Dallas County, TX Public Records

The Texas state government has a flexible approach to public records, allowing citizens to access most government records via chapter 552 of the Texas Government Code. Marriage and divorce records are open to the public, though birth and death records are restricted until 75 and 25 years afterward, respectively. Criminal records are also considered public state records, so anyone can access them if they are proven not to be confidential. For example, juvenile court records are not considered public; however, sex offender information is available via the public sex offender registry. Dallas County public records also deem property information accessible except if they have been determined confidential by the state public information act. Requests for property information like taxes should be routed to the tax collection office or Dallas central appraisal district.