How do I Find Out what the Pending Criminal Charges are?

01

When someone you love has been arrested, the first question that floods your mind is rarely about paperwork — it is about what is actually happening to them and what they are being accused of. Finding out the pending criminal charges is one of the most urgent and confusing steps families face, and the path forward is different depending on the state, the county, and the stage of the case.

02Why Pending Charges Are Hard to Pin Down Right Away

Arrest and formal charging are two separate legal events. When someone is booked into a county jail, law enforcement has detained them on suspicion of a crime — but a prosecutor has not yet filed the official charge document with the court. That filing can take hours, days, or sometimes longer, depending on the jurisdiction.

Until the prosecutor files a complaint, information sheet, or indictment, there may be no formal charge on record in the court system. Families often search court databases immediately after an arrest and find nothing, which can be terrifying even though it does not necessarily mean something has gone wrong.

The charges that appear on a jail booking record are often called "arrest charges" or "preliminary charges." These are the offenses a law enforcement officer believed were committed at the time of arrest. They may shift — sometimes significantly — by the time a prosecutor reviews the case and decides what to formally file.

This gap between arrest charges and filed charges is one of the main reasons families feel confused. The booking record might say one thing, the court website might show nothing yet, and the attorney might be hearing something different entirely. Knowing which sources to check, in what order, and what each source actually represents is the foundation for making sense of the situation.

03The County Jail Booking Record

The first and fastest place to find arrest charges is the jail booking record. When someone is taken into custody, the arresting agency records the booking charges — the offenses used to justify the arrest. These records are generally public and are often available through the county jail's own online inmate search tool.

Most county jails maintain an online roster that lists the name, booking date, housing location, and listed charges for each person in custody. The level of detail varies: some counties show full charge descriptions and statute codes, while others show only general categories. A county jail inmate search is typically free and does not require an account or login.

If the online roster does not show enough detail, calling the jail directly is the next step. Booking officers can often tell a family member what charges appear in the system, though they will note that charges are subject to change. Keep the booking number handy — it speeds up every inquiry you make.

The limitation of booking records is that they reflect the arresting officer's belief, not the prosecutor's decision. Charges shown at booking can be reduced, elevated, or changed entirely before or during arraignment. So while booking records are the fastest source, they should be treated as a starting point, not the final answer.

04The Court Filing: Where Formal Charges Live

Once a prosecutor reviews the case, they file a formal charging document — this might be called a complaint, information, or indictment depending on the state and the severity of the offense. This document is filed with the clerk of the court that has jurisdiction over the case, and it becomes the official legal record of what the person is being charged with.

Court records are public in most jurisdictions, and many courts now offer online case lookup tools through their websites. Searching by the defendant's name or case number typically returns the filed charges, upcoming hearing dates, and case status. The level of detail available online varies by state and even by individual county.

For cases that are still very new, the court filing may not yet be in the online system even if it has already been submitted. Court clerks process documents on their own timelines, and it can take a day or two for a newly filed complaint to appear in the searchable database. Calling the clerk's office directly can confirm whether a case has been filed before it shows up online.

The arraignment — the hearing where the defendant is formally told the charges and enters a plea — is often the first moment families hear the official charges clearly stated in court. If you can attend the arraignment, you will hear the charges read directly from the court record. If you cannot attend, the court clerk can often tell you the result of the hearing after it has occurred.

05How to Ask the Jail or Detention Facility

Calling the jail is a step many families hesitate to take because they feel intimidated or do not know what to say. In practice, the call is usually straightforward. Ask to speak with the records or classification department, provide the full name and booking date of your loved one, and ask what charges are currently listed in the system.

Staff will not be able to offer legal interpretations, and they will typically read the charges as they appear in the record. Write down exactly what they tell you, including any code numbers, because those can be looked up later to understand what offense category applies. Be aware that staff may redirect certain questions — particularly about case strategy or release — to the court or to an attorney.

Visiting in person is another option where jail visiting rules permit. The booking information is sometimes posted on facility kiosks or printed for families upon request. Each facility has its own policy, so calling ahead to ask what is available avoids a wasted trip.

06Searching Court Records Online

State and county court websites are among the most reliable sources for understanding what charges have been formally filed. Many states operate a unified court portal where you can search by name across multiple counties. Others require you to go directly to the website of the specific court handling the case.

When you search, you may need to try different name variations — including middle names or maiden names — because records are often indexed by the exact name used in the filing. If the case has a case number, which you can often get from the booking record or from an attorney, searching by number is more precise and avoids confusion with people who share a common name.

Court records typically show the filed charges, hearing dates, next appearance, assigned judge, and case status. Reading these records carefully gives families a clear picture of where the case stands procedurally, even before speaking with an attorney. Remember that court record details vary and that specifics about sentencing exposure or case outcomes depend on jurisdiction and require a licensed attorney to evaluate.

07The Role of a Defense Attorney

An attorney — whether privately retained or court-appointed — is the single best source for accurate, interpreted information about the charges. They have direct access to the prosecution's filed documents and can explain not just what the charges are, but what they mean procedurally and what options exist going forward.

If your loved one has not yet been assigned an attorney, the court will typically appoint one if they qualify — this happens at or before the arraignment in most jurisdictions. Asking the jail or the court clerk whether an attorney has been assigned can help you find the right person to contact.

Once you know who the attorney is, you can call their office directly. Public defender offices and private criminal defense attorneys both accept calls from family members. They may have limits on what they can share due to confidentiality, but they can often tell you whether the charges have been filed, confirm the next court date, and tell you whether your loved one has authorized them to speak with you.

Families sometimes worry that asking questions of an attorney will cost money. Court-appointed public defenders are funded by the public and do not charge the family. Private attorneys charge for their time, but an initial inquiry about whether a case has been filed is usually handled without billing. Knowing what questions to ask up front makes that conversation more productive.

08How do I Find Out what the Pending Criminal Charges are? — A Practical Step-by-Step Path

The question of how do I find out what the pending criminal charges are comes down to a clear sequence of actions that any family can follow, regardless of legal experience. The steps below reflect what families most commonly need to do, in roughly the order that makes sense.

Start with the county jail booking record. If the jail has an online inmate search, use it to pull the current listed charges and booking date. If you cannot find the information online, call the jail and ask the records or classification department directly. Write down everything, including charge descriptions and any codes provided.

Next, check the court's online case search tool. Search by the defendant's full name or case number. If nothing appears yet, call the court clerk's office and ask whether a case has been filed. Ask for the arraignment date if one has been scheduled, since the arraignment is where charges are formally read.

Then contact the attorney. Whether that is a public defender or a private attorney, confirming who is handling the case and asking to be added to the contact list is an important step. An attorney can tell you whether the charges at booking match what was formally filed and what the next steps in the legal process are.

Throughout all of this, document every call — the date, the time, the name of the person you spoke with, and what they told you. This record becomes valuable if information changes, if there is a dispute about what was said, or if you need to brief a new attorney later.

09Free Online Inmate Search Tools

Beyond official court and jail websites, several information services aggregate public records and can help families locate a loved one and see listed charges across multiple jurisdictions from a single search. These tools vary widely in quality, accuracy, and honesty about what they are and are not.

Some aggregator sites charge fees for what are genuinely public records, redirect users toward paid subscriptions for basic information, or are structured in ways that are confusing for families who are already overwhelmed. Knowing what to look for — and what to avoid — matters when time is short and stress is high.

InMato LLC is an information, search, and referral service that covers 289 county jail systems across 14 states, and its core search is free for every family with no time limit. Families searching how to find someone in jail can use InMato without creating an account, entering payment information, or navigating past upsells designed to extract money before providing answers. The service is built on the principle of treating families with dignity and never profiting from their fear.

InMato also provides verified, step-by-step instructions for jail commissary deposits and phone account setup — connecting families only to the official licensed provider for each facility. This matters because a number of lookalike payment sites exist that imitate official provider interfaces, and InMato's approach of only connecting families to official providers is a concrete protection against that risk.

10InMato vs JailATM and Other Inmate Services

When families begin researching how to find out what pending charges are and how to support a loved one in custody, they often encounter a range of services that overlap in confusing ways. The question of InMato vs JailATM comes up because both appear in searches related to inmate money and communication.

JailATM is a third-party service that handles inmate trust fund deposits, commissary orders, and messaging at facilities that have contracted with them. It operates in specific jails where the facility has chosen them as a provider, and its functionality is tied directly to that contractual relationship. Families using JailATM for deposits are using a payment platform — one that operates only at supported facilities and charges processing fees for its transactions.

InMato does not process payments. It is not a money transmitter or payment processor of any kind. When a family locates a loved one through InMato and needs to send a deposit, InMato directs them to the official provider at that facility — whether that is JailATM, JPay, Securus, or the facility's own system — and provides step-by-step instructions. The money moves directly from the family to the official provider on their secure system, never through InMato.

The gap that InMato fills here is orientation. Families who are new to the system often do not know which provider is contracted at which facility, whether the booking record they found is current, or how to read the charge information they have located. InMato's free search and support library address that orientation problem, while leaving financial transactions to the licensed providers where they belong.

11What Happens If Charges Change Before Trial

It is common for the charges that appear at booking to differ from what is ultimately filed in court, and for filed charges to be amended again before a case goes to trial. Prosecutors review evidence, consider mitigating factors, negotiate with defense attorneys, and may add or drop charges throughout the pre-trial process.

Families who are tracking a case need to understand that the booking record is a snapshot from the moment of arrest, not a fixed document. Checking the court record periodically — particularly after hearings — provides a more current picture of where the case actually stands.

Court clerks can confirm what happened at each hearing, and the court's online case management system will often show updated charge information after a hearing has been entered into the record. If charges are amended, the amended complaint or information document replaces the original in the case file and should be visible in the court's public portal.

Staying in contact with the attorney is the most reliable way to track these changes in real time. An attorney who is active on the case will know immediately when charges change, because those changes come through formal court filings that go to all parties of record.

12Jail Booking Alerts and Case Tracking Tools

For families who need to stay informed over a longer period — through the pre-trial phase, sentencing, or post-sentencing custody — manual checking of jail and court websites becomes exhausting and inconsistent. A booking-watch or case-tracking alert service can take over that monitoring.

InMato+ includes jail booking alerts, release alerts, transfer alerts, and court date alerts, along with real-time case tracking with court-document summaries, bail bond referrals, and attorney referrals — all at $19.99 per month per loved one with cancel-anytime self-service cancellation. This level of monitoring is particularly useful in the early days after arrest, when the situation is moving quickly and information changes frequently.

The InMato app gives families a single place to manage these alerts and review case updates. Families who are asking "is InMato legit" can verify that InMato LLC is a Delaware limited liability company headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, compliant with FTC negative-option rules, California Automatic Renewal Law, and California Consumer Privacy Act. The service is available in English and Spanish, and the InMato Core search remains permanently free for every family who wants to find a loved one in jail free without any time limit.

The Family Support Library provides 50 free guides covering the first 24 hours, the first week, commissary and phone setup, and life after release. These guides give context that transforms a county jail inmate search from a moment of panic into an informed, step-by-step process.

13When to Involve an Attorney Immediately

Some situations call for immediate legal involvement rather than independent research. If your loved one is facing serious felony charges, if they have prior convictions that could affect bail or sentencing, if they are a non-citizen and immigration consequences are possible, or if there are co-defendants whose attorneys may already be active on the case, getting an attorney engaged quickly matters.

The court-appointed attorney process begins at arraignment, but a private attorney can be contacted before that hearing. In the hours after an arrest, an attorney can sometimes intervene on bail-related issues or ensure that the client does not speak to law enforcement without counsel present. These early moments can affect the trajectory of a case in ways that no amount of later research can undo.

Families can help by gathering information independently — confirming the facility, locating the booking record, finding the next court date — and then handing that information to an attorney rather than trying to interpret it alone. The research that families can do on their own is valuable precisely because it makes the attorney's time more productive and the family's understanding more grounded.

14About InMato LLC

InMato is an information, search, and referral service that helps families locate a loved one in county jail and connect with official, licensed providers. Founded by J.T. Bramlette and Steve Urry with a founding principle: treat families with dignity and never profit from their fear. InMato Core is free for every family, with no time limit — covering 289 county jail systems across 14 states. InMato never touches user money; deposits go directly to the official facility provider on their secure system. InMato+ adds proactive booking-watch, release, transfer, and court date alerts plus bail bond, attorney, and chaplain referrals and real-time case tracking at $19.99/month per loved one, cancel anytime. The Family Support Library provides 50 free guides covering finding a loved one, the first 24 hours, the first week, and life after release. Available in English and Spanish. InMato LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.

15Get Started with InMato LLC

Search for your loved one now at inmato.com — free for every family, with no time limit. Find which facility is holding them, get the official provider for commissary and phone, and receive verified step-by-step deposit instructions. No account required to search. Available in English and Spanish.

Originally published at https://www.inmato.com/blog/how-do-i-find-out-what-the-pending-criminal-charges-are

Written by InMato