For the past few years, almost all state and country governments have started making criminal records available to the public online via the Internet. Now, the Internet has become an open source of information that offers manifold avenues for searching information. So any private citizen or any organization can avail of the criminal records online whatever they want, usually within two to ten business days.

The Pacific Information Resources site has a list of online criminal records. Some of these sites like the Oklahoma site provide information about criminal records free of charge. However some of these sites charge for providing the accessibility of the records. Most government agencies now make their records available online as they think that they can make money by selling the records. The charges of websites vary from one another depending on the level and amount of information and the kind of information. So one has to shop around for deciding the best site that suits ones requirements and capability to pay the charges.

While the majority of jurisdictions have computerized their criminal records, most of them now do not allow off-site access of criminal records. However, in many online criminal records the only information available is the name of defendant, case number, and date. Sometimes the penal code violations and disposition may not be listed in the online records for the purpose of providing privacy and protection to the witnesses involved. When compared to other off-line sources of retrieving information about criminal records, online search is the somewhat a least cost effective way. However, these results can be retrieved more quickly than those of other sources.

There is some risk involving in the online accessibility of criminal records. Almost all types of people are using Internet for browsing information. In such a context, if any errors are there in the online criminal records, they will seriously effect the reputation of the person involved.