Public records come in many different forms. In general, public records are those have have been filed by federal, state, or local government agencies and are available for review by the public. Obviously, not all government records are accessible by the public. Most of the most essential or useful public records, however, can be easily accessed by members of the general public. Sometimes they are available free of charge while in other instances, the person requesting the records may have to be an administrative fee. This fee is most likely to apply when searching for local records, and in this case it is usually paid directly to the Clerk of Courts in the county where the record has been filed.

The specific laws and regulations vary from state to state, so information that is considered to be public in one area may not be in another. In general and in most locations, files including criminal records, sex offender registration documents, court dockets, professional licenses, business licenses, and real estate records are public and can be obtained rather easily. These documents are kept in actual files. In many states, people can gain access to these documents either by contacting the Clerk of Courts or through on online search. Many online search engines, however, charge fees for information that should be free, and in some cases they do not provide all that they advertise, so it is best to go directly through the court system.

In Florida, the Escambia County Public Records are available through the Clerk of the Circuit Court's office. Individuals are free to stop by the office located in Pensacola, Florida or call to make an appointment. Many of the county's public records are also available online through the Clerk of the Circuit Court's website. Access to some of these public records comes with an administrative fee that varies depending upon the number of pages being requested. Payments can be made directly to the Clerk's office. Other records, such as marriage records and mortgage foreclosures, can be looked up via the website for no charge.