Searching For Ohio Public Records

By Claire Dowell


Ohio is one of the states that have implemented the Freedom of information Act. This particular act mandates the government to give its residents the freedom t access their personal documents. This allows the residents to easily request for a copy of any of the public records Ohio issues.

Documents related to the birth, death, marriage and divorce records are just few of the examples of documents that a resident of Ohio can obtain. Each of these documents is used in separate occasions. Genealogy is one of the common uses of the mentioned documents. The information that can be obtained from it is enough to update the family tree. Another important use of the said document is when dealing with transactions in the government offices. Most transactions in the government would require theses documents to serve as proof of one's identity or claim. Insurance and financial related matters would call for a copy of such documents before any request will be granted or processed. Another type of document that residents of Ohio can request is the criminal record. This type of document is used on a more serious case such as background check. This is done regularly by employers to make sure that the people working for them have clean records.

A public document in Ohio would contain information about the person involved. The personal details such as the complete name and other related information are indicated on a public file. The information that can be found on a public document would also depend on the type of file it is. For example, records of birth are found on a birth certificate while information about one's marriage can only be seen in a marriage certificate. AS for criminal records, it would show all of the offenses that an individual has committed.

There are things that should be kept in mind when planning o obtains a copy of any of the public documents of Ohio. The state of Ohio limits the access to the document only to the owner of the document or an immediate family. An authorization has to be presented in order to access the records of other people. One has to provide their contact details during the search. It will only be used to verify one's identity.

Family related files are available for request at the office of the Vital Records Section at the Department of Health. The office of the Department of Public Safety is the one responsible for keeping all of the state's criminal records. If going to the state office is not possible, checking the local county court and clerk office can also help. A processing fee has to be paid in order to proceed with any request. Sending a mail request is also allowed and possible, but this method can take a while before the results of the search can be sent back.

It is now possible to request for a copy of any of the public record online. This helps hasten the search process. A lot of websites are now offering to do the search for you; some would even offer a free public report search.




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