Access Federal Public Records

It is legal for U.S. citizens to access information from the federal public records. The FOIA or Freedom of Information Act was enacted in 1966 and requires the federal agencies to release information provided on public records on the receipt of a written request from the citizens.

Reasons for Accessing the Federal Public Records

Generally people are interested in accessing the federal public records simply due to the fact that they want to have a better understanding of the many state departments and how they function.

To know how the federal justice system functions, people are also going through the federal courts public record. Employers often access the federal criminal public record during the hiring process; the records are obtained from the National Criminal File (NCF) for conducting background checks on the prospective employees of the company. The details of accessing the criminal files can be viewed from http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cjisd/ncic.htm . The general public is not provided access to the records from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). (www.fbi.gov/).

If you have doubts that a person you are dealing with or have recently shifted to your community is a criminal, you can run a background search on him/her. This will require you to access the state and federal records for information. There are three things that will be asked of you when you start your investigation on a person – his/her first name, last name and the state of residence.

If you are doing it online, the search will take a shorter time provided  the information you have provided is correct. As a result you will be able to take a look at the tax liens, arrest records, court judgments, bankruptcies, and information on the present and past arrest warrants.

Online Search

When searching online, getting access to information on federal public records becomes very quick and easy. You can search the government websites that make searching information with its search engines. The federal public records include a lot of information such as the profiles of federal prisoners or offenders, indictment case files, profiles of serial killers who belong to the VICAP or the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program list especially, and the outcome of investigations in cases involving racketeering groups when they are successfully tried, sentenced, and incarcerated.

If you are not searching online and want information on one or more such cases, you will have to waste a lot of time going to several departments and offices to seek information.  Thus, a manual search for federal public records is totally inconvenient. You will find several online records that are related to federal activities that offer public access.

You can go for a broad online search or narrow your search by knowing exactly the particulars that you are seeking information on. You can also browse through the many categories that are available when searching online. For instance, you may go through the tax records, public marriage records, real estate records, public birth as well as public death records. When you gain access to the federal public records you have been looking for, you can make a hard copy for purposes and use it for your future reference.