How we choose, review and describe official links
Official links are central to our editorial approach. We use them to help users reach the correct agency, records page or public search route instead of relying on unsupported shortcuts.
What counts as an official source
An official source may include a county sheriff office, jail, detention centre, clerk of court, court administrator, state court system, state corrections department, police department, county government, city government, federal court system or another government-controlled public records page.
We avoid presenting unofficial directories, scraped databases or ad-heavy pages as official sources. When a source is not official, our wording should not imply that it is.
How we label source routes
Clear source labels prevent confusion.
| Source route | How we describe it | User caution |
|---|---|---|
| Sheriff/jail roster | Official custody or booking information route when maintained by the agency. | Confirm current status before action. |
| Clerk/court portal | Official case information route when maintained by the court or clerk. | Check case numbers and disposition carefully. |
| State portal | Official statewide source when provided by the state. | Coverage may vary by county or record type. |
| Federal court access | Official federal case access route when relevant. | Federal court records differ from county arrest records. |
Link maintenance
We manually review official links during content creation and updates. If a link breaks, redirects incorrectly or becomes outdated, we aim to replace it with the best current official route.
Some agencies intentionally limit online records or require phone, mail, in-person or formal public-records requests. In those cases, we explain the limitation rather than inventing a link.
No misleading affiliation
Linking to an official agency does not mean we are affiliated with that agency, endorsed by that agency or authorised to speak for that agency. Official agencies control their own records, websites, policies and public information.