Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Missouri Public Records

By Ben Kingsley


The state of Missouri is only one of the many states that have implemented the Freedom of Information Act. This means that the residents can request for any of the public records Missouri issues to its people. The records that the government keeps include the birth, death, marriage, divorce and criminal records.

Genealogy research is the primary use of birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates. It is also used as proof of one's identity especially when doing transactions with the government. The documents are also used in specific purposes. Death certificates are used by the family of the deceased when they process or claim the insurance. Some transactions in the government would call for a copy of a marriage or divorce certificate to verify one's marital status. The criminal records of an individual are used by employers to check on the criminal history of an individual.

All of the public documents of Missouri contain the personal information of the involved individual. The information that can be found would depend on the type of document it is. A marriage license would not contain information about the death of an individual since such information can only be found on a death certificate. Likewise, marriage records would not have details about the divorce of a couple because it only contains information about the marriage itself. Criminal records on the other hand, have details about the crimes and offenses that an individual has committed.

Although, these documents are public files that the residents of Missouri can request anytime, access to it is limited only to the involved individuals and their immediate family. The information that can be found on a public document is also limited only to the basic details about the event or incident. Sensitive information is kept private only to the people involved. A good example would be the reason for the divorce of a couple. It is not visible on a public record since it is one of the sensitive information that may affect the privacy of the couple. In criminal records, the names of the witnesses as well the investigator who handled the case are kept confidential to protect their security.

The retrieval of each document would follow certain guidelines. Fees have to be paid but it depends on the type of document being requested. Family related files are only released if the date it was registered is not earlier than 1909. The Vital Records Section of Missouri and the county clerk office are offices where family related files can be requested. The office of the Department of Public safety is the one responsible for managing the criminal records of the state. Application forms have to be filled out by the requesting individual and it can help if the basic information about the record being requested is provided. Mail requests can ales be made in order to get a copy of any of the public document that Missouri provides.

Online retrieval of government public records in the state of Missouri is now allowed. This made the retrieval process easier and fast. A lot of websites now offer to search for the records for you. One has the option to do the search for free or to pay for the search. The cost would be higher than doing the search at the office but people prefer this because of convenience.




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