Does anyone know how to look up criminal records?

I am trying to find arrest and court records for a person in Boozman Montana and the surrounding counties.

The person I'm looking for has some mental health issues, has been arrested a few times, and has some court orders. Unfortunately, the person is bi-polar & Schizophrenia. Thus it is impossible to really know what is going on with her. Thus I'm trying to find out whatever I can for her sister who is my friend.

I'm not looking to spend money on it.

The Clerk of Superior Court in counties have all those records and are usually public record, so they should be able to help. Not being familiar with Montana, they may go by some other official name or department, but I would start there.

In most cases, these type of court records will be public records. The only question is how easy or difficult it will be to access it.

On one end of the spectrum, some court clerks have all of their records accessible online, in electronic form. For example, most Arkansas clerks are hooked into a public database called CourtConnect, which allows anyone to look up publicly available court records electronically for free.

On the other end of the spectrum, some clerks require that you show up in person or submit a request in writing, and pay X cents per page for copies of records, since they have to find the physical file, pull it from a shelf, and run copies.


I don't know how it works specifically in Montana.

quote:

Boozman Montana and the surrounding counties.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Freudian slip??? It is Saturday night!

Boozman is just a short distance from Wineville on the Beer river.

I can’t necessarily help you, but some simple searches on google can sometimes provide a bit of info.

Bozeman, MT Jail Inmates

Police arrests.

thank you for the suggestions

these links are to paid sites, had already found them. They mascarade as .orgs but really should be .com IMO

quote:

Bozeman, MT Jail Inmates

Police arrests.

I should have been more clear as to what I'm looking for

- I've done Google searches and found multiple websites that you can pay to get a report.
- I'm currently unemployed and don't want to pay for the information. It will be used for FYI only, to try to help the person's sister find out what is really going on.

After first Googling for information I figured that the Sig Forum Brain Trust is the next place to go for how-to information. I'll try what RogueJSK suggested and search some county clerks.

I found the county clerk office and was able to find how to get information from them.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SOTAR,

Connecticut has searchable court records online. Maybe Montana does that too?

Even if you found the records, they are not going to be much help. I suppose twenty public drunks might sugggest an alcohol problem, but most do not have a description of what happened. Our county has an online Jail Docket with an open search function. It is just the tip of the iceberg. If you are really interested drive to Bozeman or hire a PI for a few hours. Rockford could clear this up with a few calls.

If your unemployed then maybe time is your asset. just go to each relevant court in the area and submit a foia (it will probably be called something else in real life by State but a records request) for the records. Then wait a bit and call for a status. Most States have a specific turnaround time (do a statue search) and some charge a small fee by page for relevant records. But there is nothing hard about doing this.

^^^^^^^^^
Good idea. Back when I spent time at the County courthouse I got to know the clerks. Most were in their fifties and had been there for years. If you were nice and polite they would get all kinds of things for you. The younger brusque attorneys were not so successful. The clerks would joke behind their backs as soon as they left the room. In a small town the clerks likely know the offender as well.

You might try TruthFinder. It's a web background search tool.

flashguy

[QUOTE]Originally posted by flashguy:
You might try TruthFinder. It's a web background search tool.

flashguy[/QUOTE

He is looking for free.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
If your unemployed then maybe time is your asset. just go to each relevant court in the area and submit a foia (it will probably be called something else in real life by State but a records request) for the records.

OP is in Portland, OR, about as far west in the continental US as one can be from Boozman.

The NYS court system has a searchable database. You enter a name or case number and it will return and an all civil and criminal court actions.

Indiana courts have a public database searchable by name on their website. There's also a protective order database.

You just have to get the right name. Some stuff might be have a full middle name and some might only have a middle initial. Depends how it was filed.

quote:

Originally posted by SOTAR:
Does anyone know how to look up criminal records?

I am trying to find arrest and court records for a person in Boozman Montana and the surrounding counties.

The person I'm looking for has some mental health issues, has been arrested a few times, and has some court orders. Unfortunately, the person is bi-polar & Schizophrenia. Thus it is impossible to really know what is going on with her. Thus I'm trying to find out whatever I can for her sister who is my friend.

I'm not looking to spend money on it.

I am willing to help out in anyway I can for free. I do this a lot and can only use non-agency resources as I am also a Licensed private investigator.

Access to information will really depend on the jurisdiction and if their records are online. You can get some that are not online, but you have to pay for it. Some require you to show in-person. I will need the name of the person, possibly their DOB, county of arrest, any arrest data you know of such as date or charge, whether it is a misdemeanor or felony, etc.

My email is in my profile if you would like to contact me.

ETA: If you don’t know for sure if the person has been arrested, then I can look for that as well but again I can only use public available information which varies by state. I will need more information on the person for this type of search.

Looks like you have register in Gallatin County but the search is free.
Here is a link.

https://eagleweb.gallatin.mt.g...submit=I+Acknowledge

This appears to be a state site.

https://dojmt.gov/enforcement/...d-checks/#cr-contact