How Can I Find Out If I Am Under Indictment?
An indictment usually occurs after a prosecutor presents evidence to a grand jury, which decides which charges against a defendant should be brought forward. In many cases, a suspect was previously charged by police before a grand jury decided whether the charges should stick. Prosecutors with the U.S. Department of Justice present their evidence to a U.S. district magistrate before a felony indictment is issued. Indictment notices and records are public records that can be inspected by anyone under state and federal Freedom of Information laws.
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Instructions
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Visit the county courthouse and ask for a listing of indictments going back several months. The list will have names, charges and a statement from the district attorney's office certifying the indictment. It is not an unreasonable request for the clerk's office, because the grand jury procedure is an involved process that is unlikely to take place more than once a week. There should be a file for each person listed, and those documents are public records as well.
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Check the nearest federal courthouse. The clerk's office there should maintain all indictment records. There should be a terminal in the office where you can search by suspect or party name. In some situations, however, the judge can order an indictment to remain sealed until the suspect is arrested or a summons is issued, according to USLegal. Sealed indictments are not public records.
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Search specific websites that maintain court records outside of your current area, in case the indictment was issued in another county, a different state or by a different U.S. district court. Many states have unified court system websites, though records from all county-level courts may not be included. The federal judiciary's PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) website (pacer.psc.uscourts.gov) is available for public use and has records from every U.S. district criminal and bankruptcy court in the country. New users must register first to make arrangements to pay for copies printed from the database. State court system sites can be accessed from the National Center for State Courts website (ncsconline.org).
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Tips & Warnings
Suspects are typically arrested and arraigned after an indictment is issued, so authorities are more than happy to let you know in a timely manner whether you're under indictment.
If you think you are under indictment but haven't been able to confirm it with any courts, it would be wise to contact a defense attorney. They are not entitled to see sealed indictments, either, but they know enough about the process to surmise whether a sealed indictment is a possibility.
If the grand jury does not hand up any charges, the evidence that was presented remains sealed and is not public record.
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Resources
- Photo Credit good fellow jury image by Yuriy Rozanov from Fotolia.com
