New York County Criminal Court

About the New York County Criminal Court

The Criminal Court for New York County sits at 100 Centre Street, in the heart of the Civic Center. It handles misdemeanors, lesser offenses, summons cases, and arraignments. Every person arrested in Manhattan is first brought here for arraignment, the first court appearance after an arrest. The judge sets bail or release terms, and the case gets a docket number.

The official NYC Criminal Court page gives the locations, hours, and clerk contacts for the court. The screenshot below shows that landing page, which links to the New York County location among the five boroughs.

From there, the New York County page lists the building, the parts, and the summons court details. Note that 100 Centre Street is shared by the Criminal Court, the Supreme Court Criminal Term, the District Attorney, and other agencies.

How to Search New York County Criminal Court Records

Pending criminal cases with a future court date appear in WebCriminal. The portal does not show finished cases, sealed cases, or warrants. So a blank result is not proof that a case never existed. A user can search by case number, summons number, defendant name, or court calendar.

Open WebCriminal and choose a search type: case identifier, defendant name, or calendar.
Select the court. Pick "New York Criminal Court" for misdemeanors, or "New York Criminal Court - Summons" for summons cases.
For a name search, enter at least the first two letters of the first and last name; the court help page suggests three letters of the last name.
For a case number search, use the NYC criminal docket format CR-######-YYSU.
Review the result, then open the case to see the charges, the part, and the next appearance date.

For older or finished criminal matters, the public path runs through the Criminal Court clerk at 100 Centre Street or the relevant summons part. To find recent arrests and booking details instead, see the New York County arrest records page.

WebCriminal Search Fields for New York County

The WebCriminal defendant search form lists the fields a user fills to find a Manhattan criminal case. A name search needs only a few letters, but adding the court speeds the result. The table below sets out the fields.

Field Label	Type	Required	Notes
First Name	Text	Yes for person search	At least the first two characters per the form.
Last Name	Text	Yes for person search	At least two characters; help page suggests three.
Corporation Name	Text	Alternative	At least the first five characters.
Case #	Text	For identifier search	NYC docket format CR-######-YYSU.
Summons #	Text	For identifier search	Used for NYC summons cases.
Court	Dropdown	Optional	New York Criminal Court, Summons part, or New York Supreme Criminal Court.
Output	Radio	Optional	Display on page or as a PDF.

The same form also lets a user limit the search to a single court. That helps when a name is common across the city.

Criminal Court vs Supreme Court Criminal Term

Manhattan splits criminal cases between two courts by the level of the charge. The Criminal Court handles misdemeanors and the start of felony cases. The Supreme Court Criminal Term handles felonies after indictment. The table below compares the two.

Feature	NYC Criminal Court	Supreme Court Criminal Term
Charge level	Misdemeanors, violations, summons	Felonies after indictment
First appearance	Arraignment for all arrests	Receives felony cases later
Building	100 Centre Street	100 and 111 Centre Street
Search portal	WebCriminal	WebCriminal and clerk records
Specialty parts	Summons, community court	Judicial Diversion, Mental Health, Veterans, IDV

The Supreme Court Criminal Term runs 37 distinct court parts across two buildings, including problem-solving parts for treatment, mental health, and veterans. For the full trial-court picture, see the New York County Supreme Court page.

How a Manhattan Criminal Case Moves

A criminal case follows a set path from arrest to resolution. The steps below show the usual order, though some cases end early through dismissal or a plea.

Arrest. Police arrest a person in Manhattan and prepare the charges.
Arraignment. The case is arraigned in New York County Criminal Court at 100 Centre Street, where a judge sets bail or release.
Misdemeanor track. If the top charge is a misdemeanor, the case stays in Criminal Court for hearings, motions, plea, or trial.
Felony track. If the charge is a felony, the grand jury may indict, and the case moves up to the Supreme Court Criminal Term.
Disposition. The case ends in a plea, a verdict, a dismissal, or a sealing under the criminal procedure law.

The New York County location page gives the exact building details for arraignment and the summons court. The image below shows that official location listing.

Summons cases are listed at 1 Centre Street, 16th Floor, on a separate calendar from the main criminal parts.

What a New York County Criminal Court Record Shows

A WebCriminal result for a pending case returns a limited set of fields. The portal is built around future court dates, so it shows the next step, not the full history. Sealed and finished matters drop off the public view.

Docket number in the CR-######-YYSU format.
Defendant name or corporation name.
Court and court part, such as New York Criminal Court.
Charges or top charge for the pending case.
Next appearance date and courtroom.
Assigned judge for the part.

Sealed cases under CPL § 160.50, CPL § 160.55, and CPL § 160.59 do not appear in WebCriminal. A certificate of disposition for a Manhattan criminal case comes from the Criminal Court clerk, not the County Clerk.

Note: Building rules at the Criminal Term ban cameras, recording devices, and require phones and smart watches to be turned off inside courtrooms.

Specialty Parts and the Summons Court

Manhattan runs several problem-solving parts inside the criminal court system. Rather than separate county courts, these are calendars within the Supreme Court Criminal Term and the Criminal Court. They change the path of a case toward treatment, supervision, or services where the law allows.

Judicial Diversion part ties certain felony defendants to substance-use treatment and monitoring.
Mental Health part handles defendants with mental health needs through treatment planning and service coordination.
Veterans Court part connects eligible veterans with services and supervision.
Integrated Domestic Violence part coordinates related criminal, family, and matrimonial issues for one family.

Summons cases are a separate track for low-level offenses written on a summons rather than an arrest. They are listed at 1 Centre Street, 16th Floor, and appear in WebCriminal under the summons court selection. The Midtown Community Justice Center at 314 West 54th Street is a community court that handles certain cases outside the Foley Square cluster, with its own clerk's office for court-date questions.

Criminal Court Terms Explained

A criminal docket uses words that carry exact legal meaning. The short glossary below defines the terms a person is most likely to meet when reading a New York County criminal case.

Arraignment: The first court appearance after an arrest, where charges are read and release is set.
Indictment: A grand jury accusation that charges a felony and moves the case to Supreme Court.
Misdemeanor: A lower-level offense handled in the Criminal Court.
Disposition: The outcome of a charge, such as a plea, dismissal, or verdict.
Bench Warrant: A warrant a judge issues, often after a missed court date.
Certificate of Disposition: An official paper stating the outcome of a criminal case.