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Direct answer

Separate Rochester Police and Court Records

A Rochester criminal background check can mean three different tasks: Rochester Police records, a statewide New York court criminal-history search, or your own New York criminal-history record review. Use the source that matches the purpose instead of combining them into one “background check.”

Context

A Rochester background check changes meaning with the source

Rochester Police records are local agency records. New York’s CHRS service is a statewide court-based criminal-history search product. DCJS provides a process for a person to review their own New York criminal-history record. Those systems overlap around criminal-justice events, but they were created for different purposes and can show different information.

Before choosing a route, write down whether the task is to obtain a police report, request Rochester’s local Criminal History Check, search public court history, or review your own state criminal-history record. That decision keeps a local report from being mislabeled as a statewide background check and keeps a court search from being described as a fingerprint-based personal history. If an employer is using a third-party consumer report, separate FCRA/employment procedures also apply beyond these public-source searches.

Reference table

Rochester record source by purpose

Purpose Official source Boundary
Local police record/report Rochester Police Department Local agency record; not the full statewide court history
Rochester Criminal History Check Rochester Police Accident/Records, 185 Exchange Blvd. Apply in person with an official photo ID and your Social Security card. The check costs $25, payable by cash, credit card or money order to the City Treasurer, and is mailed within 7–10 business days. This local product is separate from CHRS and DCJS personal review.
Statewide public court criminal-history search New York Unified Court System CHRS Court-based search product; not a police file or fingerprint-based personal record. CHRS costs $95 for a statewide search using an exact name/date-of-birth match, submitted online or by mail; the result is not certified.
Review your own New York criminal history New York DCJS record review Personal state criminal-history review process requiring fingerprints; use DCJS instructions to choose a suppressed or unsuppressed response and arrange the appropriate fingerprint submission.

For Rochester Criminal History Check applicants living out of state, the city lists a local-police fingerprint card plus notarized copies of the photo ID and Social Security card. Call Accident/Records at (585) 428-7493 for the out-of-state instructions. The $25 check fee above is the Criminal History Check charge, not a combined price for separate fingerprinting services.

Court search, police file, and personal criminal-history review are not interchangeable
Choose the record based on what you need to prove or verify, and keep the source scope explicit.
Practical checklist

Before you search

  • ✓
    Correct legal name

    Use the name that appears in the record.

  • ✓
    Date of birth or other permitted identifiers

    Helps avoid same-name errors.

  • ✓
    Approximate event/case date

    Narrows police or court research.

  • ✓
    Purpose

    Decide whether you need local incident information, court history, or your own state record.

Context

Use the narrowest Rochester source that answers the task

If the user wants a copy of a local police incident, starting with statewide court history adds noise. If the user wants statewide public court criminal history, a Rochester police report is too narrow. Choosing the narrowest sufficient source reduces false positives and makes access limitations easier to explain. Add another source only when it answers a genuinely different question, and retain the source name in the final notes.

Related Record Guides

Sources

Official record routes