Once an individual has been arrested in the United States all information regarding the arrest and or subsequent conviction is a matter of public knowledge. The freedom of information act has made it legal for law enforcement agencies to share criminal records for individuals on their websites as well as it can be accessed from their office. Once you know how to find public records it is easy to find information on individuals you suspect to have had a criminal history. You will also be able to verify the credibility of individuals you allow around your children and family by extension.
Access to public court records in the United States has become easier now more than ever. With the advancement of technology court documents are uploaded to law enforcement websites in a matter of minutes once an accused has been processed during the booking. Along with the traditional means of obtaining court records, there are various states that have made court records available online. The court system is designed to ensure that justice is delivered to accusers and those accused of crimes against an individual or the state. Here are three simple steps that you can follow to successfully access court records.
- Before you being any form of search you will need to get the information for the case or individual you want to do the search on. Information such as their full name and the correct spelling, case number or docket number, the date that they were arrested and or charged. This information will help tremendously with the search, you will be able to do it faster and more accurately. Also when requesting the court records you will need to present this information or at least some of it.
- You can start by visiting the courthouse where the case you are searching for was or is being head. The clerk of the court that is responsible for the records department will be able to allow you access to records that are public.
- If you are brave enough you can always call the lawyer that is involved in the case, some may be willing to give information regarding the case once it is considered to be public knowledge.
- You can check the website of the state or county where the individual was arrest and or charged of the crime. They generally update their online database with criminal records that is accessible by the general public.
There might be instances where you may be charged to access criminal records however, there are ways to access free public criminal records. Some websites will ask you for a fee to access certain type of records. As was mentioned above this information can be accessed from state and government database without a charge. Not all criminal records are available to the generable public. Juvenile records are generally not available so easily, it must be requested for a specific reason and sometimes you may also need a court order to allow access to such information. Laws in the United States differs from state to state and country therefore you may find that you are able to access such records for free in some states while in others you will not be able to. Criminal records in general can be accessed from any court of law enforcement agency for free though sometimes you may find that they ask you to pay a minimal fee to copy the documents that you would like to see.
It is possible to access almost anything online these days however, not all the information you find online will be credible. It is important that you have a basic idea of how to find public records online that is credible. If you are not looking for any specific record but are just curious to know what kinds of information you can find online you can always visit your city, county and state websites to see if they have any online database that is available to the public. You should be able to find criminal records, arrest records, tax records among others. Since there are many sites that have public information it might be difficult to decipher which present credible information or not. What you can do is to find two or more website and compare the information that you find on the individual that you are doing the search on. When you have found two website with similar information then this is a credible way of verifying of the information on the individual is credible.
A criminal record may pose as a problem in accessing some things in society like getting the job of your choice or getting state or government benefits. Your public arrest records is no different however, you can try and qualify for an expungement or to get your record sealed. An expungement means that the record is destroyed or become unavailable to some state and law enforcement agencies. Bear in mind that laws differ base in the fifty states in the united state so not all records can qualify for the expungement process.
To seal records it means that the record is no longer available to be viewed by the general public as well as some state and government agencies. When a prospective employer conducts a background check on you the information will not show in the search therefore not preventing you from getting the job.