The recent California Supreme Court decision overturning California’s law banning same-sex marriage as unconstitutional provides a timely discussion of the domestic partnership registry. California, among other states and municipalities provides a means for couples — variously, same or opposite sex in civil unions or domestic partnerships — to register their relationship.

I don’t know of any online database of names of registered domestic partners, but there are data sources. This is the old-fashioned and still often the most reliable means of confirming a fact: call or visit the relevant government office! In California, the Secretary of State records the Declaration of Domestic Partnership and the Termination of Domestic Partnership. This office responds to telephone inquiries and will search by a name, providing the partner name, date of registration and the residential address. You can also go to one of the offices to get a copy of either form.

Oregon defines a domestic partnership registration as a vital record, which is confidential. Domestic Partnership Registration in New York City is with the City Clerk. County Recorder offices and state health departments are also repositories for these filings. Some cities, counties and states that have civil union or domestic partnership laws are listed here.

Currently, there are 49,550 registrations on file at the California Secretary of State. Of these, about 5,600 have filed terminations. By law, this office only accepts terminations up to 5 years after registration. Beyond that time, couples must go to court to end a domestic partnership.

What has been your experience requesting information from a domestic partnership registry?

It looks like the California Assembly bill that would have created an Internet Domestic Violence Registry has excised that feature from the recent draft.

The California Sheriffs’ Association has announced that VINELink will soon include all California counties, not just the 17 that are currently at that site. VINELink provides real-time status of offenders in county jails.

Private investigators will have more difficulty finding people in California if proposed legislation, Senate Bill 1423, becomes law. The bill titled, “Unlisted telephone numbers”, would ban phone companies from charging a fee to their subscribers who wish to have their phone numbers unlisted or nonpublished. In that case, won’t everyone in California request that their telephone number listing be private?

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a law firm that obtained Florida vehicle record information for litigation purposes. The plaintiff had claimed that the firm violated the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act in purchasing his vehicle ownership data, but the court said that the law firm met one of the permitted exceptions. However, pending cases may lead to settlements in which ChoicePoint (and other public record providers) voluntarily agree to limit the personal information they release, even if the sale of the data complies with the law.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in favor of a newspaper which sought a list of names and addresses of foster care providers maintained by a state family services agency. In a complicated intersection of Ohio state public records access law and federal funding restrictions, the agency must determine which records meet the Social Security Act exception to disclosure.

The Marin Independent Journal prevailed in its 2 year tussle with the county to obtain county employees salaries, finally decided by the 1st District Court of Appeal. And the newspaper has made county salary data available at its Web site. Salaries of earners over $100, 000 can be searched by name or agency at the Marin Independent Journal. I have a link to this and all other salary databases across the USA that I’ve been able to identify.

The Missouri Attorney General is seeking to shut down Web sites that sell personal information, such as Social Security numbers, to the general public on Missouri residents. The current lawsuit names A1 Peoplesearch, LLC. A recently prior action seeks to stop Publicdata.com from selling the same type of personal information. Even though the companies are based outside Missouri they are selling data with Social Security numbers and dates of birth of Missouri residents. The Jackson County Circuit court issued a restraining order last week prohibiting A1peoplesearch “from selling such information about Missourians or allowing consumers to search its database using Missourians’ Social Security numbers.”

The New Jersey Supreme Court has broken new ground in its ruling that Internet service providers cannot release users’ personal information without a valid subpoena. A local police department investigating a possible computer access crime submitted a subpoena to the Internet Service Provider that wasn’t associated with any filed court case. The court determined that under the New Jersey constitution residents have more extensive privacy rights than provided in the U.S. constitution.

Find a Wisconsin voter’s address, voter registration status, party affiliation, data of registration and voting history for current and inactive Wisconsin voters. The search requires the input of the first and last name and date of birth.

In a prior roundup of government sites with voter registration lookups, I forgot to mention the National Association of Secretaries of State collection of voter registration record verifications. This isn’t a comprehensive list, and some of the links were dead the last time I checked, but it’s worth adding to your bookmarks.

Want to find some of these links on your own? Try using the following phrases in your search engine: “Am I registered to vote?” and “Look up your voter registration”.

If you’re researching background on health care providers take a look at the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System database. You’ll find any type of medical service provider who accepts Medicare or Medicaid. Search by partial name, city, state or zip code. Results may include home address, business address and telephone number, type of service offered, professional license type and number, and the states in which they are licensed.

The database isn’t limited to licensed professionals; it also includes case managers and addiction recovery service staff, among others. Some non doctor licensees include acupuncturists, chiropractors, physical therapists and nurses.

Addiction recovery counselors in California may be certified by any accredited organization. Two certification databases are at the California Certification Board of Alcohol and Drug Counselors and the California Association of Addiction Recovery Resources. Find people working as alcohol and drug counselors, who may not be certified, at the American Academy of Health Care Providers in the Addictive Disorders database. This site also lists the employers.

The New Hampshire Department of Corrections Offender Locater database can be searched by partial last name. The inmate search covers inmates currently in a Department of Correction facility. Results include Date of Birth, Prisoner ID#, Booked Date, Current Parole Date, Maximum Parole Date, Facility, Case ID, Offense Date, Court Docket and Conviction Crime.

Note the Department of Corrections explanation of the sentencing dates listed for the inmate:

The inmate locater displays all sentencing information currently available. Only the current controlling sentence shows the original minimum and original maximum release dates. Offenders with consecutive sentences remaining to be served, technical parole violators, and/or non-New Hampshire state-sentenced offenders serving sentences in New Hampshire facilities may not include the original minimum or original maximum release dates because this data is either not available or has not been fully calculated.

Review the professional and disciplinary background of 44,000 physicians and surgeons licensed to practice in Illinois. Search the database by doctor’s partial first name, partial last name, city, specialty keyword or hospital affiliation. Select a physician’s name to see specialty certifications, legal and disciplinary actions for the past 5 years, and resume details. Disciplinary listings may point to licenses issued in other states, malpractice judgments and claim settlement amounts.

The announcement of the database was issued by Gov. Blagojevich:

Over 85 percent of all licensed physicians and surgeons have provided the information necessary to create their profile in categories that include: the location and scope of practice, the type of insurance the physician accepts, specialties and certifications, legal and disciplinary actions taken against the physician, his or her educational background and any professional activities or honors the physician would like to add. Physicians’ licenses are subject to renewal in July 2008. Before a license is renewed, physicians must provide the information for their profiles.

The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania is formulating new policies regarding public access to court case files. The Notice from the court highlights the proposed removal of Social Security numbers and bank account numbers from future court files. The public can submit comments by email, which are due by May 28, 2008.

The New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Public Access to Court Records recently solicited comments on its proposed policy changes. Read the submitted comments and the report on policy changes.

An Opinion issued by the North Dakota Attorney General confirms that email messages from government employees “acting within the scope of their public positions” are public records “regardless of whether it is located at their private homes or businesses.”

Last year, I wrote about a similar determination by the Idaho Supreme Court and the Arkansas Supreme Court. The courts, not the government entity, must determine whether public employees’ emails are private, according to the Arizona Supreme Court.

Read a recent round-up of other state court decisions: Are public employee e-mails secret?, The Des Moines Register, March 18, 2008.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press tracks public records news. Subscribe by email or RSS.

While some people may endeavor to scrub their online reputation, most people aren’t concerned about personal information on the Internet. Investigators make use of formally and unintentional, detrimental and laudatory personal information that’s posted online to check the background of witnesses, jurors, plaintiffs, defendants, insurance claimants, potential business associates or employees and anyone whose reputation and activities must be known. That’s a deep pool, and the Internet can offer a lot that isn’t otherwise easily accessible.

Government agencies that regulate professional licenses are increasingly putting violations by licensees on their Web sites. But don’t overlook private associations of professionals that discipline their members, because they may have descriptions of alleged wrongdoing that go beyond that on the government Web site. Take a look at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) disciplinary action for a David J. Burton (use your “find” tool). Now look at the State of Illinois, Division of Professional Regulation entry. He was charged with a violation of the code of ethics of AICPA, but the government site doesn’t have a record of this.

Generally, you find citations and enforcement actions at the Web site of the agency that regulates the specific profession. Select the profession in the drop-down menu at the Colorado State site for a list of license violations. This is a badly designed site, without a search by name mechanism. I have the same complaint about the North Carolina Real Estate Commission disciplinary actions, but those can be uncovered with a search engine query.

Here are some other government sites listing professional license disciplinary actions:

California Chiropractic Examiners (Search names in all disciplinary reports with a search engine query.)

California Court Reporters

California Physical Therapy Board, Citations and Disciplinary Actions

Ohio State Board of Emergency Medical Services, Disciplinary Actions (Search at Google example: kavanaugh intitle:”disciplinary actions” site:ems.ohio.gov/)

Accountants

Maryland State Board of Public Accountancy

Ohio Accountancy Board Disciplinary Hearings

Educators

Pennsylvania Department of Education, Professional Standards and Practices Commission

Vermont Department of Education

Do you have a favorite site of professional license disciplinary actions?

Search by name or partial name to find disciplinary actions by the California Department of Corporations against employees of escrow agents. Results provide full name, date of action and the restriction imposed.

This database contains listing of individuals that, from January 1, 1991 to the present, have been censured, suspended, or barred by the California Department of Corporations pursuant to Financial Code section 17423 of the Escrow Law.