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Montana Criminal Records Search
Search Montana criminal records through CHOPRS or the court portals, compare name and fingerprint requests, and locate documents excluded from a history report.
Choose a history report or the court’s own record
CHOPRS is Montana DOJ’s public criminal-history search. A public user can start without registering and pays $20 for each request by card or eCheck. Use it when the question concerns the state repository’s report. If you need a judgment, sentencing order or a particular filing, begin with the court route below instead of expecting the history report to contain the whole case file.
The public history is privacy-limited: deferred charges later dismissed are not released. CHOPRS excludes active warrants, protection orders, federal and tribal offenses, and other states’ records. Police reports, transcripts and probation or parole information belong with the relevant agency or court. A public no-hit cannot establish that no restricted or out-of-state record exists.
Enter the identifiers and preserve the paid result
Supply the complete name and birth date, plus your name as requester. Social Security number is optional online; up to four aliases cost no extra. Check the verification screen before paying: a typing error does not remove the charge. Include known former or alternate names rather than assuming the system will infer them.
The response can be no record, a record, an unresolved candidate, or a pending search. An unresolved candidate calls for fingerprints, not a guess between similar names. Manual review may take up to three business days. Keep the receipt PIN: the Public Users previous-search option uses that PIN, the searched name and birth date to retrieve the result.
Print promptly because online results have a 14-day availability window. Once the status is READY, open the record and choose Request Notarized Copy if needed. That notarization adds no fee after the search; the instructions allow up to two weeks for mailing.
Mail a name request when online payment is unsuitable
The mailed name check costs $15 per person. Send the name, aliases and birth date, a self-addressed stamped envelope, and a U.S.-funds check or money order to Montana Criminal Records, P.O. Box 201403, Helena, MT 59620-1403. DOJ’s mail instructions list Social Security number; its CHOPRS FAQ says to include it if available. Confirm an incomplete packet with 406-444-3625 rather than guessing a missing identifier.
Use fingerprints for a stronger identity match
The $10 fingerprint route accepts an applicant card by mail or in person. Enter the subject’s name in last, first, middle order; birth date; SSN; former names; citizenship; sex; race; height; weight; eye and hair colors; and place of birth. Include signatures from both the subject and fingerprint taker. Put the results recipient in Employer and Address, supply a phone or email, and enter State Only / WIN as the reason. Enclose the stamped return envelope and check or money order, use the same postal address, and do not fold or staple the card.
To submit a prepared card in person, visit Criminal Records & Identification Services, 2225 11th Avenue, Helena, MT 59601, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Having fingerprints taken is a separate step: DOJ provides fingerprinting by appointment between 9 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. Use the Schedule Appointment link on its background-check page to choose a time. The $10 is the record-search processing fee; confirm any fingerprint-capture charge separately.
DOJ labels this service nonfederal. Its FAQ explains that WIN includes Montana, Alaska, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. It is not an all-state or FBI clearance. Fingerprints address mistaken identity more reliably than adding another name search; confirm that the organization requesting the check accepts this particular product before ordering it.
Find the case, then request the document
Montana’s portal directory separates District Courts from courts of limited jurisdiction and links their implementation lists. Check the relevant list before treating a failed search as meaningful. The public portal is free and permits searching by court, party name or case number; it supplies an index, not the official court record.
Use the returned court name and complete case number with the directory’s Court Locator. Ask that clerk for the specific public judgment, disposition or order, its copying charge and any certification requirement. Check each charge’s disposition separately. A case appearing in the index does not by itself establish a conviction, and an order’s terms cannot safely be reconstructed from a case title.
Resolve missing outcomes and service problems
For a disputed Montana history entry, call Montana Criminal Records at 406-444-3625. Obtain the court’s final outcome if it is missing: CRISS needs court documentation before modifying an incomplete record. DOJ’s removal and sealing guidance begins with a current public-history check and explains the different procedures; a request to correct data is not itself a sealing order.
For a payment, website or retrieval error, CHOPRS lists Tyler technical support at 406-449-3468 or [email protected]. Record-content questions go to DOJ. Save the receipt and error message so support can locate the transaction without asking you to buy a duplicate search.
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