Making the Most of Maryland Public Records

Conduct a Maryland public record search

Making the most of Maryland public records will require you to have a guide or referral. You can conduct Internet searches of many government agencies for free but you will spend a lot of time looking at irrelevant links and websites if you have no idea where to start.

You will first need to obtain some basic information on the individual or property you are seeking information on. For example, if you are seeking Maryland police records on an individual, it will be helpful to know some addresses where that person has previously lived.

There are three general types of public records in Maryland:

1. Criminal records that include files on registered sex offenders, past convictions or current information on current inmates in a particular prison. These records can help you investigate individuals such as prospective employees.

2. Maryland vital records such as census records, consumer protection information or legislation minutes. You may find these records helpful when researching a product or political candidate.

3. Real estate records like property appraisals, ownership and taxes. These types of records can be useful when buying or selling a home.

 

Find Maryland court records from local government agencies

City and county clerks in Maryland can frequently provide a great deal of current information on an individual when you know their name and address.
Try: The Maryland Judiciary provides the contact information for the courts in Maryland and it also allows a site search. Maryland.gov has an alphabetical list of the homepages for the counties in Maryland.

Learn more about the laws regarding Maryland public records

The records that are publicly available vary widely by state. You will want to have at least a general idea of what Maryland public court records you can expect to find before conducting your search.
Try: The Maryland Attorney General offers an overview of the Maryland Public Information Act as well as the complete text by chapter. The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration provides a range of vehicle services including a summary of the laws regarding driving record requests.

Perform searches of specific databases of Maryland public records

Many cities and counties in Maryland maintain a variety of records on individuals and property that are freely available to the general public.
Try: The Anne Arundel County Clerk maintains land records and also provides the fee schedule for making copies of those records. The Clerk’s Office for Howard County provides land records and a variety of other services.

 

• Exhaust free sources of information before you consider paying for Maryland marriage records. Sites that charge a fee may only provide information you could obtain elsewhere for free. Fortunately, libraries frequently subscribe to services that you would normally need to pay a fee to access. You should also bear in mind that many public records are simply not available online.

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