how is it that online companies have access to public records that are denied to me by the county clerk?
For example, I am trying to locate a childhood friend here in California whom I haven’t seen in almost 20 years. I went to a couple of those online "people finding" sites…and sure enough, they say they can provide me with all kinds of current information about her…marriage, divorce, death, etc. etc. For a large fee they can they can provide all kinds of information "from the public record". But yet, when I go to the county records office and try to obtain the exact same information…I am denied access because this information is only given to "immediate family members."
This perplexes me. Can anyone explain this?
Official town and city hall records can be quite difficult to obtain. But the newspaper information (Births, obituaries, marriages, etc.) can be found by anyone willing to sift through it.
Official town and city hall records can be quite difficult to obtain. But the newspaper information (Births, obituaries, marriages, etc.) can be found by anyone willing to sift through it.
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They are sorting thru publicly-available information, and then giving the results of their searching, sifting, and sorting to you. they have no more access to PRIVATE records than you do. Records of marriage, divorce, and death etc. are PUBLIC RECORDS, however, and may be viewed by anyone, possibly for a fee, but as public records, they ARE VIEWABLE. Go to your county department of public records and ask to view the records for a given time period.
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Written request for records under the Freedom of Information Act. Most county courts will let you stay there and go through the records.
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