Virginia Free Public Records Search Available Online

By Claire Dowell


Public reports in the state of Virginia are the responsibility of the Virginia Department of Health. Through its vital records division, people can avail of Virginia public records like birth certificates, death reports, marriage licenses, and divorce decrees. Criminal history accounts in the state are accessible at the Virginia State Police through its Central Criminal Records Exchange or CCRE division, which acts as the state's main repository for all of its criminal profiles. Access to these types of documents will require due processing and varying fees.

Birth certificates and death reports from January 1853 to December 1896 are accessible at the Vital Records Division of the state's Department of Health. Reports filed from June 14th 1912 up to the present are also available in this office. A $12 fee will be charged for each certified copy you request, payable to the State Health Department. For the other documents that fall outside the aforementioned years, people can access them at the county registrar's office where the event occurred. Processing and administrative fees may vary.

Moreover, the Vital Records Division also has marriage certificates that go back to January of 1853, but the earliest divorce record they have available can only be traced back to January of 1918. For the years preceding 1853 and 1918 respectively, the Clerk of Court in the county where the marriage license was issued or the divorce was granted is probably the office that you should call or visit, since most decades-old documents are normally housed in these county offices. The same $12 fee will be charged to the requester for each certified copy of a marriage license or divorce decree.

Criminal history profiles, on the other hand, are accessible by the public through the Virginia Central Criminal Records Exchange division, which manages an online criminal record search system known as the Non-Criminal Justice Interface or NCJI. This online portal grants authorized employment agencies and other certified entities practical and convenient access to the state's database of criminal histories via a name-based search. $15 is the fee required for each name searched, regardless of the results. Requesting access to personal criminal profiles is done through mail or in person. Fingerprint searches are available as well, for $13 per search.

Many trusted online record providers can be a decent source of vital information as well. Most of the private data search websites these days are quite able when it comes to providing accurate and comprehensive public documents. The extensive collection that these online services have gathered over the years can benefit any background check or genealogy research. Charges and fees still apply, but the only difference is you have the option to go for the one-time fee in exchange for unlimited searches to the provider's up to par database. No waiting periods necessary. In fact, the registration process merely takes minutes.

Public documents collected by every state from A to Z are accessible through any of the reputable data search websites online. If you are an employer who frequently conducts background checks, or an ordinary citizen who just wishes to obtain public records access, a good online record search service is all that you will need to efficiently gather the information you seek.




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