Public records is a broad term, and when people come to us saying they want to remove public records from Google, they usually mean one specific type that is causing them problems. It might be a court case, a property transaction, a voter registration entry, a professional license listing, or something else entirely. The approach depends on what type of record it is, where it lives, and whether there is a legal or practical path to removal. We are going to break down every major category so you know exactly where you stand.
Court Records
Court records are the most common type of public record that causes reputation problems on Google. Criminal cases, civil lawsuits, bankruptcy filings, divorce proceedings, evictions, and small claims disputes all enter the public record when filed. From there, database sites like CourtListener, Justia, Trellis, DocketBird, and Casemine scrape and republish them.
Court records are removable from these third-party sites, especially when the underlying record has been sealed or expunged. We have written individual removal guides for every major court database platform, all linked from our court record removal service page. For specific case types, see our guides on removing criminal records, arrest records, bankruptcy records, divorce records, eviction records, and small claims records.
Property Records
Property records include deeds, mortgages, tax assessments, and transaction histories. These are maintained by county assessors and recorders and are considered fully public in nearly every jurisdiction. Unlike court records, there is generally no legal mechanism to seal or expunge a property record.
The good news is that property records rarely rank highly on Google for a person's name search. They usually only become a problem when aggregated by people-search sites, which combine property data with other personal information. The path here is to opt out of the people-search sites that are displaying the information. Our guides on removing your information from BeenVerified, Whitepages, and TruePeopleSearch cover the opt-out process for the major platforms.
Voter Registration Records
Voter registration records are public in most states and include your name, address, party affiliation, and voting history. These records are often scraped by people-search sites and can expose your home address to anyone with internet access. Some states allow you to request confidential voter status, particularly if you have a documented safety concern. Contact your state or county elections office to ask about your options.
For the broader issue of making your address harder to find online, our guide on how to make your address unsearchable covers the full approach across all source types.
Professional License Records
State licensing boards publish records for doctors, lawyers, real estate agents, contractors, nurses, and dozens of other professions. These records typically include your name, license number, status, and sometimes disciplinary actions. Active license records are generally not removable because the licensing board publishes them as a public service. However, if a disciplinary action has been resolved, you may be able to petition the board to update or remove the negative notation.
If a third-party site is republishing your licensing information in a misleading way, you can contact the site directly and request corrections or removal. Google may also be willing to de-index pages that display inaccurate professional information.
Business Filings and Corporate Records
Secretary of state filings, LLC registrations, corporate officer listings, and UCC filings are all public records. These typically show your name in connection with a business entity. Removal from the state's own database is generally not possible while the business is active. If the business has been dissolved, some states will eventually archive or remove the record from their public search. For third-party sites that aggregate this data, opt-out or removal requests are your best option.
Google's Own Tools
Google has several tools that can help with public record removal. The "Results About You" feature allows you to request removal of search results that display your personal contact information, including your address and phone number. Google also has a legal removal form for requesting de-indexing of pages that contain information that has been sealed or expunged by court order. For pages that display personal information in a way that creates a risk of identity theft, financial fraud, or physical harm, Google has additional removal policies.
These tools do not remove the information from the source website. They remove the result from Google's search index, which means it will not appear when someone searches for your name on Google. For most people, this is the most impactful action because Google is where the vast majority of name searches happen.
Which Records Can Be Removed and Which Need Suppression
The honest answer is that some public records can be fully removed from Google, and some cannot. Court records, especially those that have been sealed or expunged, are the most removable. People-search aggregations of property, voter, and other data are removable through opt-out processes. Professional license records and active business filings are the hardest to remove because the source agencies consider publication part of their public mandate.
For records that cannot be removed at the source, suppression is the strategy. This means building positive, authoritative content around your name so that the problematic records get pushed off the first page of Google results. This is a core part of what we do, and it works. Over time, the public record becomes a footnote buried deep in your search results rather than the headline.
If you have tried these steps and are still stuck, or if you just do not have the time, we can help. Book a consultation or book court record removal services and we will take it from here.