Ways To Remove Court Records From The Internet

Many people are embarrassed when they end up in court. While most people feel relieved when their court case is over, they never think that they might be facing a difficult time removing their court records from the internet. Well, if you fall in this category, then you have come to the right place. In this article, we will discuss several ways in which you can remove your court records from being searchable on the internet.

The internet is full of information, and that includes court records. If you are a victim of this, you know how hard it can get to find a job or start a new business if your court records show up online. There are highly authoritative websites that use court records for their research, and they can make this information public.

Luckily, it’s possible to remove court records from the internet through a number of methods.

How to Remove Court Records from the Internet?

If your court records rank highly, you have two options to remove them:

1).  Complete Removal

If you want to completely bring down your court records from the internet, you need to file for a motion to seal or expunge your court records.

Filing for expungement is a legal way of removing legal records from the internet. This process eliminates any convictions or arrests from the criminal records entirely. The public, as well as the court and the prosecutor, can’t access these criminal records, and it will appear as if they never existed in the first place.

Sealing or expungement is only offered to less serious crimes like misdemeanors, citations, and others. A judge is also more likely to seal civil court records like divorce decrees, trade secrets, medicals records, and settlement agreements. On the other hand, criminal offenses like mugshots, child abuse, and sex offenses can’t be expunged. This is unless the crime is very old or minor.

If the judge grants your request for sealing or expunging your court records, you still need to approach the relevant websites with the help of an attorney. A qualified attorney will request them to remove the article on your court records from the internet. This is important because the expungement law varies by state, and this order is only directed at law enforcing agencies.

It does not refrain websites or news organizations from disclosing your expunged records. Although some third-party sites will automatically remove your court records, others will not. Therefore, all you can do is present them with evidence of your court records dismissal and request them to remove your record from the internet.

2).  Suppress Court Records in Search Engines

If a judge denies your request to expunge your court records, your next best option is to do search engine suppression. Generally, suppression is the process of creating a network of positive or relevant web content with the intent to push down the court records from the first page to the other pages in Google.

For this method to work, you need to use SEO options like backlinks and keywords to make the content rank higher to get more clicks and traffic.

Consistently create relevant content, and your court records will move to the latter pages in Google. Although your court records will not be completely removed, they will not appear on Google’s first pages and are less likely to be seen.

However, you should note that there are several factors that come into play to determine the timeframe for suppressing court records. It is, therefore, recommended to get the help of professionals who will first analyze the website and come up with a strategy to suppress your court records.

Measures to Protect Yourself From Online court Records

There are things you can do to change your personal data in your online records. Here are some of them:

• Google Yourself

To get started, you want to Google yourself and identify any information that your name is associated with online. Search for your personal information on several pages and track the results that you want to remove from the online space. Make a list of this information including private and damaging results.

• Change Your Contact and Address Information

If the internet searches are affecting your private life, you may consider changing your phone number and use a dedicated number for all your government forms. Also, instead of using a physical street address, consider getting a P.O Box.  Attach your email address to the P.O Box rather than your home address.

• Visit the County Clerk’s Office

After changing your contact and address information, visit your county clerk’s office to get it updated.

Summary: Ways to Remove Court Records from the Internet

• Get a copy of your court record, this will help you determine if the records published about you are accurate or not.
• Look for errors in the records. If there are errors, then you can request a correction or removal.
• If the online record is out of date, then you can request that it be updated.
• If the record is inaccurate or out of date, you may want to submit a request to the website to remove it. The law requires that they comply with this request.
• You may also want to discuss expungement options with your attorney if applicable.

Conclusion

If your online court records infringe on your privacy, you can use any of the above methods to seek a solution.