Requester Terms of Use

About the portal

Agencies use their portals to receive and respond to public records requests. A requester account lets you sign in once and follow the requests you submit to participating agencies.

The agency that receives a request makes every decision about it under the public records law that applies to that agency, including deadlines, fees, exemptions, redactions, and what is released. CivicRecordsOnline provides the software and does not make those decisions.

Using the portal

You may use the portal to submit public records requests, check the status of your requests, and write to the records office about a request you submitted.

Give accurate contact information and request details, unless the agency accepts anonymous requests. Keep your password private. Do not submit malware, spam, unlawful or abusive content, or material unrelated to a public records request. Access may be restricted when needed to protect the portal's availability, its security, or other users.

What you submit

What you submit through the portal, including your name, contact details, request description, messages, and attachments, goes to the agency that receives the request. In most jurisdictions the request itself is a public record, and your name and the text of your request may be disclosed under that law. If you need a request handled with extra confidentiality, contact the agency before you submit it. Anonymous requests, where an agency accepts them, are still recorded but do not collect contact information.

The CivicRecordsOnline Privacy Policy explains how information submitted through the portal is handled.

Availability and changes

The portal may be unavailable during maintenance, security work, or events outside our control, such as network or third-party outages. These terms may be updated as the product and legal requirements change. Each update is posted here with a new effective date.

Contact

For questions about a specific request, contact the agency that received it. Questions about the portal software can be sent to [email protected]. The separate Terms of Service that govern agencies' subscriptions are at www.civicrecordsonline.com/Legal/Terms.