Online Public Records

Many states have placed public records online - vital records, deeds, probate records, licenses, legal transactions, etc.

The web site http://publicrecords.onlinesearches.com/ collects links to these records by state.

For instance, I checked California - they have links for corporations, teacher credentials, alcohol board licenses, professional licenses, state employee directory, vital records, campaign finance, inmate locator, toxic sites, newspaper lists, unclaimed property, missing children, and more.

Many of these links provide only an index listing, and you have to pay to get the actual public record.

Under Professional Licenses, there are listings for accountants, architects, acupuncturists, automotive, barbers, cemetery and funeral, chiropractors, medical doctors, dentists, professional engineers, and many more. I found that the license for my dentist expires on 1 July 2008.

At the bottom of the state page, there are links to each county in the state and a page for their public records. Under San Diego County, there are links for land assessor records, superior court records, fictitious names, jail and inmate records, sex offender records, county library, property sales, warrants and many more.

I checked several other states, and the categories are different for each state, but similar in content.

If you are curious about your neighbors, your doctor, your dentist, your lawyer, your friends, etc., you can use this resource to see public records.

For genealogists, the gold mine here is probably the land deeds, assessments, licenses, court records, vital records, etc.