The City of Philadelphia is helping residents and legal professionals better understand how to access city records. In a recent update, the Department of Records explained that not all city documents are kept in one place.
Each city department is responsible for its records. For example, police records must be requested from the Police Department, health records from the Department of Public Health, and building permits from the Department of Licenses and Inspections. While the Department of Records manages many public documents, it does not handle all types, as per the City of Philadelphia.
Many records can be obtained without a subpoena. These include car crash reports, police incident reports, fire records, and emergency medical service reports. These are available directly through the Department of Records.
Other public records available include property deeds, maps, financial disclosure forms for city employees and officials, city regulations, and historical records from the City Archives. The city encourages residents to first check whether the records they need are already public. This can help avoid unnecessary legal steps and save time.
