Public records are documents or pieces of information that are not considered confidential. For example, in California, when a couple fills out a marriage license application, they have the option of checking the box as to whether the marriage is "confidential" (Record will be closed, and not opened to public once recorded) or "Public" (Record will become public record once recorded). Basically, if the marriage record is public, a copy of the record can be ordered from the County in which the marriage occurred.[1]
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Since the earliest organised societies, with taxation, disputes, and so on, records of some sort have been needed. In ancient Babylon records were kept in cuneiform writing on clay tablets. In the Inca empire of South America, which did not have writing, records were kept via an elaborate form of knots in cords, quipu, whose meaning has been lost.
In western Europe in the late middle ages public records included census records, birth, death, and marriage records, etc.; an example is the 1086 Domesday Book of William the Conqueror.[2] The details of royal marriage agreements, which were effectively international treaties, were also recorded. The United Kingdom Public Record Office Act, formalising record-keeping by setting up the Public Record Office, was passed in 1838.[3]
Although public records are records of public business, they are not necessarily available without restriction, although Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation that has been gradually introduced in many jurisdictions since the 1960s has made access easier. Each government has policies and regulations that govern the availability of information contained in public records. A common restriction is that data about a person is not normally available to others; for example the California Public Records Act[4] (PRA) states that "except for certain explicit exceptions, personal information maintained about an individual may not be disclosed without the person's consent."
In the United Kingdom cabinet papers were subject to the thirty year rule: until the introduction of FOI legislation, cabinet papers were not available for thirty years; some information could be withheld for longer. As of 2011[update] the rule still applies to some information, such as minutes of cabinet meetings.
Some companies provide access, for a fee, to many public records available on the Internet. Many of them specialize in particular types of information, while some offer access to different types of record, typically to professionals in various fields. Some companies sell software with a promise of unlimited access to public records, but may provide nothing more than basic information on how to access already available and generally free public websites.
Access to US national public records is guided by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Requests for access to records pursuant to FOIA may be refused by federal agencies if information requested is subject to exemption, or some information may be redacted (deleted).
In addition to the national FOIA, all states have some form of FOI legislation. For example Colorado has the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA);[5] in New Jersey the law is known as the Open Public Records Act[6] (OPRA).
There are many degrees of accessibility to public records between states, with some making it fairly easy to request and receive documents, and others with many exemptions and restricted categories of documents. One state that is fairly responsive to public records requests is New York, which utilizes the Committee on Open Government[7] to assist citizens with their requests. A state that is fairly restrictive in how they respond to public records requests is Pennsylvania, where the law currently presumes that all documents are exempt from disclosure,[8] unless they can be proven otherwise. The California Public Records Act - California Government Code §§6250-6276.48 - covers the arrest and booking records of inmates in the State of California jails and prisons, which are not covered by First Amendment rights (freedom of speech and of the press). Public access to arrest and booking records is seen as a critical safeguard of liberty.
With the advent of the Internet and the Information Age, access to public records in the U.S. to anyone who wishes to view them has dramatically increased. Third-parties such as the information broker industry make regular use of public records to compile profiles on millions of people that are easily accessible to anyone at the click of a mouse, and sometimes make a profit from the service of re-compiling and mining the data.
However, it's important to remember that public record data is usually beneficial to people. Such areas as child support, employment and identity theft prevention rely on accurate public record data to the benefit of consumers. They can ensure that child support payments are made as determined by the courts,[9] assist credit bureaus in keeping accurate data[10] and help in paying pension benefits to retirees.[11] Many private matters such as the full accounts of divorce cases, insurance lawsuits, voter registration (varying from state to state), and almost any other transactions people make with the government or do through a courthouse, is put into public records and made available for all eyes of society. Employers regularly do background checks either on their own or through information agencies, and often come across information about a job applicant that can impact on the job decision process. Not vetting an employee properly can have liability implications for the employer [12][13] For instance, driving records would be important to a school district looking to hire a bus driver.[14] And criminal histories would be important to a child care facility that is hiring a staff person.[15][16] The institution of public records was created to make the government accountable for its actions and to make operation of the government transparent. However, the advent of the Information Age and electronic databases has promoted efficient large-scale shuffling and mass-compilation of personal information that some believe has created a "dossier society" — a society in which everyone is subject to perpetual electronic profiles that document and amass everything known about an individual's private life. This has the effect and prognosis of invading the privacy of millions, preventing any social forgiveness for embarrassing matters that go through courts (civil and criminal) no matter how much time goes by, and creating a growing disenfranchised group of society.[17] In some cases, it may be possible to have a public record sealed or expunged after a certain amount of time has elapsed.
While each state has its own standards about what information is considered public record, the following information is generally available under the Freedom Of Information Act.