Other Laws

There is an ongoing debate---both among governmental officials and medical professionals---surrounding online medical records. As with any debate, there are arguments being made both in favor and...

Birth certificates issued by the hospital are novelty items and cannot be considered official records. Rather, the hospital is required to report a birth to the local county health department or...

There are a variety of things you can find out about a person in terms of personal records. Detailed public records searches can be conducted in a number of ways, and the type of information...

Since bankruptcy is considered public information, it is common knowledge that obtaining bankruptcy records is just as simple as stopping by your bankruptcy district clerk's office. However, this...

Finding a federal court record can be difficult. U.S. courts are just beginning to step into the technology age, and not all records are available online. However, with a little hard work and...

If you own a car, home or business, your name and address are on a public record anyone can review under Freedom of Information laws that protect the public's right to monitor taxpayer-funded...

There are federal courts for handling criminal, civil and bankruptcy matters. Criminal cases that have connections to more than one state, or to Canada or Mexico, are handled in a U.S. district...

Because a marriage is a legal contract as well as a religious contract, all records of your marriage are stored. This information is used for conducting the census but also to determine who has...

Court records are an important source of public information that can be useful for both individuals and businesses. Nowadays, pre-employment background checks are routinely performed as part of...

If your doctor is planning to retire or if you have some other reason to obtain your personal medical records, you need to understand how to store personal medical records properly. Not only do...

If you received medical services from a doctor who retired, you may now find yourself in need of your medical records as evidence of vital information but no doctor contact information. If you...

Because of legal and privacy issues, obtaining copies of your medical files can be complicated. Therefore, it is a good idea to keep your complete medical history. Generally, maintaining files...

Record retention concerns the federal government requiring businesses, organizations and government bodies keeping copies of records that may or may not be immediately relevant to day-to-day...

Medical records hold essential information about our past, lending to why it is so crucial our records are completely accurate. False information as seemingly mundane as medication can have a huge...

People searching for information about outstanding warrants on themselves or others face limitations when it comes to the types of records readily accessible to the public. In general, however, it...

The California Public Records Act, known also as CPRA, is a series of laws enacted by the California Legislature in 1968 ensuring the public's right to access governmental public records.

The retention of police records depends on the level of crime and the state in which it occurred. Arrests prior to the age of 18 (the legal age of an adult in the United States) are often sealed;...

The parents of a U.S. citizen born abroad must report the birth of their child to establish that child's U.S. citizenship. When reported, the parents must submit proof of birth in the form of a...

Retrieving police records is surprisingly easy. All you need to obtain criminal records or police reports for yourself or another person is the person's personal information and the location of...

The Freedom to Information Act allows you to get the court records for free. That said there are several ways that you can get the court records. With the internet several courts and counties have...

While the Phoenix Municipal Court is one of the largest and busiest courts in the country, the process for obtaining court records is quite simple. Whether by mail, fax, phone, or personal...

Death records are an important resource for compiling health statistics and conducting genealogical research. Due to the importance of such information, death certificates have long been mandated...

The New York Lawyer's Code of Professional Responsibility requires licensed New York attorneys to keep certain client records for a minimum of seven years after the date of the event they record....

Public records encompass a lot of things: court cases, property and property tax records, business information--in short any information about anything or anyone that is in the public domain. This...

An individual's health records are among the most sensitive records she will ever possess. Many ethical issues are involved in the management of these records. They include determining who has...

A background check is an attempt to ascertain a person's history through a check of public record databases. Since the records are public, this means that police as well as private investigators...

Finding court records in the state of Georgia was once a difficult task. However, modern laws and updated technology have made court records readily accessible to the general public. Like all U.S....

If you or someone you know were born in California, you can obtain a birth certificate for official documentation, your own personal records or even a scrapbook. To obtain a certified copy, you...

A birth certificate is a record of birth for every newborn baby born in the United States. At birth, a nurse or health-care practitioner completes a long-form birth certificate and then transmits...

People who have been adopted often want to know more about their birth parents and heritage. In some cases, information about genetic conditions in biological relatives can help with life and...

How long criminal checks date back vary by state and county. However, most criminal court vendors will perform checks that date back seven to 10 years. Most employers will only search records...

The general public often doesn't realize the amount of government information available for the asking. This information is known as a public record, created by taxpayer dollars, and can include...

Persons born outside of hospitals or those who received only a hospital-issued certificate of birth may have difficulties obtaining replacement copies of their birth records. If the Department of...

Canada laws require that individuals seeking jobs (paid or volunteer) working with children or any other vulnerable population must submit to a criminal background check. Individual’s consent is...

Whether you need background information on a person for financial, employment or personal reasons, finding someone's history is not difficult. Records are available online and are easily...

Although birth certificates are generally issued by individual cities or counties, each state has an office of vital records with a centralized database that lists birth records by parent and...

The government's business is the people's business, meaning the people have the right to know what their government officials are doing. The federal Freedom of Information Act allows the public to...

The definition of public records has changed in the past 50 years. Today, "Keepers of the Record"--administrators responsible for record-keeping--must be very careful about what they destroy and...

If you've ever dialed 911, called a police department to file a complaint or spoke to an officer, most likely there is a record of it. Police officers must document every call to which they are...

Social Security disability benefits are available for those who are unable to work because of a debilitating condition that's either life threatening or expected to last more than a year. While...

During the latter part of the 20th century, the push began to convert paper records to computerized records. Objects such as the card catalog in the library became obsolete. Even books themselves...

Most counties allow private citizens to view their public records at no cost. Although many public records are available online, records over ten years old may only be available in print or on...

There are a myriad of reasons why you may need to get your hands on someone else's cell phone records, but it's not possible in all cases. Right now, you can only legally get cell phone records...

Marriage licenses are considered public record and are available to anyone. The difficulty is finding the county clerk who holds the records. Searching for public records has become more popular...

Court records are an invaluable and oftentimes necessary resource. Whether you are involved in a legal dispute, need background information about a business or individual or have some other...

Medical records, even of a deceased individual, are generally protected. Only certain people are allowed to request medical records. Those people are relatives of the deceased, or certain...

Visits to the courthouse are often associated with times of great anxiety, but there is a wealth of information available to you in the courthouse, which is very easily obtained.

There are plenty of times where a person will need to look up arrest records. The most common reason that someone would need to look up your arrest records is when you are applying for a job. Many...

There are several ways to obtain public court records and most are available on the web. While some court records can often be accessed for free, others might require a small fee. The courts, as...

Local, state and federal governments annually create thousands of records. While most are open for public review, there are some exceptions. Learn the various kinds of records that could be open...