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 28, 2026.
Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, has about 1.6 million residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Pennsylvania the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Prothonotary for civil cases and divorces and the Clerk of Courts for criminal cases; the statewide criminal history kept by the Pennsylvania State Police is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Philadelphia County 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 and common questions.
Related guides: Philadelphia County public records, Philadelphia County arrest records, Philadelphia County warrants, Philadelphia County inmate search, Philadelphia County court records, Pennsylvania arrest records and Pennsylvania inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas
In Pennsylvania the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Philadelphia County are heard by the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, which hears felonies, civil cases, divorces, estates and juvenile matters; the Magisterial District Courts take traffic tickets, summary offenses, small claims and preliminary hearings; Philadelphia has the Municipal Court instead, and the file of each case is kept by the Prothonotary for civil cases and divorces and the Clerk of Courts for criminal cases.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courts.phila.gov (page title: The Philadelphia Courts | First Judicial District of Pennsylvania), phone 215 686-7000, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Statewide, UJS Web Portal is the Pennsylvania courts' free statewide docket search.
The Pennsylvania Criminal History and Your Own Copy
Pennsylvania is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: PATCH lets anyone request a criminal record check by name online, for $22 a search, through the Pennsylvania State Police. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it. The search is on the Pennsylvania State Police site.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Philadelphia County
The agency that reports for Philadelphia keeps the arrest records in Philadelphia County: 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 three campus police departments, one state police unit and three state agencies in Philadelphia County (the arrest records guide names each one); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
Philadelphia reported 35,097 arrests to the FBI for 2025; 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 Philadelphia County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Philadelphia County in 2025
The one agency in Philadelphia County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 12,966 violent and 68,025 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 80,991 crimes in 2025 against 85,716 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Philadelphia County public records guide.
The District Attorney for Philadelphia County
Charges in Philadelphia County are filed by the District Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas or the Magisterial District Courts.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at phila.gov/departments/philadelphia-district-attorneys-office (page title: Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office | City of Philadelphia), phone (215) 686-8000, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Philadelphia County
Registered sex offenders living in Philadelphia County are listed on the Pennsylvania Megan's Law website, run by the Pennsylvania State Police at meganslaw.psp.pa.gov/Home/TermsAndConditions. The registry is public and can be searched online.
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 Philadelphia 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 Right-to-Know Law a county office must answer a request within 5 business days, with a 30-day extension, and it may charge copying at 25 cents a page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Philadelphia County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Pennsylvania State Police: PATCH lets anyone request a criminal record check by name online, for $22. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Right-to-Know Law.
Can I search Philadelphia County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courts.phila.gov (page title: The Philadelphia Courts | First Judicial District of Pennsylvania). Statewide, UJS Web Portal is the Pennsylvania courts' free statewide docket search.
How do I get my own Pennsylvania criminal history?
Through the same PATCH request, run on yourself.
Who prosecutes crimes in Philadelphia County?
The District Attorney, reached at (215) 686-8000, which files its cases in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas or the Magisterial District Courts.
Is this the official Philadelphia County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.