Court Records - Criminal and Civil

In most cases, court records are open to the public for viewing. Court records fall under the Public Records Act of the United States and can be accessed by almost anyone wishing to view them. Simply walk into your local or state courthouse, ask the person at the information desk what department holds the records you are seeking, and that department can explain how to access the records. Often, records are stored on microfilm, so you??ll probably sit at a computer station to access the records. In some cases, the records may still exist in written form for your browsing pleasure.

As a side note, if you are planning to go to the courthouse to browse public records, don??t forget to dress appropriately. In today??s world, if you are dressed for success, you will be more likely to be treated more seriously. If you are dressed for the ballgame, you may not be so successful.

Obtaining court records is actually quite easy. If you know the exact case file you are looking for, make sure you write down all of the information about it before you arrive at the courthouse. A name or social security number is good. A case file number works even better. This allows you more time to peruse the documents and less time searching for them. Always ask the person at the information desk these questions:

? How are the court records and files stored for public access?
? How much does it cost to copy the records?
? Where are the juvenile records?
? Where are the criminal records and traffic records computers?
? Where are the civil record computers?

If you ask these questions and the person at the information desk begins to give you some trouble, remind them that these records are open to the public and that you know your rights to view them. Believe it or not, it still happens. After you state that, there should not be any more trouble viewing the records. Always make copies of what you find. Take them home with you for a closer examination and take notes of what you are reading as well.

Court records are a good way to conduct a people search, albeit a bit more time consuming than an Internet search. Let??s say for example that you are trying to locate a lost relative. While searching the records, you find someone that matches your search who had an accident in the city. The records list a current address and information on another individual involved. You now have two leads- the individual who matches the name of the person you are searching for, and another individual involved in the accident who may have personal information about that person.

Court records are easy to obtain, as long as you know how to handle yourself in a courthouse and know your rights to viewing the records. Never let anyone tell you that you can??t view the records because the Public Records Act, by law, allows you access to court records. Court records include civil and criminal cases, Recorder of Deeds information, traffic accident information, and birth/death records.

Of course, as mentioned, court records are also accessible via the Internet. Like most people search sites and background check sites, there are court record sites on the Internet and a good chunk of them charge the public for access to the records. It may be cheaper to head to the local courthouse to search for free, or type in ????public record in [city name]??, but some government entities now charge an access fee as well.

For ease of searching, an Internet search can??t be beat, and the accuracy of the records and ability to search vertically make Internet public records searches very popular. www.GovernmentRegistry.org is a great place to start.