Guide
Overview
A public record is any document a government body creates or keeps that the law does not close. That covers court dockets, deeds, marriage and death certificates after their privacy periods, corporate filings, professional licenses, property assessments, arrest logs, meeting minutes, budgets and contracts. What makes a record public is not that it is online but that a statute says anyone may inspect it, and most of the records people search for every day are held by a county clerk, a court or a state agency under that state's own open records law rather than by the federal government.
The federal Freedom of Information Act covers only federal agencies. Each state has its own law, called a public records act, sunshine law or right to know law, and those laws decide what a county or city must release, how fast, what it may charge and what it may withhold. The differences are large: Florida opens nearly everything, while some states close police reports, personnel files or even the names of people arrested.
Official sources on this page were checked on September 25, 2026.
Guide
How to Submit a Records Request
Guide
What is public and what is closed
Court records are the most open category in the country. Civil and criminal case files, judgments, liens and bankruptcy filings are public across the states, with juvenile, adoption, sealed and some family cases the main exceptions. Property records, deeds, mortgages and tax assessments are public everywhere because ownership has to be provable. Vital records are split: birth certificates are closed for 75 to 125 years in most states, death certificates open sooner, and marriage and divorce indexes are usually public while the certificates need a reason.
Criminal history is where states differ most. Court records of a conviction are public, but the state's compiled criminal history report goes to the public in only some states, and the FBI's file goes only to the person it concerns. Personnel records, medical records, tax returns, Social Security numbers and active investigations are closed or can be withheld under the public records law of each state.
Guide
Who holds which records
Counties hold the deeds, the court files of the trial courts, the marriage licenses, the voter rolls and the jail rosters, which is why most searches start with a county clerk, a recorder or a clerk of court. States hold the driver and vehicle records, the professional licenses, the corporate registry, the criminal history repository, the prison inmate locator and the vital records index. The federal government holds the bankruptcy and federal court files through PACER, the immigration and military records, the patents and trademarks, the Securities and Exchange Commission filings and the census returns after 72 years.
Guide
Making a request that gets answered
Look for the record online first, because a growing share of court, property and licensing records are searchable without a request. When a request is needed, send it in writing to the office that holds the record, name the record as exactly as possible, cite the state public records law, ask for the fee estimate before copying starts and ask for electronic copies. Most states require a response within a set number of days, from three in a few states to 20 or more in others, and every state allows an appeal, either to the attorney general, a records ombudsman or the courts. For federal records, FOIA.gov routes the request to the right agency and the Office of Government Information Services mediates disputes.
- FOIA RequestsFederal FOIA portals, exemptions, fees and appeals
- Reporters Committee open government guideEvery state's public records law explained section by section, checked September 25, 2026
- National Freedom of Information CoalitionState freedom of information coalitions and sample request letters, checked September 25, 2026
Straight answers
About Public Records, questions
Are public records free?
Inspecting a public record is free in most states, and many are searchable online at no cost. Copies carry a per page fee set by law, and certified copies of vital records cost more. Commercial sites charge for compiling what the government gives away.
Does FOIA cover state and county records?
No. The federal Freedom of Information Act covers federal agencies only. State and county records are governed by each state's own public records law, which sets its own deadlines, fees and exemptions.
Can I find out if someone has a criminal record?
Court records of convictions are public across the states and searchable through the court clerk. The state's compiled criminal history report is public in some states and restricted in others, and the FBI file goes only to the person it concerns.