While looking for Pennsylvania state and county public records, including the county name in your search can reduce your search time. Recent Erie County death records, Erie County birth records,

court records, marriage records or other types of Erie public records are readily available online, and you may find older public records online as well.

Finding Erie County public records today is much easier than it was in the past... The internet has opened the way for documents to be stored online for public access, and new laws have given the public more legal right to personal files than ever. In the past, if you were looking for documents like Erie County, Pennsylvania marriage records, you would have needed to go in person to different offices, and you may not have found what you were looking for after all your effort. Another option would have been to have a state or county office send documentation to you, but it might have been expensive, or the records you were looking for might not yet have been released to the public.

The 2008 “Right to Know” law passed in Pennsylvania has changed what documents the public may see. Documents that were not previously released are now considered public records, while others are more closely protected to safeguard certain types of information. Erie County public records include such documents as death records, criminal records, and birth and marriage records.

More About the “Right to Know” Law

The Pennsylvania “Right to Know” law was signed into effect on February 14, 2008. Many documents and other resources that were restricted from public access have been made available. There law also set some restrictions, to protect people from identity theft as well as to safeguard the security of certain officials.

One aspect of the “Right to Know” law is that if someone is denied access to public records that they have legal rights to see, they can take legal action in court and let a judge decide. The “Right to Know” law is not only for citizens, but also the media. Aside from Erie, Pennsylvania death, birth, marriage, criminal, and other records, the public may also be able to access film, audio, or other types of statistical information.

Restrictions of the “Right to Know” Law

Though the new Pennsylvania law decrees that citizens and media have a right to access Erie

public records, the law also delineates some restrictions. These restrictions were included in the law to protect people’s financial and personal safety. A few types of information that are off-limits from public view are personal numbers used for identification, like driver’s licenses and Social Security Numbers.

Documents recorded as “classified” are also off limits. Records of this type may include trade secrets or proprietary records. Also, any documentation that could lead to a government agency being de-funded is also held outside public view.

To get Erie County, Pennsylvania public records, you may use various County of Erie government websites that will have grant you access to various documents, or you may simply visit the offices in person. The Pennsylvania “Right to Know” law gives you more access to Erie public records than ever before to make your research faster and easier.