United States Public Records

The U.S. has 3,143 counties & county equivalents recognized by the Office of Management & Budget for statistical purposes.^naco.org

Texas leads with 254 counties; Delaware has the fewest at just 3. Washington D.C. and the U.S. territories operate as county equivalents.^census

The Freedom of Information Act was signed into law on July 4, 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, making the U.S. one of the first nations with a federal right-to-know law.^foia.gov

In fiscal year 2024, federal agencies received a record 1,501,432 FOIA requests, a 25.15% jump over 2023.^{DOJ OIP}

PACER, the federal courts' electronic records system, holds over one billion documents filed across district, bankruptcy, and appellate courts.^{pacer.uscourts.gov}

In 2023, more than 16,000 law enforcement agencies reported 14 million+ criminal offenses to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program.^{FBI UCR}

The CDC's National Vital Statistics System recorded 3,628,934 births and 3,072,666 deaths in the United States, the official measure of American life.^{CDC NCHS}

In 2024, 73.6% of citizens of voting age were registered to vote (~174 million), and 65.3% cast a ballot in the presidential election.^Census

Los Angeles County, California had an estimated 9.76 million residents in 2024, the most populous county in America, with more residents than 40 entire U.S. states.^{Census 2025}

The least populous county with a permanent population is Loving County, Texas: just 64 people at the 2020 Census, yet it maintains a full county clerk, sheriff, and deed registry.^{Texas Association of Counties, county directory}

All 50 states and D.C. maintain public sex offender registries. The National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) aggregates them, over 53 million searches already in 2026.^nsopw.gov

The National Association of REALTORS reports 4.06 million existing-home sales in 2024 (the lowest level since 1995), each generating a deed recorded at a county Recorder's Office, the bedrock of American property law.^NAR