PROCESS GUIDE / 03
Verify what
you found.
Retrieval is only the first half of the task. Before relying on a result, check four things: source, scope, date, and identity.
Reviewed by PublicReports · Updated
VERIFICATION / VISUAL NOTES
Editorial illustrations clarify the workflow. They do not depict a specific office, person, or record.
Four-part public record verification sequence
Who maintains this record?
Confirm the agency or court name, official domain, office description, and relationship between the website and the record custodian.
- Is the publisher an official agency or clearly identified court?
- Does the page name the office responsible for the data?
- If a vendor hosts the search, does the agency link to that vendor?
What does the system include—and omit?
Read the search help, coverage dates, jurisdiction list, record types, and public-access limits before interpreting a no-result or partial result.
- Does it cover the right court, county, agency, or custody level?
- Is the result an index, document image, unofficial summary, or certified copy?
- Could sealed, expunged, juvenile, offline, or older material be excluded?
When was the source updated?
Record both your access date and any update date shown by the source. Status, custody, ownership, licensing, and links can change.
- Is there a data-current-through date?
- Could a filing, transfer, release, or renewal be too recent to appear?
- Do you need to confirm the current status with the custodian?
Does the result match the right subject?
Names repeat. Use stable record identifiers and multiple matching details before connecting a result to a person, case, property, or entity.
- Compare case, filing, parcel, inmate, instrument, or license numbers.
- Check dates, locations, middle names, business suffixes, and record type.
- Treat discrepancies as unresolved until the official source clarifies them.
COMMON FAILURE MODES
A plausible match can still be wrong.
Namesake
The name matches, but location, age, filing number, or date does not.
Wrong system
A state or federal search is interpreted as proof that no local record exists.
Stale status
An older cached, indexed, or last-updated result is treated as current.
Wrong record form
An online summary is treated as the clerk’s official or certified record.
RELIANCE LIMIT
Verification improves research. It does not create a consumer report.
PublicReports does not provide consumer reports or a workflow for permissible purpose, consent, dispute, or adverse action. The Fair Credit Reporting Act governs consumer reports used for covered eligibility decisions.
FTC · Fair Credit Reporting Act ↗APPLY THE CHECK