2007-02-18 16:32:53 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
The records should be free to view, but if you want copies then you will need to pay. The only exception to this is sealed court cases, and juvenile criminal records. Everything else not involving national security should be available.
Depending on where you live, most public records are on line. You will have to do some work tracking down the documents though. For legal cases, go to the Clerk of the (District) Court's office at the courthouse. They do not usually post these on the internet due to graphic evidence in some cases and there are just too many old cases to download into the system.
2007-02-18 18:22:38 · answer #1 · answered by Kevin k 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A wide variety of public records are available online for free, but it really depends on the kind of record, how old it is, etc. Also, many public records are never available for completely free, since it costs the government money to store, find, and copy the records for you. Some examples are birth and death certificates. If you could be more specific, I may be able to help you better.
2007-02-18 17:45:10 · answer #2 · answered by James 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Auntie is correct, most agencies have at least some public records online. They can and often do charge a fee for accessing some of them.
It really depends on what you are talking about. Some "public records" are in fact not public at all - court proceedings, criminal records, tax records, DMV, registrations, voter registrar - are examples of some restricted to law enforcement. You won't get those online or in person.
2007-02-18 17:05:49 · answer #3 · answered by gw_bushisamoron 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pretty much all public records are free to review, the problem is, not all of them are available online. I assume you mean official-type documents, too.
Many states or counties or even cities have online databases of things like birth/death registers, marriage certificates, inmate listings, etc. Some may have more. Check out the official government agency websites. Otherwise, you may have to either pay a small fee to obtain certain records online, or drive yourself over to the courts/recorders' office to review the files themselves.
Good luck!
2007-02-18 16:42:14 · answer #4 · answered by Amy K 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.....most of them sites only give you access to other sites...you must pay money on all of them....most are a scam..
2007-02-18 17:23:33 · answer #5 · answered by WHEREISJUSTICE 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
www.firstgov.gov for U.S and www.direct.gov.uk for UK
2007-02-18 16:47:22 · answer #6 · answered by hullygully 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋