District of Columbia Public Records

Arrest records for Washington, D.C. come from one of two main agencies. (1) **Metropolitan Police Department (MPD)** for arrests inside DC city limits — 300 Indiana Ave NW, Washington DC 20001, phone (202) 727-9099, https://mpdc.dc.gov. **MPD Public Records Office** handles incident reports, arrest reports, and FOIA requests. **DC FOIA** (D.C. Official Code §§ 2-531 et seq.): 15 business day response window; copy fees $0.10/page. (2) **DC Department of Corrections (DOC)** at https://doc.dc.gov for current detainees — DC Jail (Central Detention Facility) at 1901 D St SE, Washington DC 20003, phone (202) 523-7060. The DC DOC Inmate Locator at https://doc.dc.gov/page/locate-inmate. (3) **Federal Bureau of Prisons** at https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/ — DC prisoners with sentences over 1 year are housed in **Federal BOP facilities** (DC eliminated its state-prison system in 2001 under the National Capital Revitalization Act; DC felons go to federal prison). (4) **Court records** for arrests that produced a charge — **DC Superior Court** at https://www.dccourts.gov — handles all DC local cases (felony, misdemeanor, civil, family, probate). Free public name search at https://eaccess.dccourts.gov/eaccess/home.page. **John A. Wilson Building** courthouse at 500 Indiana Ave NW. (5) **Federal court records** (separate): **U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia** at 333 Constitution Ave NW, Washington DC 20001 — federal cases via PACER at https://pacer.uscourts.gov. (6) **Personal authoritative record**: MPD Criminal Records check at https://mpdc.dc.gov/page/data-and-statistics — **$25 for a Police Clearance Letter**; ID required. (7) **Body-cam footage** under D.C. Code § 5-116.31 — generally releasable subject to FOIA redactions. **For employment**, DC has very strong **'ban-the-box'** under the Fair Criminal Record Screening Amendment Act of 2014 — employers cannot ask about criminal history before a conditional offer; if adverse action results, written notice + reconsideration required. Sources: MPD, DC DOC, DC Superior Court, U.S. District Court D.D.C., D.C. Code § 2-531, D.C. Code § 5-116.31.