SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – Want to check up on someone’s criminal record?
Well, now you can do it easily online thanks to a new bill passed allowing public access to court records.
Utah legislators have passed a bill, H.B. 249, expanding access to Xchange, a state site for public Utah court records.
The bill allows the site to be accessed by paying a $5 fee instead of a monthly subscription. This will make it easier for the general public to search the database.
After creating an online profile, users can search for court documents by first and last name. Information such as felonies, arrests, charges, probable cause statements and more are available for public viewing.
Users will be charged $.20 for each search and $.50 to read each document. The fees will be deducted from the upfront $5 fee used to sign up. Once the $5 runs out, you can refill your account again — there’s no limit to how many times a user can pay the upfront fee.
Typically, these court records are already public, but users would have to access the documents at a courthouse which proves much less convenient than an online search. The program is commonly used by journalists, lawyers, police officers and companies for looking up cases.
“This significantly enhances your ability to access court records,” said Ron Gordon, State Court Administrator. “Our team has been working diligently over the past year to make this tool available to the public.”
To get started searching, click here.
