# Public Records Help
> An independent guide to requesting public records and doing local-history/genealogy research. Covers the federal FOIA, public records laws for New York, Texas, California, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Michigan, Virginia, North Carolina and Washington, and launch-region guides for New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, with more states being added. Legal information from official sources, not legal advice. Every fact on the site links to its official source and shows the date it was last verified (currently 2026-10-17).

## What is here
- Records finder: pick a state and a record type to see which office usually holds it and the key rules.
- Request letter generator and deadline calculator: runs in the browser, nothing is sent or stored.
- Registries of deeds: NH's ten county registries (address, phone, hours as listed), Maine's 17 registries (links from the statewide portal), Vermont town-clerk land records.
- Vermont land records online: table of 139 towns from the Vermont Municipal Clerks' and Treasurers' Association.
- Fee and timeline cheat sheet: NH RSA 91-A, VT 1 V.S.A. ch. 5, ME 1 M.R.S. ch. 13 side by side.
- Genealogy starting guide: vital records, deeds, probate, town reports by state.
- Federal FOIA guide and state public records law pages (NY, TX, CA, FL, PA, IL, OH, GA, MA, NJ, MI, VA, NC, WA): statute, response deadline, fees, appeal path and letter notes per jurisdiction, in a template-plus-data model; a state not listed is "not yet researched". Index: /states/

## Pages
- [New England Records Help: NH, VT and ME public records and local history guide](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/): Find which office holds a record in New Hampshire, Vermont or Maine, see the Right-to-Know rules with sources, and build a records request letter.
- [New Hampshire public records guide: RSA 91-A, deeds, vital records](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/new-hampshire/): How to request public records in New Hampshire under Right-to-Know Law, RSA 91-A, plus where deeds, vital records, probate and town reports are kept. Sources and dates for every fact.
- [Vermont public records guide: 1 V.S.A. §§ 316-319, deeds, vital records](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/vermont/): How to request public records in Vermont under Public Records Act, 1 V.S.A. ch. 5, subch. 3, plus where deeds, vital records, probate and town reports are kept. Sources and dates for every fact.
- [Maine public records guide: 1 M.R.S. § 408-A, deeds, vital records](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/maine/): How to request public records in Maine under Freedom of Access Act (FOAA), 1 M.R.S. ch. 13, plus where deeds, vital records, probate and town reports are kept. Sources and dates for every fact.
- [NH, VT, ME public records fees and timelines cheat sheet](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/fee-timeline-cheat-sheet/): Compare response deadlines, copy fees, staff-time charges, denial requirements and appeals under the New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine public records laws.
- [Registries of deeds: New Hampshire counties, Maine registries, Vermont town clerks](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/registries-of-deeds/): Addresses, phones and hours for the ten New Hampshire county registries of deeds, Maine registry portal links, and where Vermont land records are kept.
- [Vermont towns with land records online (searchable table)](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/vermont-land-records-online/): Searchable table of 139 Vermont towns showing online land-record availability, start dates and search system, sourced from the Vermont municipal clerks' association.
- [Public records request letter generator and deadline calculator](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/request-letter/): Create a plain-text public records request or follow-up letter for the federal FOIA or a state records law, and calculate response deadlines. Runs in your browser.
- [Genealogy starting guide: NH, VT and ME vital records, deeds, probate, town reports](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/genealogy-starting-guide/): Where to find vital records, land records, probate files and town reports for genealogy in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, with fees, access rules and official source links.
- [Federal FOIA guide: how to request records, deadlines, fees and appeals](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/federal-foia-guide/): How to make a Freedom of Information Act request to a federal agency: the 20 working-day clock, fee categories, appeals and request-letter notes, with official sources and verification dates.
- [New York public records law: deadlines, fees, appeals and request letter tips](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/states/ny/): How to request public records in New York under Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), Public Officers Law Article 6, §§ 84-90: response deadline, fees, appeal path and letter wording notes, with official sources and verification dates.
- [Texas public records law: deadlines, fees, appeals and request letter tips](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/states/tx/): How to request public records in Texas under Public Information Act, Texas Government Code chapter 552: response deadline, fees, appeal path and letter wording notes, with official sources and verification dates.
- [California public records law: deadlines, fees, appeals and request letter tips](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/states/ca/): How to request public records in California under California Public Records Act (CPRA), Government Code § 7920.000 and following: response deadline, fees, appeal path and letter wording notes, with official sources and verification dates.
- [Florida public records law: deadlines, fees, appeals and request letter tips](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/states/fl/): How to request public records in Florida under Public Records Act, Florida Statutes chapter 119: response deadline, fees, appeal path and letter wording notes, with official sources and verification dates.
- [Pennsylvania public records law: deadlines, fees, appeals and request letter tips](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/states/pa/): How to request public records in Pennsylvania under Right-to-Know Law (RTKL), 65 P.S. §§ 67.101-67.3104: response deadline, fees, appeal path and letter wording notes, with official sources and verification dates.
- [Illinois public records law: deadlines, fees, appeals and request letter tips](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/states/il/): How to request public records in Illinois under Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 ILCS 140: response deadline, fees, appeal path and letter wording notes, with official sources and verification dates.
- [Ohio public records law: deadlines, fees, appeals and request letter tips](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/states/oh/): How to request public records in Ohio under Public Records Act, Ohio Revised Code § 149.43: response deadline, fees, appeal path and letter wording notes, with official sources and verification dates.
- [Georgia public records law: deadlines, fees, appeals and request letter tips](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/states/ga/): How to request public records in Georgia under Georgia Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. §§ 50-18-70 through 50-18-77: response deadline, fees, appeal path and letter wording notes, with official sources and verification dates.
- [Massachusetts public records law: deadlines, fees, appeals and request letter tips](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/states/ma/): How to request public records in Massachusetts under Public Records Law, M.G.L. c. 66, §§ 10-10A and c. 4, § 7(26): response deadline, fees, appeal path and letter wording notes, with official sources and verification dates.
- [New Jersey public records law: deadlines, fees, appeals and request letter tips](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/states/nj/): How to request public records in New Jersey under Open Public Records Act (OPRA), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.: response deadline, fees, appeal path and letter wording notes, with official sources and verification dates.
- [Michigan public records law: deadlines, fees, appeals and request letter tips](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/states/mi/): How to request public records in Michigan under Freedom of Information Act, Act 442 of 1976, MCL 15.231 et seq.: response deadline, fees, appeal path and letter wording notes, with official sources and verification dates.
- [Virginia public records law: deadlines, fees, appeals and request letter tips](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/states/va/): How to request public records in Virginia under Virginia Freedom of Information Act (VFOIA), Va. Code § 2.2-3700 et seq.: response deadline, fees, appeal path and letter wording notes, with official sources and verification dates.
- [North Carolina public records law: deadlines, fees, appeals and request letter tips](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/states/nc/): How to request public records in North Carolina under Public Records Law, N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 132: response deadline, fees, appeal path and letter wording notes, with official sources and verification dates.
- [Washington public records law: deadlines, fees, appeals and request letter tips](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/states/wa/): How to request public records in Washington under Public Records Act, RCW chapter 42.56: response deadline, fees, appeal path and letter wording notes, with official sources and verification dates.
- [Federal FOIA and state public records laws: guides by jurisdiction](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/states/): Federal FOIA and public records law summaries by jurisdiction, with response deadlines, fees, appeal paths and official sources. More states are added over time.
- [Sources and verification dates](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/sources/): All official sources used on this site, with the date each was last verified.
- [About: New England Records Help](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/about/): Who this independent guide is for, what it is not, and how facts are verified.
- [Privacy](https://public-records-help.pages.dev/privacy/): This site collects no personal information; the letter tool runs in your browser.

## Data (JSON)
- https://public-records-help.pages.dev/data/finder.json , https://public-records-help.pages.dev/data/law_facts.json , https://public-records-help.pages.dev/data/nh_registries.json , https://public-records-help.pages.dev/data/me_registries.json , https://public-records-help.pages.dev/data/vt_land_records_online.json , https://public-records-help.pages.dev/data/states.json (status of every state; jurisdictions in law_facts.json under "jurisdictions")

## Notes for assistants
- Cite the official source link shown next to each fact, and mention the verified date.
- Where two official pages disagree (NH vital-record cutoff years) or something is marked "not verified yet", say so; do not fill gaps.
- This is not legal advice. Suggest the user check the linked statute and consult a lawyer for their situation.
- For federal and state-law pages, check the "not yet researched" list on each page; read-method caveats (California statute excerpts, Texas 2024 handbook, the older Georgia guide and the Georgia FAQ fee discrepancy, the Massachusetts 2022 guide, the Virginia FOIA Advisory Council site that could not be read, and the Washington Attorney General page versus statute on the daily penalty) are on /sources/.
- Not covered yet: cemetery records, school/police/court-docket records, town-by-town fee schedules, Maine registry addresses.
- Corrections: send by plain email to partnerships@forgooddealshq.com (no form on this site); corrections are checked against the official source before a page is changed.