How to Get a Free Copy of Virginia Public Records

By Claire Dowell


The state of Virginia is just one of the many states that have implemented the Freedom of Information Act. Doing so, allows the local residents to be able to access Virginia Public Records anytime.

Generally, public documents are categorized into two: family related documents and crime related files. In the state of Virginia, family related documents include birth, death and marriage records. It also includes the divorce records of the state. Crime related documents are those that are submitted to police department such as arrest files and police records.

Each type of record may have different information that can be found on it. However, all of the public documents in Virginia have the names of the people involved along with the date of birth and the county of occurrence. The document would contain details about the event. For birth and death, one can find information about the when and where the person was born or died. For crime related documents, details about the committed crime and the people involved are indicated on the file.

Because of the information that can be found on the public documents, the use of each of the record is unique. Birth, death and marriage files are used to update the family history tree. It can also be used in government transactions like property and insurance. Conducting a background check is the top reason for requesting the criminal file of an individual.

The documents can be obtained in different places and offices. One has to know the exact place in order to avoid delay and hassle. The Vital Records Section houses birth, death, and marriage and divorce files. Criminal records are being managed by the Department of Criminal Information Justice Services. One can also check out the local county courthouse for a copy of the public record and file the request from there. The criminal history of an individual can only be obtained by the person himself. However, authorities can request for it if they have court order and approval from the involved person. Charges for getting a copy of the file are not the same per county. It can be charged per copy or per page. One may need to wait for a long time in order to get a copy of the public document that is being requested. This has been addressed by the local government of Virginia by introducing the online retrieval of documents.

Using the Internet to get the documents has allowed many to get it in a hassle free manner. Free public records search can now be done though several websites that offer their service to get it for you. This is choice of many because of its convenience and time saving effect since there is no need to go to any office just to file the request. The request can even be done at home and the results are displayed after doing a few clicks of the mouse.




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