Maryland was the 7th territory to become a state on April 28, 1788. With 12 thousand square miles of territory, Maryland is 42 largest state and 19th most populous with 5.7 million residents. There are 23 counties including one independent city (Baltimore) and 157 towns and cities that function as local governments. County governments in Maryland have five commissioners, county boards and holds their own elected officials. Maryland’s numerous agencies operate to serve residents with local departments such as law enforcement, health divisions, economic, planning, zoning and many other offices.
Public access to an open government is guaranteed by Maryland’s Public Information Act (PIA). These laws apply to all state and local governing agencies which must provide anyone with information and records without unreasonable delay or cost. Maryland law also provides for exceptions for privacy and confidentiality of its residents. There is no single central division that will provide all records from state and local agencies. Records are provided by each individual department or a repository databases maintained by various agencies throughout the state.
Maryland government records are sought to gather information for purposes ranging from conducting a background check to locating a person’s address. Maryland background searches are conducted by businesses for pre employment screening as well as individuals looking for personal reasons. Maryland criminal records can be obtained from the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. See how to order criminal reports directly that can reveal felonies and misdemeanor violations. Driving record requests can be submitted at the Department of Vehicle Transportation, motor vehicle administration’s website where you can see past traffic violations and license status. State issued licenses regarding professions can be verified using Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing of 23 individual boards. Marriages, birth and death certificates are provided directly from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH).
Locating Maryland assets can require searching various agencies and departments depending on how comprehensive your report is to be. Financial records such as bank accounts or personal information as well as other exceptions to the law are included to protect residents. Many assets such as records of property ownership are available to the public with an instant data search from each county offices. Find out the names under filings of corporations, LLCs, LLPs, partnerships and other business trade names.
A good starting point to any research is finding aliases, previous addresses and maiden names. Just as important, is looking for a person’s current and previous addresses to see if states other than Maryland need to be searched. Using the most current sources of information in Maryland is essential to an efficient search as some records lead to looking in other places. Regardless of your search goals, using a complete directory of best sources found in Maryland will show you where to locate records you have been looking for.
