Ohio County Court Records

What are the chief duties of the courts in any county of Ohio? Apart from settlement of civil as well as criminal cases, the courts are also responsible for maintaining records of vital information. In fact, the authorities are legally obliged to maintain these records, and they are also legally obliged to share the information with you when you ask for it. You can search for these court records by name, case number, case documents, attorney name, judge's name, ticket numbers and more.

You can be granted access to the databases of the courts in the appropriate Ohio county for viewing most of the public records that have been stored. You need to know that there are laws that prohibit the disclosure of certain information to the general public. These records include the ones that have confidential legal information, or reports of personal investigation processes.

The Method of Viewing Public Records in a Ohio County

Most of the valuable Ohio county court records are available for easy online access. You do need to apply for them in a certain prescribed format. Once you have placed your request, the records will be provided to you, subject to the discretion of the legal authorities of the county.

The courts in the counties of Ohio have established the offices of the Ohio County Clerk of Courts for analyzing and responding to all requests for personal records in the state. A fixed fee is charged for the provision of the different types of public records. This fee structure is determined by the respective Ohio County Clerk as well.

In general, you can access your court records quite quickly. In case there are any delays, you would be informed as to when you would actually gain access to the requested data. If your application is canceled for some reason, you will be informed about this and also the reason for the cancellation.

The Types of Court Records in any Ohio County

A large number of types of valuable public records are maintained by the courts in the counties of Ohio, and these include:

•    Birth Records: The courts of each Ohio county can effectively keep a tab on all population data in the locality by keeping systematic birth records. These record documents comprise a large pool of information, including the babies’ sex, weight, other physical attributes, and the employment details of the parents.

The birth records that the Ohio county courts maintain can come in handy for several purposes. For example, if you are looking to enroll your child in school, or applying for an American passport, you need to possess copies of these birth records.

•    Death Records: Both the obituary records as well as the cemetery records (together known as death records) can be obtained from the databases of the courts of any Ohio county. The name and age of the person who has passed away would be mentioned here, together with the reason of death and other relevant details.

The death records are extremely useful in the smooth execution of the deceased's will (if any). The personal debts and assets of the deceased can also be accurately estimated with the help of this information.

•    Marriage records: All the weddings that take place in the counties of Ohio are kept track of by the courthouses. In particular, all the marriage license documents and certificates are kept in their original forms by the court authorities.

The records of marriage, as preserved by the courts of Ohio counties, are by nature quite comprehensive. You can find the respective ages of the marrying couple (with valid proofs of age), their names, the date and venue of the wedding, as well as the person’s name who presided over the ceremony.

•    Divorce Records: Copies of the legal decrees that annul marital relations can also be accessed from the repositories of the county courts of Ohio. In certain cases, the concerned couple might be unwilling to share their asset data with the general public. The courts withhold such divorce records from general viewing in these cases.

The divorce records might come in necessary for finance-related issues, as well as to check whether the person whom you are planning to marry is indeed divorced as claimed or not. In addition, you can also access the records when you are planning to get re-married because the court would need a copy of this when approving a new marriage license.

•    Criminal Records: There has been a tremendous increase in cases of fraud, and thus it is perhaps not enough to carry out just a criminal check of a person. Carrying out the complete background check has now become necessary. You need to do this to ensure your safety, particularly when you hire employees and support at home. With the complete check and extended results, you will know whether the person can be trusted or not.

•    Genealogy Records: The courts of Ohio counties also can help you know more about the lineages and origins of any particular individual/family. The birth, marriage, divorce and death records of your forefathers are all present in these records.