Wednesday, 17 September 2014

Things You Need To Know About Public Records

By Claire Dowell


Our forefathers have already devised methods to record important happenings since ancient times. Records about taxation, crimes and captives have been created back then in order to manage the populace more efficiently. Examples of such ancient ways of recording events can be found in the ruins of the Egyptian empire that used elaborate images to describe a particular happening. Since then, this knowledge has been passed on to future generations, and has become an integral part in running societal structures. We would not have a concrete sense of identity if it were not for these historical accounts of what shaped our world, and our humanity.

Public records are any forms of media that contains important data, and are preserved by the government for its informational value. Furthermore, these documents are made available to the general public for a handful of uses. Examples of public records include documentations of vital statistics such as births, marriages, deaths and divorces, criminal records, census reports, government spending reports, and public documents, among others.

It is important to remember that public records serve a variety of purposes. This premise is one of the main reasons why such recordings are made available to the public. For example, marriage licenses formally legalize a celebrated union between husband and wife, divorce records officially terminate a dysfunctional marriage after the approval of a judge in a Court of Law, and arrest records are vital requirements in background checking for employees in most companies around the world to ensure that quality assurance standards are maintained, and future risks are mitigated. Moreover, making reports of government activities are made public for accountability and transparency. Aside from its many legal implications, public registers are also important in interpreting, studying and establishing statistical, socioeconomic, and demographic trends in a jurisdiction. Without knowing the things that shaped our world and us as individuals, we would have a lesser sense of identity.

In the United States, public records are guided by the Freedom of Information Act. In addition to this act, different states have their own form of this legislation. In other words, regulations concerning public record access and distribution vary from state to state. For example, public records access and retrieval in the State of New York is fairly easy, compared to the many exemptions and restrictions in certain categories of documents in Pennsylvania.

Included in the diverse legislations that surround the distribution, maintenance and protection of public records are the institutions tapped by the State Government as the primary repository for public registers. Approaches are either centralized or decentralized, on a state or county level. The usual repositories tapped by State Governments are State Departments of Health, Justice and Public Safety on a state level, and Offices of the District Clerk, Local Courthouses, and Sheriff's Offices on a county level.

A fundamental characteristic of man is to find ways to live a more convenient life. This idea has somewhat materialized into an invention called the Internet. Over the years, the Internet has developed into a marketplace of goods and amenities, aside from being a superhighway of information. Following the trend, government bodies and independent service providers have made public records search available in the World Wide Web to cater to more requests from end-users. Looking at a person's background is now achievable with a few clicks right at the comfort of your own dwelling. With these new ways in performing a records search, good amounts of cash, time and effort can be saved, and urgent matters that require the presence of a particular record can be answered at the soonest possible time.




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