Public Records Search
Austin-Based, Available Nationwide
Government bodies create records of the significant events in a person's life and a company's history: marriages and divorces, court judgments, property purchases, business filings, professional licenses. A public records search gathers those records, verifies that they belong to your subject, and sets out what they show. What exists varies by person and by jurisdiction, and there is no way to know what a search will return until it is run.
People use these searches to check for a criminal history, bankruptcies, liens and judgments, lawsuits and other court cases. To establish who holds title to a property. To look into a business entity and the people behind it. And to trace birth, death and marriage records when building a family tree.
What we can search
Court records, civil and criminal, where publicly accessible. Property ownership and deed records. Business registrations, corporate filings and registered agents. Professional and occupational licenses. Marriage and divorce records where public. Bankruptcies, liens and judgments. Incarceration and corrections records. Address history. Name changes. Military service records, within what the relevant agency releases.
Where a subject has used aliases or variant spellings, those can be searched too, and international records are available in many jurisdictions, though what they contain and how quickly they can be obtained varies a great deal.
The searches utilize government archives and licensed investigative databases that aggregate public and semi-public records.
What a search of this kind will not get you
Some categories that people expect to find under “public records” are not public, and no licensed investigator can produce them without legal process.
Bank and financial account records. Account numbers, balances and transaction histories are protected, and obtaining them by pretext is unlawful. They come through a subpoena or court order, not through an investigator.
The contents of phone calls, texts, emails and messages. Same answer, and the same route.
Credit reports. A consumer credit report can be pulled only for the purposes the Fair Credit Reporting Act permits, by an entity entitled to receive it. A public records search is not that, and this report is not a consumer report: it is not prepared for, and may not be used to make, decisions about employment, credit, tenancy or insurance.
Driving and motor vehicle records. These are restricted by the Driver's Privacy Protection Act. They can be obtained where the subject has given written authorization, or where the case fits one of the purposes the statute permits, and not otherwise.
Sealed, expunged and juvenile records. They do not appear, by design.
Where a case genuinely needs something in the first two categories, the honest answer is that it belongs with your attorney.
How this differs from our other searches
A public records search answers what the record says about a person or a company. If what you need is to find where someone is now, that is skip tracing. If you need identity, criminal history and social footprint assembled around one individual, that is a background check. The tools overlap; the question they answer is different, and we would rather point you at the right one during the consultation than sell you the one you happened to ask for.
Public records work is also the natural choice when the subject is a business rather than a person.
Lawful use
Licensed database searches require a documented permissible purpose, which we establish during the consultation.
We will not run a search intended to stalk, harass, threaten or intimidate anyone, and we will not take a case where a protective, restraining or no-contact order is in effect against the client with respect to the subject.
What you receive
A written investigative report, prepared and reviewed by a licensed investigator. It sets out what you asked us to establish, which jurisdictions and sources were searched, what each returned, and copies of any significant underlying documents as exhibits.
Turnaround is generally one to three days, and afterwards you can call a real person and talk it through.
Frequently asked questions
Can I not just look these up myself?
Some of them, yes. Records are held by different courts, counties, states and agencies, each with its own system, and many are not indexed in a way that makes them findable if you do not already know where to look. The other part is verification: confirming that the record you found belongs to your subject rather than to someone with the same name.
How is this different from a free public records website?
Those sites return whatever sits in a static database, often out of date, with no verification and no source documents. A licensed investigator searches government archives directly as well as databases that require professional licensing and a documented permissible purpose, resolves conflicts between sources, and provides the underlying records as exhibits rather than a summary you cannot check.
Can you get bank records or account balances?
No. Financial account records are protected and cannot lawfully be obtained by an investigator. They come through a subpoena or court order, which is a matter for your attorney. The same applies to the contents of phone calls, texts and emails.
Can you find someone's assets?
Partly, and it is worth being clear about which part. Assets recorded publicly can be identified: real property, business interests, certain liens and filings, and in some cases vehicles. What cannot be reached is anything held in financial accounts, since those records are protected and require legal process.
Can you get a driving record?
Where the subject has given written authorization, or where the matter fits one of the purposes the Driver's Privacy Protection Act permits. It is not part of a standard search, and it is not available simply on request.
Can you search records on a company?
Yes, and this is often the right service for that. Business registrations and corporate filings, registered agents and officers, professional licenses, judgments and liens, bankruptcies, and property held by the entity are all searchable.
Can you help with genealogy or family history?
Yes. Birth, death and marriage records are a common starting point for building a family tree, alongside address history, name changes and property records. What is available varies by state and by era, and access to certified copies is restricted in many jurisdictions, so a search establishes what the records show rather than producing certificates.
Will the subject know?
No. The work is conducted from government archives, licensed databases and open-source research. We do not contact the subject or anyone connected to them, and searching a public record does not notify the person it concerns.
How long does it take?
Generally one to three days. Records held by agencies that respond on their own schedule, or in jurisdictions that require a manual request, can take longer.
What does it cost?
Flat rate, priced per search, so you know the figure before you agree to anything. The consultation is free, and no work begins until you have a written agreement setting out the scope and the cost.
Do you work outside Texas?
Yes. This is records-based work and is available to clients nationwide, and records in many international jurisdictions can be searched as well.
Ready to Get Answers?
Tell us what you need to know. The consultation is free and confidential, and no work begins until you have a written agreement setting out the scope and the cost.
Licensed & insured · TX DPS A12693401