It can save a lot of time when you know where to request open records in county government, since we support a wide variety of elected and appointed offices in Collin County:
Court Records: Please contact the clerks of the courts (District, County Courts at Law, Justice Courts) for any and all court records (divorce records, criminal cases, Probate, traffic tickets, lawsuits of any kind.) You can also verify a case number and case status online here to make it easier.
Police Records: Contact the law enforcement agency that made or took the report: for example, County Sheriff, Allen Police, Frisco Police, McKinney Police and Plano Police. If you're seeking information on a current prisoner in the county jail, go here. This includes arrest or accident reports, jailings, 911 Calls, etc.)
Land Records and more: Contact the County Clerk for deeds, foreclosures, liens, public notices, marriage licenses, birth certificates and other vital records, beer & wine applications, cattle brands, and business registrations (DBA's/Assumed Names). You can also look up many of these records online under Deed Searches on the County Clerk's page. Taxes: For vehicle registration and property tax matters, contact the Tax Assessor-Collector. Please note that property tax appraisal records are maintained by the Central Appraisal District.
City/Municipal Records: We do not have municipal records in our possession, including utility information. Contact the cities.
File a Public Information Request
File a Public Information Request for existing county government records on budgeting, spending, permits in unincorporated areas, engineering and maintenance on county (rural) roads, county government contracts and bids, audits, and all Commissioners Court records. If you're unsure, we'll do our best to steer you to the right place if we don't have the record you seek.
For more on the Public information Act and county government records, please go here.
Finding public records isn't difficult if you know where to start
Collin County's website is a huge endeavor with hundreds of internal pages, scores of databases, dozens of elected officials and various departments - all of which you may have to contact only once or twice a year, at best.
Due to an overwhelming number of misdirected requests, before you continue, know that
the county does not keep or maintain.
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Police Records, 911 calls or accident reports. These are always kept by the agency that created them, such as the
Sheriff's Office. You need to contact the agency; we don't have access to those records.
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Court Records, such as
divorce decrees, are always kept by the courts themselves and can
only be had from the
District Clerks. Criminal records in either
District Courts or
Justice Courts only. Use our
Judicial Online Search to find the correct court.
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Municipal Records and utility records. Check here for a list of
city websites for permits, utility information, zoning requirements or violations, and more. Collin County's
main jurisdiction for permitting is in unincorporated -- or rural -- areas. The county does not operate any utility, nor does it have access to utility records.
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Tax Records. The
County Tax Assessor and Collector is the custodian of property tax records. Any inquiries on property tax accounts or rolls should be directed to that office.
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Property Appraisal Records. The
Collin Central Appraisal District is the agency that appraises business and personal property. Collin County, like all the other taxing entities here, is their client. Please direct any appraisal inquiries to this agency.
So how do you find what you need quickly without bouncing around from office to office in search of a document or some information? We've outlined a few tips here with links to key spots on our website that can help your search:
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Use the search engine. Simply typing in a key term into the search box at the top of any of our webpages will normally get you exactly what you're looking for. For example, we tried searching for two things you won't find in our records collections - “police reports” and “accident reports” - and our search engine pulled back links to local police agencies where you can get these files. Typing in “auto registration” pulled up a link to the Tax Assessor-Collector's
Vehicle Registration page.
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Scan our
Online Services. At the navigation bar across the top of each page is an easy way to see what databases are available to pull records or get information immediately - from
active arrest warrants to
lost pets to
court cases to
land records. We have almost three dozen links to calendars, databases, look-up services or online records so you don't have to call around, leave messages or make a special visit during business hours when you don't have to.
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Check out
How-Do-I? This page is where we post some of the more common public questions on public records and information. It also contains listings of
county buildings,
departments,
services,
elected officials,
boards and commissions -- plus outside links to websites for
cities and towns in Collin County.
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File a Public Information Request. This is a formal process, governed by
state law (very much like the Federal
Freedom of Information Act) where the public can submit
written requests for documents produced or maintained by county government agencies. It applies to almost every aspect of county government -but not police or court records. Many of those records are public but must be requested directly from the clerks of the various levels of courts, or from the police agency.
Go here for more information on court records, and
here for police or law enforcement agency records in our area.
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If you are looking for court records, we have a great, free app --
Online Judicial Search -- that will lead you through multiple justice system databases with just one search. Again, court records and police records can
only be had directly from the agencies or courts that maintain them, but this app is mobile-friendly and very helpful in locating where you need to go for the records.
Last of all, if none of these tools help, please feel free to
submit your questions or suggestions as to how we could make it easier for you. That's what we're here to do.
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