government records
State-maintained files
Government records are official documents created or maintained by governmental bodies—federal, state, or local.
These include birth certificates, court filings, tax records, legislative proceedings, and correspondence.
Government records are generally presumed public unless classified or otherwise restricted.
She requested government records under the Freedom of Information Act.
- meeting minutesFormal record of discussions
- statutesFormally enacted laws
- census dataCollected demographic statistics
- voter rollsLists of eligible electors
- birth certificatesDocuments proving nativity
land deeds · maps · court rulings · war diaries · organizational charts · affidavits · contracts · treaties · budget reports · tax filings · case files · paper trail · subpoenas · licenses · permits · declassification · public archives · presidential speeches
- historical recordsdiary, census record, annual reviews, letter, census data
- recordsworld record, record, Guinness, documents, album
- government documentswhite paper, laws, gazette, constitutions, official documents
- government transparencyFOIA, freedom of information, sunshine laws, open data, open meetings
- library collectionsrare books, manuscripts, medieval manuscripts, illuminated manuscripts, first editions
- public recordsbirth certificate, death certificate, birth certificates, death certificates, marriage license
government recordsprivate correspondence
Confidential written communication
personal papers · business records · private letters · personal diaries · personal letters
government recordsstate secrets
Protected government information
sealed records · classified documents · classified information · oral traditions
government recordsoral tradition
Culture passed by speech
handshake deals · hearsay · folk memory · word of mouth · gossip