Information On California Public Records Online Requests

By Author: Missy Lauren
Total Articles: 14
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According to the Public Records Law, all state agencies and institutions are accountable for the citizenry. This is tantamount to the notion that vital records created and kept by the public entities are henceforth public and are available to any member of the state in need. In the State of California, everyone has the right to access public information maintained by local and state government agencies such as the Bureau of Vital Statistics - Department of Health, and the Department of Justice. California Public Records include vital documents and court registers.

Conversely, there are certain records in California that cannot just be obtained by anyone who wishes to. Criminal records and arrest, for instance, can only be accessed by legitimate law enforcement agencies, authorized applicant agencies, and those individuals who personally own the criminal history information. In case of background checks, certified copies of criminal or arrest records may not be available as request from third parties for such records will not be processed. Thus, ...
... for genealogical purposes and background checks, one may have to settle for an informational copy instead.

In requesting for a record, a written request is no longer needed according to California’s Public Records Act. You can actually start by making an informal request over the telephone. However, id the agency information officer cannot grant your request with the method utilized, he should be able to provide you with the necessary steps for making a formal request. A formal request entails filling out an application or request form for each vital or court record you wish to obtain. Such forms can be downloaded online or directly from the aforementioned agencies’ websites. You have to fill out such forms in its entirety with all the significant details asked.

For birth record requests, essential details needed are the complete name of the person, date and place of birth, and the complete names of the parents. For death certificate requests, you have to input the legal name of the deceased, gender, date of birth, date and county of death, and the name of spouse and of the parents. For marriage and divorce records, please indicate the county where the marriage license was issued or where the divorce was filed and ratified. Vital records requests should be referred to the Vital Records Division, Department of Health. For criminal history information requests, a live scan form must be filled out with your significant personal details. Such form must then be submitted to the Department of Justice together with the copy of an image of your live scan fingerprints.

Payment must be through check or money order made payable to either the Department of Health or to the Department of Justice; and should be submitted along with the application or request form. A copy of a death certificate costs $20; a death certificate is worth $16; criminal record costs $25; a public marriage certificate costs $14 while a divorce certificate costs $13. Birth and death records that date back to 1905 take approximately 7 weeks to be processed; whereas those recorded from 1969 to present only take 4 weeks. For marriage and divorce records, on the other hand, the processing time can exceed 6 months. Unfortunately, there is no way to hasten this as the Office of the Vital Statistics cannot accommodate expedited requests.

If you wish to acquire government records fast, then pull a quick record review online. There are various online record providers proffering the same services yet for only a minimal fee to no fee at all. Unlike the typical way of getting Public Records, you can retrieve the records you need in the comfort of your own home with a computer and an Internet connection handy. Procuring records over the web will only take minutes to hours instead of the usual processing time that takes weeks to several months. Just see to it that you perform a quick background check on the record provider you are eyeing on to ensure less to no errors with the results of your record search.