Delaware County Court
Delaware County Arrest Records

Delaware County, Pennsylvania Arrest Records

Delaware County arrest records are created and maintained by law enforcement when they apprehend an individual. While an arrested person will usually either be released, bailed out, or charged, a record of the initial arrest stays on file and may be updated as the person moves through the criminal justice system. When police departments serving Upper Darby, Chester, or another municipality arrest someone, the record they generate usually contains the person's name, the offense they are suspected of, and the time and location of the arrest.

Due to how Pennsylvania counties are structured, the main local custodian of arrest and incarceration records is not municipal police or even the sheriff's office but the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, which serves as the county's primary jail. For more comprehensive criminal history records, however, the official custodian is the Pennsylvania State Police.

The maintenance and dissemination of arrest records is governed by the state's Right-to-Know Law (65 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 67.101 et seq.). Under this law, arrest records are public and subject to the same disclosure rules as other general government records.

By contrast, criminal history records are subject to the Criminal History Record Information Act (18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 9102). The Act treats comprehensive arrest and conviction data as confidential information and places strict limits on its disclosure and distribution.

Are Arrest Records Public Information in Delaware, Pennsylvania?

Yes. Government records are considered public documents in Delaware County, and the same is true of standard arrest records. Under Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know legislation, the public has a right to inspect or copy these records through any and all official channels deployed by a record custodian.

65 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 67.302 essentially compels a custodian to fulfill a records request unless there are legitimate administrative or legal grounds for delay or denial. There are also no location restrictions to access. Any citizen of the United States resident in the county or elsewhere can ask local police to provide the information they need, as long as another law or court order has not restricted the specific record.

What Do Public Delaware County Arrest Records Contain?

Police daily arrest logs generally contain information that the Right-to-Know Law declares as open records. Disclosure is mandated to keep the community informed without compromising ongoing police work or violating individual privacy rights.

Publicly available arrest information includes

Full name and address
Age or date of birth
Offenses or charges
Booking date, time, and location
Booking photograph or mugshot
The arresting officer or agency

Certain details fall outside the scope of a basic arrest log and may remain undisclosed when law enforcement fulfills a formal records request. This limitation helps ensure compliance with laws that protect the rights of the accused, preserve the integrity of the justice system, and protect personal privacy.

Information generally not found in public arrest records includes

Informant details, witness statements, and other sensitive components of investigative files
Intelligence data
Treatment information
Sealed or expunged records
Juvenile offender identities

Delaware County, Pennsylvania Arrest Search

Pennsylvania Access to Criminal Records (PATCH) is a service provided by the state police's Central Repository for disseminating Criminal History Record Information under the CHRI Act (18 Pa. Cons. Stat. §§ 9101–9183). Through PATCH, users can obtain consolidated arrest and conviction information of individuals with records in Pennsylvania.

To perform a search, users must enter their own identifying details, along with basic information about the subject, such as full name and date of birth. A credit card is required to proceed with a $22 fee charged per search. If a notarized copy is requested, an additional $5 fee applies per document.

Delaware County Inmate Locator

Delaware County's primary jail is known as the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, and its Central Records Department (CRD) manages booking and detention records generated during intake and incarceration.

The jail does not provide an official online booking log or inmate roster for public inspection. It directs the public to an authorized third-party system where users can search the database by name or booking number.

The external portal may not always have the information desired. In such cases, the public can call the jail records division at (610) 361-3200 and press 300 when prompted to request proof of incarceration. For in-person inquiries, the county jail is located at

500 Cheyney Road

Thornton, PA 19373

Phone: (610) 361-3200

Fax: (610) 361-9689

Active Warrant Search in Delaware County

An arrest warrant is a formal, written order signed by a judge or magistrate that authorizes law enforcement to locate and arrest a specific person. These warrants are issued when police establish "probable cause," meaning they have provided enough evidence to reasonably convince a judge that a crime was committed and that the named individual may be responsible.

There are different types of warrants. A standard criminal arrest warrant is usually issued after a request from law enforcement, while a bench warrant comes directly from a judge, often when someone fails to appear in court or violates a court order. Most warrants include key details such as the individual's name and description, the alleged charges, and the authorizing judge's signature.

In Delaware County, the Delaware County Sheriff's Office (DCSO) handles bench warrants, while local police departments typically serve standard arrest warrants. However, no law enforcement agency in the county maintains a searchable warrant database. Questions about bench warrants can be directed to the DCSO by phone at (610) 891-4296 or in person at 201 West Front Street, Room 101, Media, PA 19063.

Sheriff's deputies will generally confirm information about bench warrants and warrants that have already been executed, since access to these records is protected under Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law. Unserved warrants, however, are treated differently. Law enforcement agencies may withhold those details when public disclosure could interfere with ongoing police operations.

When individuals make a warrant search at a local police department, they are typically asked to provide

The subject's full name
Date of birth
Court docket or case number
Physical description or address
Information about a prior encounter with the person

Agency / Resource	Purpose	Search Methods	Notes
Delaware County Sheriff's Office	Maintains and serves bench warrants	Phone, in person	May periodically issue "Most Wanted" bulletins
Magisterial District & Common Pleas Courts	Issue criminal arrest warrants and bench warrants	Online, in person	Dockets on the UJS web portal may show warrant status
Local Police Departments	Requests and serves warrants	Phone, in person	May disclose fresh, active warrants tied to recent crimes

How to Find Arrest Records for Free in Delaware County

The Delaware County detention center offers a free online tool for searching booking and detention records. Although the platform itself is hosted by a third party, the information comes directly from the county jail's records system.

The tool can be used to find individuals whose arrests led to formal booking and detention. That said, the search system has a few limitations. It does not include filters for searching by date, and it generally provides only basic custody information rather than full arrest or charge reports. Users also require knowledge of at least a name or booking number, although partial information can still return results, in some cases.

Delaware County Arrest Report

An arrest report is a full narrative of the event or incident that led to an arrest. Typically written by the arresting officer, it explains why the officer approached the suspect, the sequence of events that led to the arrest, the suspect's words and behavior, and witness observations.

Under the RTKL's disclosure exemptions codified at 65 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 67.708, in-depth police reports are not public records and will not be made available to an ordinary requester. Besides government agencies and officials, the only people who may have access are the parties in the case, including the defendant and their legal counsel.

How to Get an Arrest Record Expunged in Delaware County

Delaware County arrest records can be removed or restricted from public access through formal legal processes known as "expungement" and "limited access." Expungement essentially clears the record tied to a specific case, treating it as though the arrest data no longer exists for public purposes. Limited access, on the other hand, does not erase the record but instead hides it from public view, while still allowing authorized government agencies to access it when needed.

People can get their records expunged under 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 9122 if they meet one of the eligibility conditions:

The case was dropped without charge, dismissed by a judge, or otherwise did not result in a conviction.
The defendant was convicted of a summary offense. The individual must wait at least 5 years after serving the sentence (and have no new convictions in those 5 years) before pursuing record expungement.
The defendant has received a governor's pardon.
The case was heard in juvenile court (this does not apply to all underage offenses).
The applicant is above 70 years of age and has had no convictions in the last 10 years.

Limited access or sealing is applicable to certain cases that are not eligible for full deletion. Under 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 9122.1, only people convicted of eligible nonviolent misdemeanors qualify. They must have completed all terms of their sentence and be conviction-free throughout the waiting period.

18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 9122.2 makes provision for automatic sealing where the subject of the record need not file a petition. Eligibility is confined to certain misdemeanor convictions. The individual must have served their sentence and have a clean record throughout the required waiting period.

Petitions for sealing or expungement are heard by the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas.

How Do You Remove Delaware County Arrest Records From the Internet?

Anyone whose arrest record is published on a third-party website may contact the site administrator about removing the record. Written communication is generally received more favorably, especially if mailed or emailed along with a signed order of expungement.