BRB's Public Records Blog

Georgia Driving Records

Recently a number of entities who purchase Georgia driving records from MVR vendors received a letter from a paralegal with the Department of Driver Services (DDS). The letter demands that they obtain a private investigation license in order to continue obtaining these records. This is the apparently due to legislative changes made to the statutes regulating the licensing of PIs, and the DDS felt it was necessary to monitor requestors.

However, many of the entities who are receiving this letter are statutorily exempt from obtaining the PI license. These exempt entities include, among others, attorneys and consumer reporting agencies. The DDS paralegal evidently did not attempt to first determine if the requester was an attorney or consumer reporting agency, or at least inform the requester about the exemptions in the demand letter. This created quite a mix-up and upset a number of DPPA permissible users. 
The law which regulates the licensing of private investigators is § 43-38-3. If you recently received a demand letter and you are either an attorney or a consumer reporting agency, it would be good to know that the language about the exemption is found at § 43-38-14. Another statute regulating the release of driving records is § 40-5-2. This statute states that if the requester submits written instructions and consent of the driver, then the requester may receive a copy of the record.
So unless you qualify for an exemption or have written consent, it is suggested to make arrangements to obtain your PI license in order to obtain records.

The Georgia Code can be found at www.lexis-nexis.com/hottopics/gacode/default.asp.

Chester County Courts in PA are Moving

Effective September 13, 2008, the Court of Common Pleas, the County Prothonotary Office, and the Register of Wills are all moving into the new Chester County Justice Center. The new address is 201 West Market Street, West Chester, PA, 19382. The Clerk of Courts will be in Suite 1400. Phone numbers will remain the same. 

Extensive Fee Increases Coming for Arizona's Courts

Per House Bill 2210 signed by the Governor in June, effective September 26, 2008, fees associated with filing and record searching will substantially increase for all superior and justice courts in the State of Arizona.

For example, at justice courts the fee for "research in locating a document (per year or source researched)" and the separate "certificate of correctness of copy of record" fee will each increase from $17 to $24.  The superior court fee for "research in locating a document (per year or source researched)" and the separate "certificate of correctness of copy of record"  will each increase from $18 to $26. The copy fee remains the same at $.50 per copy at all courts.  Nearly every filing fee is increasing. For example, filing fees for civil cases in the superior court will increase from $245 to $286.

What is frustrating to many Arizona record searchers and private investigators is that when a clerk is given a specific specific docket or case number to pull, in some courts the clerk is charging a "search fee" although no searching is performed. Useful advice from several of our AZ PI friends is to bring a copy of the law in hand when visiting certain courts. The good news is that members of the Arizona Association of Licensed Private Investigators are working with the Supreme Court to effectively rewrite the language in the law so there is no confusion.
House Bill 2210 can be viewed at:
www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/48leg/2r/laws/0286.htm
Maricopa County presents an easy-to-read list of the superior court fee changes at:
www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/faxondemand/100FeeSchedule.pdf
In the meantime, the Winslow Justice Court in Navajo County AZ recently raised its search fee and its certification fee from $17 to $20.

Vermont Public Record Research Tip

Vermont has 14 counties and 246 towns/cities which have 246 recording offices. There is no county recording in this state. All recording is done at the city/town level. Many towns are so small that their mailing addresses are in different towns. 4 towns have the same names as cities - Barre, Newport, Rutland, and St. Albans. 11 cities or towns bear the same name as a Vermont county - Addison, Bennington, Chittenden, Essex, Franklin, Grand Isle, Orange, Rutland, Washington, Windham, and Windsor.

© excerpt from The Public Record Research TIPS Book

MN Public Record Research Tip

Minnesota offers the Trial Court Public Access (MPA) at http://pa.courts.state.mn.us/default.aspx. Search statewide or by county. Records available include criminal, civil, family, and probate. Searches can be performed using a case number or by name. Calenders can be looked-up by district at www.mncourts.gov/default.aspx?page=512.

But there are a number of caveats - certain publicly-accessible case records cannot be viewed online.

Electronic copies of public documents filed by parties also cannot be viewed online at this time. Name searches for criminal case records will not return pre-conviction criminal records.  A statewide case inquiry may exclude district courts that have not yet converted to the system. Also, the public access terminals found at the courthouses do not use this system. For example, party street address and name searches on criminal pre-conviction case records are publicly accessible and available at the courthouse, but not online. The federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) also prevents the state from displaying harassment and domestic abuse case records online, but these are available at the courthouse. Comment fields for all case types are not available online but are available at the courthouse. Online users are not notified when such public data is restricted from online viewing.

The bottom line is the public access terminals found at courthouses are still the most accurate searching locations. In Judicial Districts (arranged by number and often covering several counties) many court's public access terminals contain court records for that entire district. The online system is supplemental at best.

© excerpt from The Public Record Research TIPS Book

New Book Reveals How Employers Can Protect Their Businesses

A 25-Point Action Plan that Audits Hiring Practices...For Businesses of All Sizes

Tempe, Arizona – August 25, 2008 - Facts on Demand Press announces the publication of The Safe Hiring Audit by Lester S. Rosen, Esq., with Michael Sankey.  Hiring new workers is a complicated task. This new book teaches business owners and hiring managers how to perform an effective evaluation of their current hiring practices, identifies necessary changes, and instruct how to implement needed changes.

Laws associated with hiring have sought to achieve a balance between protecting privacy and due diligence. Using the Audit’s action plan of best practices assists a company’s compliance with key federal and state hiring laws, thus helping keep the company out of court and the workplace safe. According to Rosen, “All companies must periodically audit their employment practices to insure due diligence and compliance with discrimination and privacy laws, and determine whether an organization is using the current best policies, practices and procedures.” Rosen added that an effective audit can help establish legally defensible practices for dealing with potentially problematic applicants.

Author Lester S. Rosen is an attorney-at-law and founder of Employment Screening Resources (www.ESRcheck.com), a national pre-employment background screening firm. He also is the author of The Safe Hiring Manual, the first definitive book on background checks and safe hiring, and The Safe Hiring Course, the only online educational course available in the U.S. specifically for the background screening industry.  Michael Sankey is the founder and CEO of BRB Publications, Inc. (www.brbpub.com), and is author or editor of over 40 publications including Public Records Online, The MVR Book, The Sourcebook to Public Record Information, and The Public Record Research TIPS Book.

More information on The Safe Hiring Audit.

Rhode Island Public Record Research Tip

There are 5 counties in Rhode Island, but there is no county recording of public records in this state. All recording is done at the town/city level at one of 39 locations. The recording officers are the town/city clerks. However, what can be confusing is that three locations bear the same name as their respective counties - Bristol, Newport, and Providence. Record searchers must keep in mind that recorded documents within these counties that can relate to property located in cities/towns other than the individual cities of Bristol, Newport, and Providence.

© excerpt from The Public Record Research TIPS Book

Alaska Public Record Research Tip

The 23 Alaskan “counties” are called boroughs. However, real estate recording is done under a system that was established at the time of the Gold Rush (1893-1916) with 34 Recording Districts. Some of the Districts are identical in geography to boroughs such as the Aleutian Islands, but other boroughs and districts overlap. Therefore, you need to know which recording district any given town or city is located in. A helpful website is www.dnr.state.ak.us/recorders/findYourDistrict.htm

© excerpt from The Public Record Research TIPS Book