Utah Background Checks

Utah Criminal Records

The Utah Department of Public Safety website disseminates information on how to obtain Utah criminal records. However, the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification is not an online searchable database at this time, and all requests must be made either in person or through the regular mail.

Employers with specific qualifications may request criminal records, such as businesses working with children and vulnerable adults and those entities who deal with fiduciary funds, national security and statutory authority. In the process of conducting a Utah background check, other employers that do not fall into the preceding categories must ask the prospective employee to directly request the criminal record.

Requesting individuals must pay a $10.00 fee (cash, credit card, money order, cashiers check and personal check are all accepted) and must produce a valid government issued picture ID. If applying through regular mail, the Right of Access Application must be filled out in its entirety and sent in with the applicable $10.00 fee.

To request criminal records by mail do the following:

Step 1: Fill out the Criminal History Review form. Click Here.
Step 2: Include payment. The processing fee for each record request is $10.00.
Step 3: Mail the completed application and payment to the address indicated on the form.

For further information regarding accessing Utah criminal records, contact the Utah Department of Public Safety office at the address below:

Department of Public Safety
Bureau of Criminal Identification
3888 West 5400 South
Salt Lake City, Utah 84118
Telephone: (801) 965-4445
Fax: (801) 965-4749

Resource Links
Utah Criminal Records
Request Form

Utah Court Records

The Utah State Courts website is the clearinghouse for all records pertaining to court cases and administration. Web users can locate non-public records, appellate dockets, appellate court records, archived court records, and weekly case reports posted out each Monday, which are all helpful for conducting your Utah background checks.

To search for Utah court records, users must subscribe to the Xchange service provided by the Utah State Courts website. The setup fee is $25.00 and accounts are charged $30.00 per month, along with a $.10 search fee for each search conducted over 200 during a normal monthly billing cycle. Utah government users may request a fee waiver.

To search for court records online do the following:

Step 1: Visit the Utah Court Records search webpage. Click Here.
Step 2: Select to search by one of the eight available options.
Step 3: Fill out all required information fields in order to run your search.

For further information regarding accessing Utah court records, contact the Administrative Office of the Courts at the address below:

Administrative Office of the Courts
450 South State
P. O. Box 140241
Salt Lake City, UT 84114-0241
Telephone: (801) 578-3800
Fax: (801) 578-3843

Resource Links
Utah Court Records Search

Utah Jail Records

The Utah Department of Corrections is responsible for the overseeing of all adult corrections within the state of Utah. The department strives to ensure the public's safety by supervising over 6,500 inmates and over 16,000 paroled and probationary offenders. One service offered by the Utah Department of Corrections is the online searchable offender database. This service allows quick and easy retrieval of Utah jail records required by many employers conducting Utah background checks.

Searches are conducted without charge and merely require a first and last name. The data returned from a search contains very basic information – offender number, full name, gender, legal status, housing (not in all cases, as this is considered private information), age and aliases.

To search for jail records online do the following:

Step 1: Visit the Utah Inmate Search webpage. Click Here.
Step 2: Enter the offender’s first and last name.
Step 3: Click “Submit.”

For further information regarding accessing Utah jail records, contact the Utah Department of Corrections office at the address below:

Utah Department of Corrections
Records Bureau
14717 S. Minuteman Dr.
Draper, Utah 84020
Telephone: (801)545-5500
Fax: (801)545-5670

Resource Links
Utah Offender Search

Utah Driving Records

The Utah Department of Public Safety website is home to information regarding drivers, vehicles, and licensing. Users conducting Utah background checks can also obtain Utah driving records through this department. Records may be obtained either in person or by regular mail and the fees run from $6.00 to $10.75 (uncertified and certified respectively).

Under the Driver Privacy Protection Act, there are certain individuals and entities that are given permission to request and receive driving records information. The data on this act is listed on the website and is rather extensive. Essentially, owners of the driving record, those they have authorized, government and investigative entities, as well as prospective employers, all may have access. In many cases, written permission and authorization must be given by the record owner.

For further information regarding accessing Utah driving records, contact the Utah Department of Public Safety office at the address below:

Department of Public Safety
Driver License Division
PO Box 144501
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-4501
(801) 965-4437

Resource Links
Utah Driving Record Information

Additional Resources

Utah Sexual Offender Registry
Utah Attorney General