(last time I did it, 4-5 years ago, it was $5.00) the clerk in the courthouse will look up a criminal record if you provide them with name and birthdate.  Things may have changed in the years since with the concerns about privacy and 9/11.

If there is a record, you may petition the court to have it expunged (erased), a relatively simply procedure, like a name change, for which a lawyer is not required.