How to Run a Public Records Search For Free

There are many instances, when we need to scan public records, for a specific piece of information. Some may need to search these records to trace their roots, some of you may be looking for missing people and in some cases, you may need to run a background check. Whatever be the reason, there are websites on the Internet that offer this service for free.

There is a wide range of information, which a person might want to search in public records. Most people look for a facility to run an online criminal record check for free and tend to be disappointed, as there are no sites offering such a service.

Criminal records can only be accessed by the consent of the justice department and a criminal background check can only be made available by the state justice department website. After your own identity is verified, these government websites do offer you information, for a small fee.

For more information on accessing public criminal records, visit the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) website, where the proper procedure to apply for a criminal background check has been explained.

Fingerprint submission is required to verify whether a person has a criminal record. Some US states have their own websites, offering a criminal history record search, which you may also check out.

For information other than criminal background check, like birth certificate, marriage license, and death certificate related data, there are many websites which offer a search facility for public records.

Your best free source of information is, of course, the Google search engine. By searching the name of the person on Google, you can understand a lot about him or her, if he or she maintains a personal website.

'Vital Records' and 'Publicrecords-Onlinesearches' are two websites which you can refer, to gain access to personal information, which has been voluntarily made available in public domain. There is a website called 'Find a Grave', which lets you access cemetery records.

There are several people search engines like 'Zabasearch', Yahoo People search, and White pages, that can provide you with personal details about people, including phone numbers and addresses. Another source of information is the official website of the US government, which is 'USA.gov'.

There are several websites which are devoted to helping people, who want to explore their roots. Genealogy research websites like 'Familysearch' provide you with information about your family history, that can be traced through public records.

A free criminal background check is not available but you can get the information you need, from your state justice department, for a small fee. Any other personal information, which is not available in public domain for privacy reasons, is not made available for free.

For information like social security numbers, birth certificates, driving licenses, and death certificates, you will have to pay a small fee to the concerned government authorities and state the reasons for which, you need to procure that information. All other information like addresses and landline phone numbers can be found in online archives, for free.