Frequently Asked Questions

Where do you collect your data?

We are aggregating data from different online and offline public data sources. These include, but are not limited to: FBI public data, state, county and city level police departments and sheriffs' offices public data, official U.S. census data, official local government websites, and of course we are constantly digging the web manually to find even more useful information to include into the directory.

Are public records really free?

This depends on several things, such as the type of public record, the purpose of retrieving public record, the way of retrieving the public record and the county/state where you need your record from. Different states have separate legislatures resulting in different public record access laws. In some states public records are not even so obviously public. A goverment body will usually charge you for issueing a certified copy of a document or a certified public record verification document, but still if you simply need information (and not a certified document) most of local goverment websites maintain databases of available public records with online access tools to. There may be some restrictions for access to document, read the below question & answer for details.

Who is eligible to access the document records?

In most cases anyone can access public records online and instantly through the official sources for information purposes only. Such information may also sometimes be not 100% up to date, as the official online databases are updated on weekly/monthly/etc basis depending on the local goverment office schedule. Such public record info may not be used and will not be accepted for any legal issue. For any legal issues you will need a certified copy of a document. Some information may only be available on certified copy of a document, which in its turn may usually only be received by a person named on the document, some of its relatives, or any other person with local court order. Additional restrictions may apply depending on state and type of record.