Minnesota Criminal Records

Minnesota Criminal Records

The Computerized Criminal History (CCH) System is the official state database for Minnesota
criminal records. It is the State central repository for data on subjects arrested for felony, gross
misdemeanor, enhanced misdemeanor, and some misdemeanor offenses. The Minnesota
criminal records stored here are used by the criminal justice community. Criminal justice
authorities base their decisions regarding investigations, arrest, bail/bond, criminal charges, plea
bargains, convictions, probation, and placement in correctional facilities on the Minnesota criminal
records database. The CCH System is also used during mandated background and Minnesota
criminal records checks on individuals. This especially applies when the individual is seeing
employment or licensing for various positions. Researchers can also make use of the public
information contained in CCH System for a variety of purposes.

What is included in Minnesota Criminal Records?

The CCH System contains Minnesota criminal records of all arrests and convictions. All law
enforcement agencies in the state, as required by State statutes, are mandated to report juvenile
felony and gross misdemeanor arrests, and adult felony, gross misdemeanor, enhanced gross
misdemeanor and targeted misdemeanor arrests to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).
The BCA will then store all these reports in the CCH System. Therefore, information in the CCH
System thus includes Minnesota criminal records of juvenile felony and juvenile gross
misdemeanor arrests. In addition to that, it also stores Minnesota criminal records of adult felony,
adult gross misdemeanor, adult enhanced gross misdemeanor and adult targeted misdemeanor
arrests.

The law enforcement agencies are not required to report other misdemeanor arrests but if they so
choose, they have that option. Based on this, the CCH System really only includes Minnesota
criminal records of a serious nature, e.g. serious misdemeanors and felonies, and only very few
minor misdemeanors.

During an arrest, the law enforcement agency makes an arrest fingerprint card and sends this to
the BCA. The data from each card is recorded in the CCH System. Also, aside from Minnesota
criminal records of arrests, the CCH also includes reports regarding convictions, court
dispositions, probation, and custody actions from the Courts and Corrections divisions.

What does a "no record" response on a Minnesota criminal records inquiry mean?

A "no record" response on a Minnesota criminal records inquiring could mean a number of things.
The CCH System works in such a way that it tries to find an exact match of the information that
you provide in order to perform the search. One possible reason for a "no record" response is that
the subject does not have Minnesota criminal records. Other possibilities include the following:

- The subject's Minnesota criminal records are not public data.
- The subject's name was entered incorrectly.
- A nickname was entered, rather than the name associated with the record.
- Criminal data about the subject was not sent to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
- The subject's record is under a former name, such as a maiden name.

Important Things to Note about Minnesota Criminal Records

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is responsible for maintaining the statewide
Minnesota criminal records stored in the CCH System, may not have access to all criminal history
information. Some databases maintained by local police departments, courts, and federal
agencies, such as the FBI, are not included in the BCA CCH.