What was the searchable public records site for California?

October 25, 2009 7:05 PM

There used to be a website for California where you could enter anyone's name and get a public record on them- all their driving and criminal history was available, free, online. I can't find it anymore. Help?
posted by BuddhaInABucket to grab bag (6 comments total)

Was this real? I remember something similar that ended up being a joke/gag once you'd entered the information.
posted by backwards guitar at 7:24 PM on October 25

No, it was for real- it was on a California government web site. Everything I can find now is pay-only via some 3rd company.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 7:26 PM on October 25

Is this it?
posted by Solon and Thanks at 7:33 PM on October 25

SaT: That's an example of one of the for-pay 3rd party sites I'm talking about.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 8:06 PM on October 25

My SO who works for a background screening company tells me that there isn't a free site for the entire state of California, but many individual jurisdictions have such a site. It's actually pretty common for counties to have information available like this (at least in the US), and you can usually find information based on name and birth date.

If I'm not mistaken, you can usually find them by searching for the county court office.
posted by Ms. Saint at 10:22 PM on October 25

Criminal Searches is free, and will report some driving offenses, depending on the state. I think some things get dropped or added randomly, though.
posted by Comrade_robot at 6:44 AM on October 26