For developers

Looking for an NSOPW API? Here is what exists.

There is no public NSOPW API for developers: the National Sex Offender Public Website is offered as a website and a mobile app for individual searches. If you need to search US sex offender registries from code, Offendersearch is an independent REST API built for that — 58 registries in one call, $0.15 each.

Get an API key Read the docs

25 free calls · No card · $0.15 a call, $0.11 past 2,000 a month

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"
    }
  }'

Straight answer

Is there an NSOPW API?

NSOPW — the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website — is a public safety resource run by the US Department of Justice in partnership with the states, territories, the District of Columbia and participating tribes. It is published as a website and a mobile app where a person can run a search.

It does not offer developers an API key, a documented REST endpoint or a bulk interface for use inside another product. So the practical question becomes: what do you use when your software, not a person, needs to run the search?

Who is asking

Why developers look for an NSOPW API

Onboarding checks

A platform wants to check a new member, host, driver or volunteer during sign-up, without a staff member opening a browser.

Roster screening

An organisation needs to check hundreds of names at once and repeat it on a schedule.

An audit trail

A compliance team has to show what was searched, when, and what came back — as data, not as a screenshot.

Side by side

A public search website and a developer API, compared

Two different tools for two different jobs. One is for a person; the other is for software.

	NSOPW	Offendersearch API
What it is	A free public website and mobile app	An independent, paid REST API and dashboard
Made for	An individual running a search	Software running searches
Price	Free to the public	25 calls free, then $0.15 a call
Access	A browser or the app	An API key over HTTPS, JSON in and out
Results	Grouped by jurisdiction for you to review	Scored, de-duplicated records in one schema
Many names at once	One search at a time	Batch by JSON or CSV
Search history	A public search for individual lookups	Every search stored with its results
Jurisdictions	States, territories, DC and participating tribes	58 US registries: the 50 states, DC and 5 territories

The call

What the API alternative looks like in code

Create a key — it works at once on the 25 free calls.
Send POST /v1/search with a query object: lastName, firstName and, where you have it, dob.
Each record returns a matchState, a matchConfidence score and the matchBasis behind it.
sourceStatus lists which registries answered, so a clear result is a complete one.
Every record links to its official registry entry for confirmation.

Many names

Batch search: the part a website cannot do

curl https://api.offendersearch.app/v1/batch \
  -H "X-API-Key: $OFFENDERSEARCH_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: text/csv" \
  --data-binary @roster.csv

# roster.csv
# firstName,lastName,state,dob
# John,Smith,FL,1980-04-12
# Jane,Doe,TX,

POST /v1/batch returns one result per row, each with its own counts and records. More on bulk sex offender search.

Which to use

When the public website is the right tool, and when an API is

Use the public website

For a personal, one-off lookup. It is free, it is run by the Department of Justice, and it includes participating tribal registries.

Use an API

When software has to run the search: inside a sign-up flow, across a roster, on a schedule, or anywhere you need structured results and a record of what was checked.

Pricing

What the API costs

$0.15 a call, $0.11 for each call past 2,000 in a month. No subscription, no minimum on search, 25 free calls to start.

Calls / month	Monthly cost	Effective per call
500	$75.00	$0.1500
2,000	$300.00	$0.1500
10,000	$1,180.00	$0.1180

Details on the pricing page.

Get an API key25 free calls, no card.

Where to go next

The full product is on the sex offender API page, with endpoints and fields on the sex offender search API page. For teams who search by hand rather than by code, the NSOPW alternative page compares the dashboard. If you also need criminal records, see the background check API.

The standard API is not a consumer report. A hiring or tenant decision runs as an FCRA workflow through FCRA Partner Access.

FAQ

NSOPW API questions

Does NSOPW have an API?

NSOPW is offered as a public website and a mobile app. It does not offer developers an API key or a documented endpoint for use inside another product.

Is Offendersearch affiliated with NSOPW or the Department of Justice?

No. Offendersearch is an independent commercial service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or operated by NSOPW or any government agency.

Is there a free NSOPW API?

No free developer API is offered. The website is free for individual searches. Offendersearch gives every new account 25 free API calls.

What is the difference between NSOPW and a sex offender registry API?

NSOPW is a website a person uses to run a search. A registry API is a service your software calls, returning structured records it can store, score and act on.

How do I search every state sex offender registry with one API call?

Send POST /v1/search with a name and date of birth. One call reaches 58 US registries and the response lists which of them answered.

Does the API include tribal registries?

The API covers the 50 states, DC and 5 US territories. The public website also includes participating tribal registries, which is one reason to use it for a personal lookup.

What does a national sex offender search API return?

Name, aliases, date of birth, physical description, offenses, tier or risk level where published, addresses, photographs where published, and a link to the official record — each with a match score.

Can I use it for employment or tenant screening?

Not with the standard API, which is not a consumer report. Those decisions run as FCRA workflows through FCRA Partner Access.

Search 58 US registries from your own code

25 free calls, no card. One request, scored results, a citation on every record.

Get an API key Read the docs

The Offendersearch APIs

One account, one key, one bill — the sex offender registry and criminal records, side by side.

Sex offender registry

Sex offender API — One call across 58 US sex offender registries, with scored matches and a citation on every record.
Sex offender search API — Endpoints, request shapes, record fields, matching and batch, in detail.
Sex offender database — The national registry data in one schema — photos, aliases, offenses, addresses.
Registered offender database — What a registered offender record holds, and how its accuracy is measured.
Bulk sex offender search — Screen a whole list of names in one upload or one API call.
Sex offender registry API — Choose which of the 58 registries a search covers, and see which ones answered.
Offender search API — The registry search and the criminal search side by side, on one key.

Criminal records

Criminal records API — County, state and federal records — jail, prison, court and warrant — through one API.
Criminal background check API — One cited answer per person for onboarding and screening flows.
Criminal search API — The search endpoint itself: parameters, record types and coverage, call by call.
Court records API — Criminal court cases with charges and a disposition on each charge.
Arrest records API — County jail bookings: booking date, custody status, facility and photo link.
Inmate search API — State prison and county jail custody, with sentence, release and parole dates.
Background check API — The registry and criminal layers together, on one key and one bill.
Employment background check API — The registry and criminal data layer for HR, ATS and screening platforms.
Employment screening API — The stages of a hiring pipeline, and where criminal and registry checks sit in it.
Bulk criminal record search — Run a list of names against criminal records in one call.
Statewide criminal search — One state at a time: prison, court and warrant systems that cover the whole state.
Federal criminal records — Federal criminal records through the same API, and what a federal search covers.

Build with it

API documentation — Quickstart, every endpoint, the record object and the OpenAPI spec.
Sex offender map API — Clusters, pins and names for your own map, and the full record when one is opened.
Background check API pricing — $0.15 a call, $0.11 past 2,000 a month, 25 free calls to start — worked out by volume.
Background check API integration — Keys, the first call, async and webhooks, batch, monitoring and errors, step by step.
Free background check API — 25 free calls on real data, no card — what is included and what comes after.
Pay-as-you-go background check API — Per call, per report or subscription: the pricing models, with costs by volume.
Background check API in Python — A working tutorial with requests: search, batch, async, errors and retries.
Background check API in Node.js — A fetch client, response types, an Express webhook handler and retries.
MCP server for offender search — Give Claude and other AI agents the same search as a tool.
Integrations — Screening inside referral software — CarePort, ExtendedCare, Ensocare and Aidin.
AI integration — Offender safety checks for AI agents and chatbots, with cited answers.
Offendersearch vs offenders.io — A side-by-side comparison of the two registry APIs.

Screening and compliance

Tenant background check — Screening applicants for a rental, and where an FCRA workflow is required.
FCRA Partner Access — The FCRA workflow for hiring and tenant decisions — pricing by quote.
FCRA-compliant background check data — Accuracy, disputes and permissible purpose for consumer reporting agencies.
FCRA disputes API — Open, track and resolve a consumer dispute against a record.
Sex offender monitoring — Watch a person or an address and get an alert when the registry changes.
Tenant screening API — The registry and criminal layer for property software, with FCRA workflows for rental decisions.
Non-FCRA background check API — What a public-records lookup may be used for, and when a decision needs FCRA instead.