Access Free City of Norfolk Public Records: Arrest, Court & More

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Free Norfolk Public Records Search

Access Norfolk Records: marriage, divorce, warrants, arrests, probation, criminal, court, background checks, and all public records.

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Norfolk public records hold valuable information for a variety of circumstances, and can be accessed for free through various record custodians.

Whether you are looking for police reports or need a certificate of death to administer an estate, you can access these records because of laws like the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act at the state level.^{1, 2} Such laws ensure that people have reasonable access to public records, including criminal and arrest records that are in the possession of the government.

Searchers seeking public records in the City of Norfolk can obtain documents such as warrant, probation, arrest, prisoner, and criminal records, as well as comprehensive background checks.

Other information like property ownership, court case documents, and vital records involving birth, death, marriage, and divorce are also considered public records. The catch is knowing which agency or public records repository hosts each record type and determining the steps to obtain them.

This resource provides a clear path to acquiring desired records throughout the City of Norfolk, Virginia, by outlining the entities that maintain them and the most efficient methods of tracking them down.

This resource was written by Attorney Robert Bailey Jr, who holds a Juris Doctorate from Widener University School of Law.

How To Search for Norfolk Arrest Records (Including Mugshots)

You may be searching Norfolk arrest records for a variety of reasons. Maybe you heard a friend was in trouble and you want to check the local jail records because you cannot get in touch with them. Or maybe a new neighbor that has moved next door is doing suspicious things and you want to check to see if they were ever arrested.

Whatever your reason, you want to find an easy and free way to check if the person has an arrest record in Norfolk.

For Norfolk arrest records you have a couple of options.

Obtain Recent Arrest Reports via the Norfolk Police Department

If you simply want to search for daily arrests then your best option is to check their recent arrest logs.³ Here you can find all arrests made by the Norfolk Police Department (NPD) in the past 24 hours. Here you can find the following information on individuals that have recently been arrested:

• First Name
• Last Name
• Height
• Weight
• Hair
• Eyes
• Date of birth
• Sex
• Race
• Date of Arrest Charge

There is no search function for this free arrest history, however, you can sort the list in ascending or descending order for any of these categories. For example, you can assort by last name in descending order to help quicken your search.

Acquire Norfolk Police Incident Reports

Here, you can search Norfolk Police Department incident reports from the past five years.⁴ Incident reports do not have to necessarily be criminal in nature. These are reports of police activity, whether it be an actual crime or something non-criminal–such as reporting the scene of an accident. The incident reports display the below information:

• Incident ID
• Offense
• Block Address
• Street
• Date of Occurrence
• Hour of Occurrence
• Tract/Zone/District (Where the incident occurred)
• Report Area (Police precinct where the incident occurred)
• Day of the Week
• Neighborhood

Similar to the past daily arrest reports, specific names are not provided. However, consider this a helpful tool if you are trying to gather more information in your search for arrest records.

Contact Local Law Enforcement Agencies Directly for Norfolk Arrest Details

Your final option is to contact a local agency in Norfolk to see if they can provide you with the recent arrest report you are looking for. You may be able to use the information you gathered from the above resources to help specify what you are looking for when you contact the agency. Here is information on a couple of local agencies that may be able to assist you with this request:

Agency	Address	Phone Number
Norfolk Sheriff’s Office	811 East City Hall Avenue Norfolk, Virginia 23510	757-664-4700
Norfolk Police Department	3661 East Virginia Beach Boulevard Norfolk, VA 23502	757-664-3277

The Norfolk Sheriff’s Office also provides a local jail for inmates. Later, we will discuss how you can search their jail roster online for up to date information on Norfolk bookings.

If you cannot find what you are looking for in a particular city, you can typically conduct a search at the county level. However, Norfolk is an independent city in Virginia and does not reside within any of Virginia’s 95 counties. The City of Norfolk–along with 37 other cities in Virginia–operate independently from a particular county.

Note: You may also want to consider reaching out to the Virginia State Police. If they were involved in the arrest, they may be able to assist you. You can contact them at 804-674-2000. To visit in person, their Administrative Headquarters are located at:

Virginia State Police
7700 Midlothian Turnpike
North Chesterfield, Virginia 23235

How To Find for Marriage & Divorce Records in Norfolk Virginia

In the City Norfolk–and throughout all of Virginia–if you want to check if someone is married, it is important to know that marriage and divorce records are not public information until 25 years from the date of the event.⁵ Marriage and divorce records that are more recent may only be requested by immediate family members.

Look Up Marital Records Through the Office of the Norfolk Circuit Court Clerk

All City of Norfolk marriage records and divorce records are maintained by the Norfolk Circuit Court Clerk’s Office Division of Vital Records.⁶ You can request a copy of either type of record by calling their office at 757-793-3516 or visiting them in person at:

Norfolk Circuit Court Clerk’s Office
Division of Vital Records
150 St. Paul’s Boulevard
Seventh Floor
Norfolk Virginia 23510

The cost for a certified copy of either document is a flat fee of $2.50 plus .50 cents per page.

You can also request a copy online through their document request form.⁷ You should be aware of some additional fees depending on your search and your request. The Clerk’s Office charges a Research and Retrieval fee at a rate of $17.45 per hour as well as a $7.50 charge if you request that the record be sent by mail.

Access Marriage & Divorce Records via the Library of Virginia or the Virginia Department of Health

If you are looking for an online directory or database, a broader statewide search is available the Library of Virginia, which provides a Marriage Records Public Index Search.⁸ Here, you can perform a search by either the bride or groom’s name.

While the tool does allow you to specify your search to a particular county, it does not permit you to specifically search City of Norfolk marriage records. This is a potential option if you have the person’s name whom you are searching for and are willing to conduct a broader search.

The Library of Virginia allows interested parties to obtain the location of the marriage, bride and groom names, date of the marriage, and the source of the record. You may find that the marriage or divorce in question occurred outside Norfolk; if this is the case, you can request a copy of these Virginia public records from the Division of Vital Records of the Virginia Department of Health, located at:

Virginia Department of Health
Division of Vital Records
2001 Maywill Street
Suite 101
Richmond Virginia 23230

The department can also be reached by phone at 804-662-6200 to find out if someone is married or has since been divorced. The cost is $12.00 per certified copy, and requests Norfolk divorce records or marriage information for can only be made by immediate family members such as parents, spouses, siblings, or grandparents.

How To Retrieve City of Norfolk Criminal Records

Public records in the City of Norfolk include criminal records, which can provide information you usually cannot obtain from an arrest record. If you do not know the arresting agency, you can use public criminal records to find out if someone is in jail. You can look up how long someone was sentenced to prison and what specific crimes they were convicted of in Norfolk.

If unsure of how to conduct a free criminal record check, you can refer to the valuable information below.

Track Down Criminal Records Through the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office Inmate Lookup Tool

The Norfolk Sheriff’s Office has a public directory where you can search for inmates’ criminal records.⁹ This is a great tool if you are looking to find someone’s mugshot or simply hoping to find out if someone has a criminal record.

This resource offers a couple of search options; the first option is to search by name and date of birth. You can also search by the following unique identifiers:

• Booking Number
• Permanent Number
• State ID
• County ID
• FBI number
• ICE number

After entering your search criteria, you will see a list of results with the following information:

• Name
• Booking Number
• Permanent ID
• Date of Birth
• Release Date

After clicking on a person’s name, the following information about them will be displayed:

• Mugshot
• Hearing information (including court dates)
• Charge information (including the offense date, case number, law enforcement code, descriptions of the crime, as well as the grade and degree of the offense)
• Bond information (including the amount, percent required, bond type, status, who the bond was posted by, and the post date)

Browse Norfolk Criminal Cases via the Court System

Another great way to find criminal records is to perform an online search of Norfolk judicial records. Both criminal courts in Norfolk (Circuit and District) can be searched online.

An additional option is to call or visit these courts in person to search their specific Norfolk court records for criminal information. Here is some helpful information about these courts, what type of criminal cases they handle, and both their contact information and online search tool.

Search Criminal History Details Through the Norfolk Circuit Court

The Norfolk Circuit Court handles serious criminal cases such as felonies. To perform a search for criminal records with the Norfolk Circuit Court, you must first navigate to their case management system.¹⁰ All circuit courts are grouped together, so you must first scroll down and select the correct court.

The circuit court allows you to conduct a Norfolk case search by name, case number, or hearing date. Once you enter your search information, results including the case number, defendant’s name, charge, hearing date, and status (e.g., guilty plea, trial, etc.) will be shown. After selecting a particular case number, the search tool will provide you with the following information:

• Filed date
• How the action was commenced (e.g., indictment)
• Locality
• Sex
• Race
• Date of birth
• Aliases
• Address
• Charge (including the code section, charge type and class)
• Offense date
• Arrest date
• Hearing information (including the date, time and type of hearing and the result)
• Final disposition (including the disposition date and whether any charges were amended)

In addition to all of this information, you can find a list of all pleadings, orders, and further detailed information on the individual’s sentence as a result of their conviction(s). This sentencing information includes:

• Whether the defendant was sentenced to a jail or penitentiary
• Sentence length
• Sentence Suspended status
• Miscellaneous sentencing information (e.g., whether sentences will be served consecutive or concurrently)
• Operators license suspension time
• Fine amount/paid
• Restitution amount/paid
• Probation type and length of probation
• When probation starts
• Other requirements (e.g., driving restrictions, driver improvement clinic, etc.)
• Appealed date (if applicable)

The Norfolk Circuit Court’s address is:

Norfolk Circuit Court
150 St. Paul’s Blvd.
Seventh Floor
Norfolk Virginia 23510

To reach out to the criminal division directly, you can contact them at 757-769-8539 extension 446.

Alternatively, the clerk of courts can be visited in person at the above address, or contacted by phone at 757-389-8942. You can also email them inquiries on criminal matters at [email protected].

If you plan to go in person, they are open Monday through Friday (excluding holidays) from 8:45 AM – 4:45 PM.

Find Information on Someone’s Criminal Past Through the Norfolk General District Court

The General District Court is responsible for handling minor criminal cases (usually called misdemeanors). They are also responsible for conducting preliminary hearings for more serious crimes such as felonies.

Similar to the circuit court, you can also perform a case search on Norfolk criminal cases under their jurisdiction.¹¹

On the left-hand side of the screen, there is a “Court” drop down menu. Select the “Norfolk General District – Criminal Division” option. Below this, you will have to select how you want to conduct your Norfolk case search.

These four types of searches are available: (1) name search; (2) case number search; (3) hearing date search; and (4) service/process search. After selecting your preferred option, you will be brought to a separate page where you can perform your search.

The search results are similar to those provided by the circuit court. The only difference is that the general district court also provides a hearing time and any action taken on the case.

The General District Court is located at the following address:

General District Court
150 Saint Paul’s Boulevard
Room 3202
Norfolk Virginia 23510

Contact them for criminal matters at 757-664-4915 or 757-664-4916.

Their hours are 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. You can contact the clerk directly at 757-664-4910.

Use State Resources To Find Criminal Records Throughout Virginia

Beyond local custodians, you can search for criminal records using various Virginia state resources that can broaden your search for certain Norfolk public records.

This will prove especially helpful when the state is the custodian of those particular records or when the person in question has a criminal record outside of Norfolk. Whatever your reason, here are ways you can look up someone’s criminal record using state resources:

• Virginia Judiciary – The Virginia judiciary provides a statewide search for criminal cases throughout their various district courts and circuit courts.¹³ Search by name, case number or hearing date. You can also narrow down your search to either the circuit court or district court.
  Note: You can use this tool to specifically look for Norfolk criminal records. The search tool allows you to search by particular court and provides you with the following applicable options: (1) Norfolk Circuit Court; (2) Norfolk General District Court; and (3) Norfolk General District – Criminal Division.
• Virginia Sex Offender Registry – The Virginia State Police provide a Sex Offender Registry searchable by zip code, name, county, city or school.¹⁴
• Civil and Applicant Records Exchange (CARE) – The Virginia State Police provides this program as a way to request a criminal record check for themselves or a third party.¹⁵

Note: Outside of these Virginia resources, you can also search for federal inmates using the Federal Bureau of Prison’s search tool.¹⁷ The National Sex Offender Registry can also be used if you want to focus on nationwide criminal records for sexual offenses.¹⁸ If you are still looking for more information check out Virginia Record page.¹⁹

How To Perform Background Checks in the City of Norfolk Virginia

State background checks are a valuable tool used daily for both professional and personal reasons. However, it is easy to confuse personal and background checks. For instance, a personal background check does not mean that you are conducting a background check on yourself.

While that may be true, a personal background check is simply a request for information on a person for any reason not considered a professional reason. If you want to conduct a personal background check, you do not have to provide the reason for the background check or even request consent from the person you are trying to get more information about. Just ensure that it is not used for any illegal reason.

In contrast, professional background checks are more formal in nature.

Professional background checks are regulated by various laws such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Equal Employment Commission that restrict how these investigations can be conducted and what can be done with the information.^{20, 21}

Common examples of when professional background checks are used include people seeking employment or a landlord screening a tenant.

When it comes to professional background checks, they also can have varying degrees of intrusion into one’s background. At the most basic level, an individual’s background is just searched for criminal and employment records at the county or city level. At its most comprehensive, a background check might include a nationwide search through the FBI’s database and a detailed financial, residence, and prior employment screening.

Neither the Norfolk Police Department or their Sheriff’s Office provide an official background check. The Norfolk Police Department’s Central Records Division, however, does provide offense reports and fingerprints to assist with obtaining a background check. You can get this information from their Police Operations Center located at:

Norfolk Police Department
Central Records Division
3661 East Virginia Beach Blvd.
Norfolk Virginia 23502

They are open from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

A request for this information requires two forms of ID. Primary forms of accepted identification include a driver’s license or federal, state, or military ID. You can also use the following secondary forms of identification:

• Birth certificate
• Passport
• Social security card
• Voter registration card

The police department can be contacted at 757-664-7012 if you have any specific questions.

To get an official criminal history background check, you must request one through the Virginia State Police’s Civil and Applicant Records Exchange (CARE). For more information on Virginia state background checks, see our Virginia Records Page.

How To Check if Someone Has Any Warrants in Norfolk

There are many good reasons to want to know if someone has a warrant. Many times, when a person has a warrant out for their arrest, they have failed to comply with a court order or are wanted for committing a recent crime. They could even be a danger to the people around them.

To conduct a warrant search in Norfolk, you can view the Norfolk Police Department’s active warrant list.²³ This list provides all active Norfolk warrants issued by the Norfolk Police Department.

As mentioned earlier, the federal and Virginia FOIA laws exempt the release of certain information; this can be the case with warrant information that needs to be kept confidential to avoid detrimentally impacting an ongoing investigation or prosecution. For instance, a warrant may be withheld if law enforcement believes the release of it may cause the person to flee the area.

The Norfolk Active Warrant list contains the following information:

• Name
• Height/Weight
• Hair/Eye Color
• Date of birth
• Sex
• Race
• Date the warrant was issued
• Warrant charge

For further assistance, you can reach the Norfolk Police Department by phone at 757-664-6510 or in person at:

Norfolk Police Department
3661 East Virginia Beach Blvd.
Norfolk Virginia 23510

How To Access Probationer Information in the City of Norfolk

To access Norfolk public records containing probation information, you can perform a case search with either the Norfolk General District Court or the Norfolk Circuit Court. This article discussed earlier how to perform searches on each of these systems.

Once you perform your search, part of the criminal record information included is the probation type and length of probation. Additionally, a date for when the individual’s probation starts will be provided.

For more information, reach out to the Norfolk Criminal Justice Services Adult Community Supervision office at 757-683-8417.

How To View All City of Norfolk Court Records

Court case information and documents qualify as public records in the City of Norfolk, and a free public records search can be performed for all Norfolk court records via two primary options:

• Norfolk Circuit Case Information – Search both civil and criminal cases with the Norfolk Circuit Court.
• Norfolk General District Court Case Information – Find civil, criminal and traffic cases that were decided by their General District Court.

Virginia’s Judicial System lists several options for searching case information throughout the state.²⁴ If you need to expand your search to a different location or check cases in either Virginia’s Court of Appeals or Supreme Court, then use this as an additional resource.

How To Find Other Vital Records in Norfolk: Birth & Death Certificates

Prior to searching, it’s important to know that City of Norfolk and other Virginia death records are not public until 25 years after the person dies and a certificate of birth is not public until 100 years after the person was born. If the records you are requesting are more recent than that, you will have to be an immediate family member (parent, sibling, spouse, etc.) or have a legal right that requires a copy of the record (e.g., executor that needs to probate an estate).

Online search tools are unavailable to find Norfolk birth or death certificates. However, the Vital Records department can conduct a search for vital records.²⁵ They charge $12 per search regardless if they find the records you are looking for, and $12 for every additional copy of the vital record.

To make a direct request for these records, you must submit your request with the Virginia Department of Health.²⁶ You can make a request in person to the Office of Vital Records at:

Virginia Department of Health
Office of Vital Records
2001 Maywill Street
Suite 101
Richmond Virginia 23230

In person visits are accepted any time from 7:00 AM – 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday.

You can also submit a request online and track your request’s status.²⁷ Both types of records (birth and death certificate) cost $12.00 per certified copy.

To help you in making your decision to go in person or make your request online, the Virginia Department of Health indicates that processing time for walk-in service is the same day while requests submitted online take approximately 2 weeks to process.

How To Obtain Norfolk Property Records

To find Norfolk public records on properties, you can conduct a search using NorfolkAIR–a search tool developed by the City of Norfolk.²⁸ This tool allows you to search by address, tax account or geographic parcel identification number (GPIN). When you search for a specific property, you can view a significant amount of information about it, including:

• Tax Account Number
• Property Value
• GPIN
• Owner Name
• Property Address
• Property Use
• Legal Description
• Parcel Approximate Area (In Square Feet & Acreage)
• Number of Stories
• Year Built
• Rooms (Bedrooms, Full baths, Half baths)
• Type of Heating & Cooling
• Various Construction Details
• Sales History
• Assessment History
• Economic Development
• Municipal Services
• Schools
• Planning & Zoning Information
• Flood Awareness
• Public Safety Information
• Civic Information
• Building Permits
• Code Enforcement Cases

You can also search for Norfolk deeds through the Circuit Court Land Record Division.²⁹ As the custodian of all Norfolk deeds, they have records dating back to 1682. These records include property ownership information, mortgages, liens and homestead exemptions.

To view these documents, the public search software provided in the Land Record Division’s Record Room can be used in person. The Land Records Division is located at the Norfolk Circuit Court:

Norfolk Circuit Court
Lands Record Division
150 St. Pauls Blvd.
Norfolk Virginia 23510

A Synopsis of Searching City of Norfolk Public Records

As this article shows, there are many ways to check public records in Norfolk at no cost; the key is knowing where to look.

For arrest records, the primary custodian is the Norfolk Police Department, while criminal records can be searched through the Norfolk Circuit Court and the Norfolk General District Court.

For family and other vital records, the Norfolk Circuit Court Clerk of Courts and the Virginia Department of Health are reliable custodians. For more information on Norfolk’s public records, or to make a FOIA request, take a look at the Norfolk public records portal.³⁰