Easy Access to Public Records: From Investigating Companies to the Dead!

2008 ORALL Annual Meeting

Sue Altmeyer, JD, MLSElectronic Services Librarian

Cleveland Marshall College of Law Library

October 17, 2008

URL for this presentation

Powerpoint: http://www.law.csuohio.edu/lawlibrary/resources/lawpubs/publicrecords1/ documents/ORALLpubrectalk.ppt

Handouts: Will be available November 4 at

http://www.law.csuohio.edu/lawlibrary/resources/lawpubs/publicrecords1.html

What is available?

Only public records.

Ohio records: See ORC 149.43

Some items excluded from definition of public records:

▪ medical records

▪ probation records

▪ adoption records

▪ confidential law enforcement investigatory records

What is available?

Federal government will not disclose

▪ national defense information

▪ personal and medical information

▪ ongoing law enforcement investigations and confidential sources

▪ certain geological information

▪ information exempt under federal law

See 5 USC 552(b)., (FOIA)

Restrictions on AccessingStatutes limiting access to government

records.

• Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, 18 USC 2721

• Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 USC 1681 et seq. – applies when obtaining information from a seller of “consumer reports”

Restrictions on Accessing, Cont’d

Social Security Number protection, for example:

• Ohio 127th GA SB 6 (R.C. 149.45(B)(1) and (2))

• Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, 42 U.S.C.A. § 405c(2)C(vi)(II)

• Pending legislation: Social Security Number Misuse Prevention Act

Restrictions on Accessing

Court policies limiting records available. See the Ohio Supreme Court’s Proposed Superintendence Rules 44-47

Public records may not be published or readily available – may have to do information request.

Is “free background check”on the Web possible?

Only to a certain extent. Free materials available on-line are

discrete bits of information. Pay databases retrieve information from many sources.

Not every court and government agency makes records available via a Web site.

For Fee Databases Westlaw & LexisNexis Accurint signup is free – you only pay

for each search. Openonline has minimal set-up fee

and annual cost, then you pay for each search.

Other reputable fee services include: Choicepoint, KnowX.com, 1800US Search.com, NetDetective.net, SearchSystems.com.

Important Tips

Cross-check results among multiple databases or websites to ensure accuracy.

Check the coverage of the database.

How far does it go back ? What states or counties are included?

Doing the Search – Starting Points and Portals

Comprehensive reports available from a fee service, such as Lexis, Accurint, Westlaw

Cleveland Law Library’s Public Records FAQ Netronline SearchSystems.net PublicRecords.com

People Finders

Public Libraries may offer Reference USA, Haines Criss+Cross, etc.

Free People Finders on the web:• pipl.com: Searches Deep Web.• Whitepages.com - Leading Provider

• More: Cleveland Law Library’s People Finder FAQ

Sneaky Ways to Find People

Professional license databases Voting Records Driver’s License databases Return of Service in court cases Accident reports Find their relatives or neighbors

Example: Use portal and voter records to find an address

Connect to searchsystems.net Search terms “voter registration Ohio” System lists online voter registration databases. To go further via searchsystems.net costs money.

So, just google Franklin County Board of Elections. Franklin County Voter Inquiry

Accident Reports

Accident reports – Mail request to Department of Public Safety in Columbus.Some accident reports online: Policereports.us. Some States and cities do so too (eg, Arkansas) but usually have fee.

Problem – Cell phone and Unlisted Numbers

For-fee databases with credit header info. New Lexis database Alternate Phones Cell Phone Search; Intellius – name search for

fee, reverse lookup is free. Web Detective – cell & unlisted – for fee. Mobile Phone Number .com – voluntary

listings free. National Cellular Directory – free, but must

provide YOUR cellphone for the directory.

Finding Married/Divorced Women

Look at marriage licenses, divorce dockets, possibly probate court name change records to determine woman’s current name.

See vital records section, below.

Neighbors, Friends & Relatives

Neighbors • County Auditor – Lucas County Auditor – • Infospace.com

Relatives• Peoplefinders.com ; Intelius; Spock • Last name only search

Friends/Associates• MySpace ; Facebook; Friendster.com; LinkedIn;

Xing; Ning

Assets – Generally

Pay Databases the easiest, most comprehensive

Check recent divorce filings.

Portico: real estate, aircraft, boats

Assets – Real Estate

Nationally-Portico for county recorders, Property Assessment Databases for auditors.

Ohio - Butler County Clerk Statewide Property Search –recorders’ offices Statewide Real Estate Tax Search –county auditors' offices.

Assets – Real Estate

Special Cuyahoga County Databases:

Foreclosure Sales – Cuyahoga county. Neo Cando – Property, tax and transfer

information for Northeast Ohio. Cuyahoga Enterprise Geographic Information

System (CEGIS)detailed information on houses and businesses

Assets – UCC & Airplanes

UCC filings – Ohio Secretary of State National Association of Secretaries of State –

Links to Secretary of State offices in all fifty states. Searchsystems.net for UCC filings. UCC Article 9 filings may be with county recorder.

Airplanes - Landings

Criminal Records

So-called "national" databases inaccessible to non-governmental users.

See “National Criminal Background Checks: Myths, Realities & Resources” by Jackie Walters.

Pay databases– LexisNexis, Westlaw, Openonline and Accurint may not pick up misdemeanors or all arrests. Examine scope of database before pay to search it.

Criminal Records

Cuyahoga County felony arrest records can be obtained at County Sheriff’s office. Cost = $6.00. Back to early 1970s.

www.buckeyesheriffs.org for other Sheriff’s offices

Do docket search of individual courts.

Criminal Records

Free Internet Databases:

Criminalsearches.com: Searches across numerous states and counties. Does not include all courts/counties.

Federal Bureau of Prisons (Incarcerated 1982to present. Minimal info.)

Ohio Dept of Corrections Offenders sentenced to serve time in a STATE facility.

Corrections.com – Links to other states’ databases.

Criminal Records

Sex offender databases:o National Sex Offender Public Registry:

Search for names of sex offenders in multiple state databases at once.

o FBI's State Sex Offender Registries: Links to state sex offender databases.

More options for Criminal Records

Ohio Attorney General’s Office WebCheck: For fee, need fingerprints and driver’s license. Arrests for felonies and escalating misdemeanors.

Federal denied persons list Newspapers, Court Dockets. BMV records, if permissible purpose.

Bankruptcy and Court Records

U.S. Party Case Name Index (PACER)

Justia Federal District Court Dockets

LLRX Court Rules & Dockets ; National Center for State Courts ; Butler County Statewide Court Records Seach – Links to dockets.

Know-X Civil Lawsuit Finder – Searches all states at once for $2.95.

Vital Records –Birth & Death Records National Center for Health Statistics Ohio Department of Health – order

online or info on local offices’ Web sites.

Cleveland Necrology File Social Security Death Index Americas Obituaries and Death Notice

s

Online Searchable Death Indexes

Vital Records –Marriage and Divorce

Abstracts can be ordered from Ohio Dept of Health

Copies of marriage licenses/ divorce decrees must be ordered from the probate court/domestic relations court

Lexis has marriage and divorce records for 15 states, Westlaw has these for some states too.

Social Security Numbers

In court documents (especially divorce and UCC filings), but recently courts enacted rules to redact this information.

Most pay databases have removed social security numbers or mask last four digits, including LexisNexis, Westlaw, Openonline, Accurint and KnowX.

LexisNexis, Openonline will provide authorized users with certain type of account that gives access to Social Security numbers.

Social Security Numbers

Free verifiers:• Social Security Number Validator • Carnegie Mellon Social Security Number Watch

The Social Security Death Index - for people who died since 1963

Professional Licenses

Ohio License Center Ohio Medical Board Disciplinary Actio

ns

Ohio Supreme Court: Attorney Information Search

Certified Financial Planner Look-up Cleveland Law Library’s Public Record

s FAQ

Campaign Donations

FECInfo: Donor look-up for federal campaign contributors.

Opensecrets.org: Donor name lookup for federal elections.

Ohio Secretary of State Follow the Money.org: State political

campaign donations.

Other Info about People

Spock finds news articles about people. It searches networking sites and the Web.

Zoominfo - gathers information about people in their professional capacities and about companies.

Newspapers and General Internet Searches

Dead People

To find heirs, try obituaries:• Americas Obituaries and Death Notices

(Newsbank) • Online Searchable Death Indexes • Cleveland Necrology File • Cleveland News Index

Try relative databases, discussed above

Company Information

Company’s Website SEC’s Edgar for public companies New IDEA database coming soon. See

SEC's Press Release Searching SEC docs easier on SECInfo.com,

Lexis, Westlaw, Mergent. Cleveland Law Library Guide to Business

Information lots more links.

Information about Companies

Check local public library for databases such as Mergent, Gale’s Business & Company Resource Center

Secretary of State – Corporate charters, articles of incorporation, UCC

The National Association of Secretaries of State Contact Roster

Company Information

Most popular for-fee database - Dun & Bradstreet

Nice free ones with public and private company info:• Hoover's Online• Forbes – America’s Largest Private Companies• ThomasNet