Somerset County Arrest Records

An arrest record is an official document that details a person's arrest by Somerset County law enforcement officers. Typically, this arrest might be classified as a felony, infraction, or misdemeanor, with different implications for each.

Law enforcement officers in Somerset County are legally authorized to make arrests when an individual is suspected of committing or found committing a crime (Title 18, Section 508 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes).

This includes circumstances where a policing officer obtains a report of a crime, witnesses a criminal offense in progress, and provides reliable information claiming that a suspect is involved in a crime. After arrest, suspects are held in Somerset County Jail, the county's primary correctional facility. The jail holds individuals serving short sentences, individuals arrested on numerous charges, and those awaiting trial.

It is worth noting that the law enforcement agencies that conduct an arrest generate an arrest record for the person. These records are essential for commencing a criminal proceeding and may provide insights into a suspect's criminal history. Arrest records are held by county law enforcement agencies but may be featured within Somerset County Court Records if relevant to a judicial proceeding.

Are Arrest Records Public in Somerset County?

Yes. Somerset County arrest records are generally classified as public under the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law (RTKL). Thus, interested residents and citizens can request arrest records from law enforcement agencies that maintain them within Somerset County.

However, Section 708(b) of the RTKL establishes that state law or court order exempts certain records from public access. These record information include:

• Records about sensitive information which can lead to the loss of State or Federal funds by the Commonwealth or an agency.
• Records related to the military, national defense, homeland safety, law enforcement agencies, or other public safety activity.
• Records that can endanger the safety or physical security of a building, resource, infrastructure, public utility, or information storage system.
• Records about a person's medical, psychological, or psychiatric history or disability status.
• Records comprising sensitive details.
• Records that comprise or disclose confidential, proprietary information or a trade secret.
• Unpublished manuscripts, unpublished lecture notes, creative works in progress, unpublished articles, research-related material, and scholarly correspondence of an institution or community college of the State System of Higher Education.
• Academic transcripts.
• Records of ongoing criminal investigations.
• DNA and RNA records, among several others.

What Do Public Arrest Records Contain?

Somerset County arrest records comprise the following:

• Details about the arrestee (such as full name, physical description, gender, race, and date of birth)
• Arrest information (location of the arrest, arresting agency, and officers, and date and time of the arrest)
• Court details (arraignment information, bail)
• Details about detention and incarceration
• Disposition details (outcomes of the case, such as acquittals, dismissals, or convictions (if applicable))
• Case number
• Booking details
• A concise description of the incident.
• Bail/bond details
• Charges

Somerset County Arrest Statistics

The Pennsylvania State Police maintains a Universal Crime Reporting (UCR) program that collates crime and arrest statistics from local law enforcement agencies within the State. According to the report, the 2024 arrest statistics revealed that 210,781 persons were arrested in Somerset County.

Of that figure, 103,237 were larceny-theft (48.98%), 55,583 were other simple assaults (26.37%), 17,803 were motor vehicle theft (8.45%), 14,991 were aggravated assaults (7.11%), 10,493 were burglary (4.98%), 4,739 were robbery (2.25%), 2,361 were rape incidents (1.12%), and arson was 1,013 reports (0.48%).

Murder and non-negligent manslaughter constituted 467 arrests, human trafficking incidents constituted 58 incidents, while manslaughter by negligence was 36.

Find Somerset County Arrest Records

In Somerset County, interested members of the public can obtain an arrest record by querying the law enforcement agency that conducted the arrest, if that is known. Several state and federal repositories can be used to access a Somerset County arrest record.

The Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System (UJS) maintains a statewide online portal for searching public court records of all counties within the State. Below are the steps to find a Somerset County arrest record from the UJS web portal:

• Visit the UJS website.
• On the navigation menu, click on "Case Information" and tap on "Case Search" to be redirected to another webpage.
• On the next page, researchers can look up the case via various search methods (by appellate, attorney name, calendar event, date filed, docket number, participant name, among others.)
• Choose the participant name from the list.
• Select "Somerset" from the county options.
• Provide the participant's first and last name.
• Choose "criminal" from the dropdown of the docket type.
• Determine if the case is an active, inactive, closed, adjudicated, active/adjudicated delinquent, active/adjudicated dependent, or active/disposed.
• Then click on search.
• From the list of search results, choose the given record.

Alternatively, researchers can also obtain a Somerset County arrest record by visiting the Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History (PATCH) platform maintained by the Pennsylvania State Police Department. To do so, researchers should:

• Visit the PATCH official site
• Click New Volunteer Record Check
• On the next page, scroll down and, click on agree to the T&C and accept
• Create an account
• Provide search details of the Somerset County arrestee (full name, date of birth, gender, race)
• Ensure to choose Somerset County in the dropdown list
• Click on the search button
• Select the arrest record from the search results provided.

For arrests made by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), researchers can acquire a criminal background check via the agency's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division. Thus, to do this, a researcher will need to submit an application form for an Identity Summary Check form, including a mailing address with an email and phone number. It is worth noting that the agency charges $18/person for searches.

All requests to the FBI should be mailed to the address below:

FBI CJIS Division – Summary Request
#1000 Custer Hollow Rd.,
Clarksburg, WV 26306

Free Arrest Record Search in Somerset County

In Somerset County, arrest records are maintained by several county agencies, including the local police departments, the Somerset County Clerk of Courts, the Somerset County Jail, and the Somerset County Sheriff's Office.

Interested members of the public may obtain a Somerset arrest record from the Clerk of Courts Office if only the arrest records constitute a criminal case that has been filed in a Somerset court. The Clerk of Court is the primary agency for maintaining all public records within Somerset County, including arrest records.

Thus, researchers may obtain these records directly by visiting the Somerset County Clerk of Courts' office to query the records in person at the address below:

Somerset County Clerk of Courts Office
111 East Union Street
Suite 110
Somerset, PA 15501
Phone: (814) 445-1435

It is worth noting that researchers should contact the office beforehand to confirm the availability of the records. When visiting the office, the requester will need to provide the arrestee's name, the case number, a valid ID card, and the fee for the request (which will be stated by the office).

Alternatively, the law enforcement agencies that arrest an individual are responsible for generating an arrest record for that person. For instance, one may visit any of the 15 local police departments to request access to arrest records within their cities, provided the arrest location is known.

Lastly, the Somerset County Sheriff's Department maintains records of arrests done by it. Therefore, a researcher can visit the County sheriff's office to request an arrest record directly, provided they have confirmed that the agency holds the record or that the Sheriff's Department arrested an individual. Below is the address of the Sheriff's Department:

Somerset County Sheriff's Department
#111 East Union Str.,
Suite 100,
Somerset, PA 15501
Phone: (814) 445-1502

How Long Do Arrests Stay on Your Record?

Indefinitely. The State of Pennsylvania does not enforce any deadline for erasing arrest records. Suppose an individual resident or citizen of Somerset County has arrest information on their public record. In that case, it will be available for employers, government agencies, and other public members to access.

On the contrary, the State law permits the sealing or expungement of some non-conviction records.

Expunge Somerset County Arrest Records

While an arrest record can be sealed or expunged in Somerset County, the differences between the two terminologies according to State law are worth noting.

In Pennsylvania, record sealing is governed by the Clean Slate Law (18 Pa.C.S. § 9122.2). This law permits certain criminal records to be excluded from public access while they remain accessible to some government agencies. The types of records that can be sealed include:

• Non-violent misdemeanors are generally eligible for sealing.
• Summary offenses
• Certain convictions that carry no subsequent convictions after completion of the individual's sentence.

Conversely, 18 Pa.C.S. § 9122 outlines the guidelines for the expungement of records. This law allows government agencies to destroy certain kinds of public records from existence. The kinds of public records that can be expunged include the following:

• Records of dismissed cases.
• Arrests without convictions.
• Certain records in which the individual completed a diversion program.
• Some low-level offenses.
• Low-level offenses for individuals above 70 years with no prosecutions or arrests for the past 10 years.
• Certain juvenile records.
• Records pertaining to cases where the arrestee was found not guilty.

Individuals interested in expunging a record can fill out a Petition for Expungement Pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 790 form and send it with a $20 fee to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (money order or check) and a valid government-issued ID to the following address:

Somerset County Courthouse
#111 East Union Street,
Somerset, PA 15501

Somerset County Arrest Warrants

An arrest warrant is an official document signed by a Somerset County magistrate or judge permitting law enforcement officers to arrest an individual.

State law authorizes police officers to arrest an individual with or without an arrest warrant (Title 42 Pa.C.S. § 8902 et seq.).

For a warrant to be issued, police officers must first provide sufficient reason to believe that an individual has committed a crime and that the person named in the warrant is responsible for the criminal action. After this, the judge considers the facts and signs the warrant (if approved) or denies it.

Typically, Somerset County arrest warrants comprise the following information:

• The full name of the subject to be arrested.
• The issuing authority
• A summary of evidence and facts.
• Warrant number
• Date of issuance.
• Charges.

Do Somerset County Arrest Warrants Expire?

No. Somerset County arrest warrants remain active after they have been signed and issued by a judge or magistrate. Thus, they only become invalidated after a suspect surrenders voluntarily, dies, or is apprehended. On certain occasions, the court may recall or quash an arrest warrant if a party motions that it is invalid or illegal.