Top Choice
Instant Checkmate
Criminal-record and social-profile search option.
View RecordsDriving & Traffic Records
Texas DMV Criminal Records: Use DPS, Not TxDMV
Texas criminal-history records are a Department of Public Safety function. TxDMV handles vehicle title, registration and permitting records and explicitly says it does not maintain driver license or driving-history records.
Direct answer
Use Texas DPS for Criminal Records
TxDMV is not the Texas criminal-history repository. Texas DPS Crime Records provides the criminal-history search system. TxDMV says it maintains vehicle title, registration and permitting information and does not maintain driver license, driving history, accident or violation/citation records. If your task is criminal history, use DPS Crime Records.
Agency map
Texas agency responsibilities
| Question | Correct agency | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Texas criminal-history name search | Texas DPS Crime Records | DPS operates the criminal-history search system |
| Driver license / driving history | Texas DPS | TxDMV explicitly routes driver records to DPS |
| Vehicle title / registration / permitting | TxDMV | These are TxDMV motor-vehicle record functions |
| Court case or disposition | Court/clerk | A DPS history search is not the underlying court file |
Source correction
Why the “DMV criminal records” phrase is misleading
In Texas, the agency names matter. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles focuses on vehicle title, registration and permitting records. Texas DPS is the agency that operates Crime Records and driver-license functions.
That separation prevents two common errors: looking to TxDMV for a criminal record, and assuming a criminal-history name match is the same thing as a court disposition. Use the product tied to the question you are actually trying to answer.
Identity warning
Name-based criminal-history searches have identity limits
Texas DPS warns that name-based criminal-history searches can match the wrong person or miss a record; fingerprint identification is the way to positively link someone to a criminal record.
Workflow
Use the Texas source in the right order
-
01
Criminal history
For an ordinary public name search, use the Texas DPS CRD Public Website linked by DPS. Its public criminal-history service is separate from the CRD Secure Site, which is restricted to legislatively authorized entities. Read the Public Website’s own coverage, credit-use rules and checkout charges before buying a search. Do not apply the Secure Site’s eligibility or $1-per-credit instructions to the public service.
-
02
Check identity quality
Use the DPS result-matching cautions before attributing a name match.
-
03
Vehicle record question
Move to TxDMV only when the task is title, registration, permitting or another TxDMV motor-vehicle record.
-
04
Court outcome
Use the actual court record if you need the disposition or filed case.
Terminology
Do not mix these terms
-
✓
TxDMV
Vehicle title, registration and permitting functions.
-
✓
Texas DPS driver record
Driver-license / driving-history function.
-
✓
Texas DPS Crime Records
Criminal-history search function.
-
✓
Court case
Case-specific charges, docket and disposition.
Related Record Guides
Sources
Authoritative next stops
Official state criminal-history source
Texas DPS Crime Records - Secure Site and Public Website Routing
Restricted Secure Site eligibility and the official link directing ordinary users to the separate Public Website; Secure Site pricing is not public-service pricing.
Texas
Official state criminal-history source
Texas DPS - Secure Site Search Guidance
Restricted Secure Site methods and name-match identity limitations; not public-service eligibility or pricing.
Texas
Official state motor-vehicle source
TxDMV - Driver's Privacy Protection Act
TxDMV record scope and privacy law
Texas
Official state motor-vehicle source
TxDMV - Open Records
TxDMV open-record scope and records it does not maintain
Texas