The Sex Offender Search API, field by field.
The offender search API: one call searches all 58 US registries — every state, DC and the territories — and returns scored, source-cited, continuously updated records in the richest schema in the category. First 25 calls free.
No card required. Your key works immediately. New here? Start with the sex offender API overview. Still choosing a vendor? The top-5 sex offender API comparison puts every published number side by side.
One request, one defensible answer
curl https://api.offendersearch.app/v1/search \
-H "X-API-Key: $OFFENDERSEARCH_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"query": {
"firstName": "John",
"lastName": "Doe",
"dob": "1980-04-12"
}
}'What the offender search API gives you
One call, all 58 US registries
The 50 states, DC and the US territories — 58 registries — searched in a single request, with people de-duplicated across jurisdictions into one record.
Scored, explained matches
Every record carries matchConfidence, matchState and matchBasis: how much identity evidence exists, how the date of birth verified, and which fields matched and how.
The richest record in the category
A 76-field schema: photographs, aliases and nicknames, typed addresses with coordinates, statute-level offense history, physical description, flags and normalized housing status.
Provenance on every record
Each record names the registry that holds it, that registry’s own permanent record link, and when we last read it — a citation you can store beside the decision.
Completeness you can trust
Every response says which of the 58 sources answered in full. An incomplete search is labelled — never silently returned as an empty result.
Batch, async and webhooks
POST a CSV or JSON batch and get one scored result per row; run large sweeps async and receive the finished result at your callback URL.
Search the way callers ask
Name with nickname and misspelling handling, DOB or age with tolerance, city, ZIP, street address, free text, and lat/lng radius up to 100 miles.
Drop-in migration
A compatibility endpoint accepts the request shape and returns the envelope other offender APIs use — switch by changing the base URL and key.
Sex offender API questions
How fast can I make my first call?
Minutes. Sign up, create a key, and your first 25 calls are free with no payment method. The quickstart is a single curl command, and the response above is the real shape you get back.
What does the API cost?
$0.15 per call, dropping to $0.11 after 2,000 calls in a month. No seats, no minimum, no annual commitment. Our freshest data tier adds $0.01 per call; verification PDFs are $0.02 each. Volume and enterprise terms are available.
How current is the data?
Continuously updated. Every record carries its own lastCheckedAt, so you can see the currency of each answer per record and per source instead of trusting a blanket claim.
Does one search really cover every state?
Yes — omit jurisdictions and the search runs across all 58 US registries at once. A state in the query is a residence filter on the results; it never narrows where the search looks, so an out-of-state registration still surfaces.
Is there a dashboard as well as the API?
Yes. The same account includes a full no-code dashboard — search by name, upload CSVs, stored search history and teammates — so your compliance team can screen today while your engineers integrate the API on their own schedule.
Is this a consumer report?
No. Offendersearch is not a consumer reporting agency and results are not a consumer report; they must not be used for FCRA-covered decisions without appropriate process. Use is subject to our acceptable-use terms and applicable law.
Further reading
Independent comparisons of the tools in this category — including where other vendors are the better answer.
The best sex offender APIs in 2026, compared
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More in our comparisons and research.
Ship offender screening this week
25 free calls, a five-minute quickstart, and a compatibility endpoint if you are migrating. The dashboard covers your operations team while you build.