If you are reading this article, it may come as a surprise to you that court records are held at county levels in America. This is one reason why performing a court records search is so time consuming.
Our country was set up as a Nation of individual states. Each state is responsible for handling its own internal affairs. When the state has a dispute that it cannot solve, then the federal system steps in to try to sort out the mess.
Since our system of government was setup in this manner, records are opened in the county, move to the state if need be, then move to the federal level if need be. But most of the time, the records you are concerned about are found at the county level.
Civil Records
Civil records are those records that show court cases where no criminal charges were brought. These cases are mainly disputes between to private parties. Typically, there will be a guilty or not guilty finding. If monetary damages were awarded, they would be entered as a judgment, and that judgment would be a public record.
Marriage Records
All marriage records are found within the counties where the marriage license was issued. Generally, they are found under a special category within the courthouse as “Marriage Records.” In some states however, these documents are found in the probate section of the localized courthouses.
Divorce Records
Generally, divorce records are found within the civil docket. They can be searched for by party name at the county courthouse. Divorce records hold a wealth of information such as: alimony, child support, and causes for the divorce.
Death Records
Death records are usually held in the probate court, but it is best just to Google the person’s name along with “obituary” or “deceased.” You will get much more convenient results this way, as these records are sometimes a nightmare to search.
Criminal Records
Yes, criminal records are held at the county level. Every once in a while, a charge will be federal, but even then there is usually a county level criminal record associated with it. These records can be searched by party name at the county courthouse of the city where the crime took place.
All of these records are held at the county level. This is why it is important to know the previous addresses of the person you are looking up. Since court records/county records are so hard to catalog and organize, websites that offer nationwide background checks usually charge a small fee. Take it from a private investigator – The fee is well worth it, especially considering a private investigator will charge hundreds to perform the same court records search.
