Monday, September 30, 2013

California Updated Public Records

By Ben Kingsley


In the State of California, any Californian can request access to public records. This is in accordance with the Public Records Law which stresses out that all state agencies and institutions are held responsible for the citizenry. Such notion roughly creates a presumption that vital records created and maintained by the public entities are therefore public and are accessible to any member of the state in need. California public records comprise of vital and court records which are housed in the California Department of Health specifically in the Vital Statistics Division, and the Department of Justice.

Conversely, there are certain records in California that cannot just be obtained by anyone who wishes to. Criminal records and arrest, for instance, can only be accessed by legitimate law enforcement agencies, authorized applicant agencies, and those individuals who personally own the criminal history information. In case of background checks, certified copies of criminal or arrest records may not be available as request from third parties for such records will not be processed. Thus, for genealogical purposes and background checks, one may have to settle for an informational copy instead.

When appealing for a particular record, you have to secure an application form and fill it out in its entirety with all the significant details required. Informational pamphlets and all of the application forms for public records can be downloaded online.

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.




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