports and records
Incident reports, crash reports and the other records of the Cincinnati police are requested from the department's records unit, usually in writing or through an online form. Reports on open investigations and the names of victims and juveniles are usually withheld or redacted, and some states limit crash reports to the people involved and their insurers. The page below is the one SearchSystems verified for Cincinnati police records.
- Website: cincinnati-oh.gov/police/contact-us/about-police-records (page title: About Police Records | Police)
- Phone: 513-352-3559
- Address: 801 Linn Street Cincinnati, OH 45203
- Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
Jail bookings and inmate lookups are usually handled by the county, not the city police. They are in the Hamilton County public records guide under jail and inmate lookups.
Cincinnati City Hall: departments, licenses and permits
Business licenses, building permits, code enforcement cases and the city's other records are kept by the department that issued them. The city's own website below lists its departments and how to reach them.
- Website: cincinnati-oh.gov/council/welcome-to-city-hall (page title: Welcome To City Hall | Clerk of Council)
- Phone: 513-591-6000
- Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
Public records requests to Cincinnati
Ohio public records law applies to the city government of Cincinnati. The city runs one records request page for its departments; it is the page below, verified by SearchSystems. A request that names a date, an address, or a report or case number is the easiest to answer.
- Website: cincinnati-oh.gov/law/public-records (page title: Public Records | Law)
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
A record the request page does not cover is asked for from the office that holds it: the police records unit for police reports and the department that issued a permit or license for its records.
Other cities and towns in Hamilton County
SearchSystems has a guide like this one for these other cities and towns in Hamilton County. The Hamilton County public records guide covers the records the county keeps for all of them.
Cincinnati Arrest Records
The Cincinnati arrest records guide covers the agency that reports Cincinnati's arrests to the FBI and the 5,572 arrests it reported for 2025. It also says where a person arrested in Cincinnati is held, how to find out about an arrest and how to get a copy of the report.
Cincinnati Records Guides
SearchSystems has nine more guides to Cincinnati, each written from the city's own offices and figures: Cincinnati warrants (who issues and serves them, where a person arrested on one is held, how to check for one), Cincinnati inmate search (the custody page of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, the jail numbers and who books people), Cincinnati criminal records (the court file, the Ohio criminal history and the local arrest records), Cincinnati court records (which court hears what, the case search and who keeps the files), Cincinnati police reports (which agency holds a report and what the Ohio Public Records Act requires), Cincinnati traffic tickets (which court takes the ticket, who writes them and the driving record), Cincinnati DUI (the OVI law, the arrest, the court case and the license case), Cincinnati divorce records (which court holds the file and how a certified copy is had) and Cincinnati property records (deeds, assessed values, permits and evictions).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the official Cincinnati website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records directory, online since 1997. It links to the official Cincinnati offices listed above, and the city's own website is cincinnati-oh.gov; SearchSystems does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.
How do I get a police report in Cincinnati?
Request it from the Cincinnati police records unit at cincinnati-oh.gov, phone 513-352-3559. Reports on open investigations and the names of victims and juveniles are usually withheld or redacted.
Where do I find court records or jail bookings for Cincinnati?
Cincinnati cases are heard by the courts that serve Hamilton County, and people arrested in Cincinnati are usually booked into the county jail. Both are covered in the Hamilton County public records guide on SearchSystems.
How do I request a public record from Cincinnati?
Through the city's records request page at cincinnati-oh.gov/law/public-records. A record it does not cover is requested from the office that holds it: the police records unit for police reports and the department that issued a permit or license for its records.