In Kansas, information on criminal history is kept by the State Bureau of Investigation. The agency makes criminal records available for public perusal as well as to certain authorized entities who have the legislative authority to requests information on state arrest records and warrants. The information held by the agency dates back to 1939 and it is stored in the Kansas central Repository for CHRI.
This is the single central database of the state’s criminal history record information (CHRI). Apart from disseminating information on criminal occurrences, arrest records and the active warrants to the public and authorized state agencies, the KBI also provides portions of their database to the FBI for inclusion in the national crime records repository. The information stored in the KBI’s CHRI database includes:
- Information on all matters pertaining to the violation of state laws including felonies as well as misdemeanors and details on juvenile delinquents and offenders
- Data pertaining to violations of municipal and civic ordinances or county statutes which amount to a misdemeanor
- Violation of court convictions or orders
- Case dispositions as reported by the prosecuting attorney
- Dispositions from Kansas tribunals
- Incarceration records from the Kansas Department of Corrections
Records are filed against the name of every offender who is arrested. So, if a person is being accused of multiple offenses, information on all the charges brought against him will be held in a single file. CHRI files are arranged on the basis of the fingerprint information collected at the time of arrest and booking. When information on criminal history is released, it is offered in the form of an abstract of records commonly referred as “RAP sheet”
Searching for arrest records and active warrants from Kansas
While several records held by the KBI have been automated, not all data has found its way into the part of the repository that is available for immediate release through the website of the agency. If the information you seek is fully automated, it will only take a few minutes to access the rap sheet through the Bureau’s website at http://www.kansas.gov/kbi/. However, partially automated records will not be shown on the site because these are considered incomplete information.
In order to access data through the CHRI program, you will need to offer the name of the subject, the date of birth and other demographic criteria that can help to enhance the accuracy of the results. Although a search can be launched on the basis of the subject’s name alone, the response to such an inquiry will not be as targeted as required.
Limited crime history is released to civilian applicants and just about anybody who cares to access third party CHRI. However, complete crime history records are reserved for legislatively authorized applicants. Under general requests, the information released will include details on cases where the defendant was found guilty, is currently undergoing trial or the court disposition is pending in the matter.In contrast, complete criminal history will include details on all cases stated above plus information on expungements, dismissals, acquittals, juvenile offenses and completed diversions.
Accessing crime history data through the KBI
You can look for arrest records and warrants through the KBI via their online facility. Use the website of the agency (url listed above). You can also contact
Kansas Bureau of Investigation at
Criminal History Records Section1620 SW TylerTopeka, KS 66612-1837