Friday 7 September 2012

Discover the Procedure of Doing a Public Records Search

By Claire Dowell


Illinois has a total population of 12,869,257 on July 1, 2011, according to the United States Census Bureau. The state of Illinois is located in the Midwest Region of the United States. This state is known to have a great agricultural productivity both in central and northern Illinois and great for its natural resources. Name Illinois is supposed to mean man or men in the Miami Illinois language. Illinois Public Records is under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. The Act allows residents of the state to access or view their vital records. This can either be done using the internet or visit the nearest local office. However, there are some records that are not considered public or expunged due to private reasons.

Public records are pieces of information that can be used as a primary source and are open to the public. For example a couple fills out a marriage license application and were given an option to whether the marriage is confidential or public. If they choose it to be public then they can get a copy of the record in which the marriage occurred. The different kinds of public records are sex offender registration files, professional and business licenses, consumer protections information, government spending reports, criminal records, real estate appraisal records, court dockets and voter registration.

The Freedom of Information Act is a federal freedom of information law that permits people to have an access for the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government. This act was enacted on July 4, 1996 by President Lyndon B. Johnson and went into effect the following year. However, not everybody had agreed on this act for private reasons and others believe that certain types of government information should remain confidential. Records that are protected from disclosure by Federal or State law are not considered public. The government holds certain limitations to its residents about confidential records.

Anyone has the right to file a request to any local public body. For requesting copies, the requester must write a letter that includes the name, address, date and contact number. Also it should include in the letter the type of record that the requester wants. Requests are granted in five or more business days after it is received by the office clerk. An office clerk notifies requesters for any statutory reasons for any extension and when the requested information will be produced.

There is no charging fee for the first fifty pages of black and white, letter or legal sized copies. For additional copies of the said record will cost no more than fifteen cents per page. For color copies or beyond the normal free size copy will cost no more than seven dollars.

Freedom of Information Act defines Public Records as all records, reports, forms, writings, letters, memoranda, books, papers, maps, photographs, microfilms, cards, tapes, recordings, electronic data processing records, electronic communications, recorded information and all other documentary materials pertaining to the transaction of public business. In order to get information about a certain public record, it is available in electronic as well as paper format.




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