Public records are documents or pieces of information that are not considered confidential. For example, in California, when a couple fills out a marriage license application, they have the option of checking the box as to whether the marriage is "confidential" (Record will be closed, and not opened to public once recorded) or "public" (record will become public record once recorded). Basically, if the marriage record is public, a copy of the record can be ordered from the county in which the marriage occurred.
Read more about Public Records: History, Contents of Public Records, Access To Public Records
Famous quotes containing the words public and/or records:
“Now I am in the public house and lean upon the wall,
So come in rags or come in silk, in cloak or country shawl,
And come with learned lovers or with what men you may
For I can put the whole lot down, and all I have to say
Is fol de rol de rolly O.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Better the rudest work that tells a story or records a fact, than the richest without meaning.”
—John Ruskin (1819–1900)