Access to public records in Georgia is available to both local residents and people from other states. If you are a local resident in Georgia, you have a right to browse the collection of Georgia's public records under the Open Records Act. In addition to this, the Attorney General of Georgia has also agreed to give access to non-residents, so it is very possible to get a request, even if you are not living within the boundaries of the state.
A vast number of Georgia public records are readily available for viewing. You can view the public records of all state departments, regional authorities, agencies, boards, bureaus and other municipal government groups. The process of accessing and obtaining records from each entity might vary from one group to another.
A number of websites can help you find the public records that you need, and you can find an ample amount of free public records sources. Some websites provide information and searches for free but will ask for a small fee if you want them to process your request for you. If you don't want to pay for obtaining your records, you might want to go to the official government website of Georgia and get information on how to get public records from individual agencies from there.
Georgia's public records are held by each individual state. On its official website, records including vital records (marriage, birth, death, divorce), criminal records, department and public safety records, legal public consumer affairs, business records and others can be obtained. A link to the official website housing the public records is also available, making your search easier to conduct.
Individual agencies have different rules and laws on how to provide public records. Georgia law requires an advanced payment before a record or service can be processed. Records are sent as mail and payment is non-refundable once the transaction is made.
If you want to get vital records for example, you'll have to go to the Georgia Department of Community Health website. Directions and instructions on how you can request public records are included there. Required information, fees and methods of payment are also included. Requests for visa records cannot be done by email though, because the requests must be signed and paid for in person.
Georgia also has the Vanishing Georgia photo archives that houses collection of images from Georgia, some of them dating back to 1864. Usage of these photos is quite flexible and the images can be downloaded in their scanned form. Users may download and use them as long as they are for educational and teaching purposes only, and citation is most often required.
For more information on how you can access public records in Georgia, you can call 1.800.Georgia Monday to Friday, 8am-6pm.
To lookup Georgia public records information, contact:
Georgia First Amendment FoundationAs a result of very specific rulings, you are permitted to perform a Georgia public records search in order to obtain useful and important data about yourself or other people in that state. Data can be found in papers, documents, books, pictures, maps, tapes, and digital information that has been collected and maintained by the state's First Amendment Foundation.
Residents of Georgia have a right to inspection of many public records in Georgia. This right is award to them through the Open Records Act (OPA) under the Georgia Annotated Code (Ga. Code Ann., Art. 4, 50-18 (Secs. 70-77)). It may also be possible for non-residents to inspect Georgia public records, due to an opinion issued by the State's Attorney General.
Georgia public records are defined as any records of all state departments, agencies, board, bureaus, commissions and authorities, at the state, county, city and town level, including "all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes, photographs, computer based or generated information, or similar material prepared and maintained or received in the course of the operation of a public office or agency."(Ga. Code Ann. Sec. 50-18-70(a)) There are several exemptions to this disclosure of public records in Georgia, including federal documents, medical records, confidential information pertaining to an ongoing investigation, records related to hiring and firing, and many other types of documents.