In the order that actually works.
Run this once and you will not start from zero again. Each step builds the one before it. Skipping step two is why most searches fail at step three.
Start with what you know
Start with identifiers before searching systems: name, rough age or birth year, aliases, phone numbers, emails, employers, and any confirmed social profiles. The first job is narrowing the field so later record searches do not attach the wrong person.
Build a location history
Public-records research follows jurisdictions, not hunches. Build a location list from cities, counties, states, addresses, timeframes, social profiles, search results, and public people-search leads before opening court portals.
Search court records
Search each relevant county court layer: superior, circuit, district, common pleas, municipal, justice, probate, family, traffic, and any state portal. Federal records belong in a separate PACER pass.
Cross-check incarceration
Corrections data sits outside normal court portals. Check state Department of Corrections, county jail rosters, the federal Bureau of Prisons, and sex offender registries for every state or county tied to the location history.
Pull property and police
Use assessor and recorder offices to connect addresses, ownership, liens, judgments, deed transfers, and financial context. For incidents that may never become court cases, identify the right police or sheriff records office and request reports when legally available.
Read without spiraling
Interpret records cautiously. Dismissed, sealed, vacated, filed, charged, convicted, and served do not mean the same thing. The useful outcome is informed judgment: what was found, what was not checked, and what questions remain.
Start with your county. The directory shows you the specific portals to run for each step in your location.
Enter your zip ↗The book covers each step in a full chapter — with the common mistakes, the edge cases, and twelve conversation scripts for what comes after.
See the chapters →