Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Government Public Records Online Search Alternative

By Claire Dowell


The recording of man's activities has existed since ancient times. In the earliest organized civilizations, the need to record taxes, disputes, prisoners, and so on has already been established. For instance, in ancient Babylon, recordings of events are all etched via cuneiform writing on clay tablets. Such activities have benefitted succeeding generations, and have continued to do so for years to come.

Public records are pieces of information, proceedings, files, accounts, or other records which a government must maintain, protect, and update. Described as "public", these records must be available for public access, procurement and scrutiny. Public records include vital events such as births, deaths, marriages. Furthermore, documentations of most legal actions, voter registration files, criminal records, and government spending reports also fall into this list of records made available to the grasp of the general public.

The multiple implications and uses of public documents in most legal and statistical processes is the reason why they are considered as such. For instance, background checking of potential employees via asking for their criminal record is standard protocol amongst companies and workplaces in order to prevent likely liabilities. Moreover, vital records such as marriage licenses and divorce records are commonly procured for a number of processes, such as to formally declare the legalization of a marriage and a divorce, after the approval of the appropriate authorities. Public records in the form of government transparency reports also allow healthy scrutiny from the populace. Studies regarding demographic and socioeconomic trends can also be done by utilizing the data contained within public records.

In the United States, public records are guided by the Freedom of Information Act. In addition to this act, different states have their own form of this legislation. In other words, regulations concerning public record access and distribution vary from state to state. For example, public records access and retrieval in the State of New York is fairly easy, compared to the many exemptions and restrictions in certain categories of documents in Pennsylvania.

Included in the diverse legislations that surround the distribution, maintenance and protection of public records are the institutions tapped by the State Government as the primary repository for public registers. Approaches are either centralized or decentralized, on a state or county level. The usual repositories tapped by State Governments are State Departments of Health, Justice and Public Safety on a state level, and Offices of the District Clerk, Local Courthouses, and Sheriff's Offices on a county level.

A fundamental characteristic of man is to find ways to live a more convenient life. This idea has somewhat materialized into an invention called the Internet. Over the years, the Internet has developed into a marketplace of goods and amenities, aside from being a superhighway of information. Following the trend, government bodies and independent service providers have made public records search available in the World Wide Web to cater to more requests from end-users. Looking at a person's background is now achievable with a few clicks right at the comfort of your own dwelling. With these new ways in performing a records search, good amounts of cash, time and effort can be saved, and urgent matters that require the presence of a particular record can be answered at the soonest possible time.




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