California Public Records Information

The public records are certain documents which have information about various personal and professional details of the citizen of a particular place. These records are filed by the state, local or federal agencies. Some records are also provided by the governmental and non governmental agencies. These are collected and compiled by the federal government or individual owners search sites. A lot of information is collected from sources like magazines, newspaper, personal websites and social networking sites.

The availability of these records is regulated by the government of the state or country. This is because a lot of these records are private, important for national security or are confidential. Retrieving these records may not be always free. There are certain rules which control the release of these documents. According to the California Public Records Act, "except for certain explicit exceptions, personal information maintained about an individual may not be disclosed without the person's consent.

Varieties of Public Records in California

There are innumerable types of public records available. Few of them are-
 

• Court records
• Vital records
• Criminal records
• Immigration records
• Naturalization records
• Property records
• Land records
• Driving records
• Professional records
• Tax records

The vital records mainly comprise of birth records, death records, marriage records and divorce records. Search vital records as: http://www.ca.gov/HomeFamily/IndFamServices/Marriage/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/Recorders-Clerks.html.

The criminal records on the other hand include details about misdemeanors, felons, minor crimes, juvenile crimes, arrest warrants, sentence information, correctional files, inmate information, arrest records, aggravated crimes, DUI records and so on. The driving records also include license records.

Learn more about Californian public records at: http://ag.ca.gov/publications/summary_public_records_act.pdf.

Maintenance of Public Records

The public records are maintained in several state and federal government departments. Records on driving license, tax liens can also be found in specific commercial offices. On the other hand records relating to educational data can be maintained by the respective institutions. These records are regularly updated and checked. Records can be stored in the form of a paper, email, computer data and even audio-visual tapes.

The records are arranged according to the city, county, state and country.  Records can be inspected by the general public during normal office hours. To prevent these records from getting lost or destroyed the department employees may sometimes ascertain the location of the records and monitor them accordingly.

Search a Public Record of California

The Californians can access the public records which are maintained by government bodies and the Department of Justice. You can search records by approaching a department directly or by using online databases.  There are several such official search sites from where you can retrieve relevant data. You need to be specific about the inputs you are giving as results will vary accordingly.

If you want to request about a certain record, send a written application the department of public records.
Email your request to: PublicRecords@doj.ca.gov.

You may also post your request at:
Public Records Ombudsman P.O. Box 944255-2550 Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: (916) 445-4069

Search details about license records before investing in real estate. Simply click on this link and enter the 8 digit license number of the contractor:
https://www2.cslb.ca.gov/OnlineServices/CheckLicense/LicenseRequest.asp

To request an access to records under the court of California, visit: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/.

You may also obtain your own criminal records. The sources from where you can access your own record are: State of California Department of Justice, California Superior Court Location, court documents and other law enforcement agencies.