Free Government Public Record Sites

The links below lead to government agencies that provide free online record searching and access to public record information. The data is taken from The Public Record Research System.

Facts to Remember About Searching Government Records

It is important to remember three important truths when searching online public records provided by government agencies:

• Only 70% or so of government maintained public records are available online. For example, 29% of the state and local courts do NOT provide online access to criminal or civil data.
• Government sites can be free or fee-based. Generally, the fee-based sites are more robust.
• Most free government public record name search sites contain no personal identifiers beyond the name. This can be a problem when researching a common name.

Keep these three truths in mind and your public record searching will lead to better results.

If you are looking for the more than a free links list - please check out BRB's Public Record Research System (PRRS).

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