Sunday, November 24, 2013

California Public Records Free Online

By Ben Kingsley


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.

However, unlike any other states in the US, California does limit access to certain records to particular entities only. Criminal and arrest records, for example, can only be accessed by the legitimate law enforcement agencies and authorized applicant agencies. Individuals indicated on the criminal history information, however, have the right to access their personal record for the purpose of reviewing such for accuracy and completeness. Perhaps the most utilized record in background screening is a criminal record as it contains significant and weighty information about a particular person in question. Criminal history information indicates any felonies or misdemeanor committed by the individual named on the record. In case of background screening and even genealogy research, an informational copy of the criminal record will be issued.

When requesting for a copy of any public record, you have to secure an application form which can be downloaded online from the abovementioned agencies' websites. You must fill out the form in its entirety with all the important details required. For birth certificate requests, you have to provide the full name of the person, date of birth, and the name of the parents. For death record requests, you must input the complete and legal name of the deceased, gender, date of birth, date and county where the death took place, name of spouse and of the parents. For marriage and divorce record requests, you have to include the significant personal details of the couple, date and county where they tied the knot, date of the separation, and the county where the marriage license was issued or where the divorce was filed and affirmed. For criminal record requests, a live scan form must be filled out and must be submitted together with an image of your live scan fingerprints.

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.

The processing fee for birth record requests is $20. For death record requests, the fee is $16. The processing fee for criminal records is $25. For marriage certificate requests, the fee is $14 while divorce record requests require a fee of only $13. Birth and death records that date back to 1905 take 7 weeks to be processed. Those recorded from 1969 to present only take 4 weeks processing time. However, marriage and divorce records can exceed 6 months to be processed. These estimated turnaround times will still vary and may increase depending on the volume of requests received by such agencies. Unfortunately, these offices do not cater rush requests.

Nevertheless, procuring government records can actually be done in an expedited plus expedient manner and even in the comfort of your own home. Simply hire the services of online record providers. The number of service providers online is relatively high. This conveys that online users and customers have a much wider array of options to choose from. In lieu of the usual turnaround time that takes weeks to months, online record providers can give you the records you need in just a matter of minutes to several hours. What's more, you will only have to pay a minimal fee and with such, you get to have unlimited access to their database. Certainly, obtaining records has never been this easy. So the next time somebody asks you on how to get records fast, tell them about these online service providers and how much you have enjoyed their services.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment