Can a P.I. Get Someone's Private Records?

Even though I have a private investigator license, it doesn't mean I can get police reports about people without any authorization from them. This comes as a surprise to attorneys sometimes.

We can get our own client’s police reports of course, as long as they sign a release we can provide to the police records clerk. Same goes for other types of protected records, like:

• Medical Files

• Law Enforcement reports

• School records

• Drug rehab files

• Social Services records

• Military files

• Employment records

So for these types of private records about someone else involved in your client’s legal case, you’ll have to subpoena or get a court order for them. 

What I can do is a records investigation to help determine whether interesting private records exist, where they’re located, and how to subpoena them.