Free Orange County Public Records

One of the mandates of the government is to be able to provide information to their constituents because information is something that they require in order to make decisions, and some of the most important and life altering decisions could only be made if the information upon which such decisions are based could be given the rubber stamp of truth and dependence. This is the reason why public records like Orange County Public Records exists, because these are the records that the government had made, and because of that, they are the best evidence that one could use and depend upon in order to prove something.

It must be noted, however, that public records could only prove that which is reflected upon their face and their title. This means that arrest records could prove the criminal background of the person named in the record, but these records could not prove the fact of the birth of the person who purports to be the one who is referred to in the record. Such limitations are true even if the happening of the event on the record could not have happened if not for another event. Thus, a divorce record could not prove that the couple who had gotten divorced had indeed been married.

Public records, however, are official records, and because of this classification, the records are afforded the presumption of regularity. This means that the records are presumed to be true and accurate at all times such that the party who would present the records before the tribunal would be under no obligation to prove that the contents of the same are true. Of course, the presumption has limitations, and the most important of these would be the fact that the presumption applies only if the records were obtained from the proper sources. It must also be noted that the presumption is merely prima facie, which means that it could be overturned through the use of competent evidence.

Before one could go about searching for copies of public records, one must first note that there are some records that are identified in the law as having official custodians. Such records could only be requested from those custodians. The procedure for making the request would depend on the office where the records are being kept, but in general, requests may be made either by requesting for them in person or requesting for them through mail, with both methods having their own inherent set of advantages and disadvantages. The person who is interested in the record would be the one who would have to decide as to which method he or she would chose in order to make the request.

Orange County Public Records may also be requested for online through the use of online databases. These contain information that would be substantially the same as that which may be found from the official archives, but they could present the information faster, more efficiently, and cheaper. Note, however, that these are not official sources; hence, they do not enjoy the presumption of regularity.