does anyone know how to get court records and police reports for free?
lookingforthepines asked:
i am going to try to build a case against my ex for custody of our daughter and i need to know how to get his police reports and court records from tennessee, but i have no spare cash.. is there a way to do it for free??
i am going to try to build a case against my ex for custody of our daughter and i need to know how to get his police reports and court records from tennessee, but i have no spare cash.. is there a way to do it for free??
There are fees set by state stautue for these documents. They do not come free. In addition, unless he was convicted in these police reports they will not be available under Freedom of Information. Lets say he was arrested for assault and it was brought down to a breach of peace. The report would be releasable. However if the charges were dismissed, nolled or not prosecuted, the report is sealed and cannot be released. If an investigation was done for some crime or offense he may of been a suspect in but never arrested because of lack of probalbe cause, then those reports cannot be released either. Unsubstantiated allegations.
You can check to see if the police/courts have an indigency waiver which must be notarized. However don’t expect any documents coming your way any time soon if you use that.
Check around. Most fees are anywhere from 25 to 50 cents a page.
Same with me…I’m from Memphis and I was trying to get some info reguarding the same and I was told I would have to come down to the state or county records office and let them know exactly what I needed. I was also told that I could go to the police station and get info….
But it’s not free at all…I had to spend about 10 dollars…on the info but it was cool…It was worth it…I would also suggest to go online and check the state website.
You can obtain copies but you must pay a fee for the printing, unless they are sealed. For police records & sealed court records you will need a court order (subpoena) to obtain. You will have to have your lawyer get them.
All police reports are public record. All you have to do is ask for them, but the request has to be for a specific record. In some cases the department may require the request be in person. We are not required to give copies of reports to out of state residents.
In the department where I work, copies of reports are free if the requester is a victim or suspect in the report. The only information that would not be available is if there is juvenile information in the report or the record has been expunged. Juvenile info is blacked out in the report so it is not readable. My department and most other departments that I am aware of usually charge around $5.00 for an Incident report. There is no state law that states how much must be charged, it just states that it must be a reasonable amount.
Hi,
well, you can check all kinds of background, criminal, court records at , its the best site i found for records and has the largest database.
Hope this helps