California Public Records Search

By Ben Kingsley


Pursuant to California's Public Records Act, any Californian has the right to access public information maintained by local and state government agencies, including the Department of Justice. In California, vital records are housed in the Office of the Vital Statistics which operates under the Department of Health. California public records include documents of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, deaths, and even criminal and arrest records.

However, unlike any other states in the US, California does limit access to certain records to particular entities only. Criminal and arrest records, for example, can only be accessed by the legitimate law enforcement agencies and authorized applicant agencies. Individuals indicated on the criminal history information, however, have the right to access their personal record for the purpose of reviewing such for accuracy and completeness. Perhaps the most utilized record in background screening is a criminal record as it contains significant and weighty information about a particular person in question. Criminal history information indicates any felonies or misdemeanor committed by the individual named on the record. In case of background screening and even genealogy research, an informational copy of the criminal record will be issued.

When requesting for a copy of any public record, you have to secure an application form which can be downloaded online from the abovementioned agencies' websites. You must fill out the form in its entirety with all the important details required. For birth certificate requests, you have to provide the full name of the person, date of birth, and the name of the parents. For death record requests, you must input the complete and legal name of the deceased, gender, date of birth, date and county where the death took place, name of spouse and of the parents. For marriage and divorce record requests, you have to include the significant personal details of the couple, date and county where they tied the knot, date of the separation, and the county where the marriage license was issued or where the divorce was filed and affirmed. For criminal record requests, a live scan form must be filled out and must be submitted together with an image of your live scan fingerprints.

The payment for the processing of such requests should be through check or money order payable to either the Bureau of Vital Statistics, California Department of Health, or to the Department of Justice. Such payment should be submitted along with the completed application or request form and other prerequisites.

Payment for the processing of your requests should be submitted along with the application form you have filled out. For certified copies of birth certificates, you have to pay a processing fee of $20. For death certificates, a fee of $16 is required. For public marriage certificates, $14 is requisite. For dissolution or marriage certificate, $13 is required. For criminal record requests, the processing fee is $25. Usually in California, the turnaround time for record requests takes weeks to several months. For births and deaths recorded from 1905 to 1992, the processing take is 7 weeks. Those that were recorded from 1969 to present will take 4 weeks to be processed. On the other hand, marriage and divorce records will take more than 6 months of processing time. Such estimated turnaround times may occasionally increase depending on the volume of requests received in their office. Unfortunately, the Vital Records Division does not accommodate expedited requests.

If you wish to acquire government records fast, then pull a quick record review online. There are various online record providers proffering the same services yet for only a minimal fee to no fee at all. Unlike the typical way of getting government records, you can retrieve the records you need in the comfort of your own home with a computer and an Internet connection handy. Procuring records over the web will only take minutes to hours instead of the usual processing time that takes weeks to several months. Just see to it that you perform a quick background check on the record provider you are eyeing on to ensure less to no errors with the results of your record search.




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