public-records

Search public records for $ARGUMENTS.

[!IMPORTANT] This skill requires the investigator agent's full authorisation gate before invocation. Document the jurisdiction for every record found — public records laws vary significantly.

Step 1: Court records

Search court records for filings involving the subject as plaintiff, defendant, or party.

Australia:

• AustLII — published court decisions and tribunal decisions (free, comprehensive coverage of published judgments)
• eCourts (NSW), VCAT (VIC) — state portals for specific jurisdictions
• Note: not all court records are published online in AU — many first-instance decisions are not publicly accessible

New Zealand:

• NZLII — published court decisions
• NZ Courts — Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court judgments
• Note: District Court decisions are less consistently published

United States:

• CourtListener — federal and state courts, free
• PACER — federal courts public search
• State court online portals (coverage varies by state)

United Kingdom:

• The Gazette — insolvency, bankruptcy, company winding-up notices
• BAILII for published judgments

Step 2: Business registrations

Has the subject been registered as a director or officer of any company?

Australia:

• ASIC Connect — director search across all Australian registered companies; includes current and historical appointments, insolvency notices
• ABN Lookup — ABN/ACN cross-reference, business name registration

New Zealand:

• NZ Companies Office — director appointments, shareholding, historical roles, annual returns

UK:

• Companies House — director history, all registered companies

US:

• State secretary of state portals — coverage varies
• OpenCorporates — global cross-jurisdiction search

Step 3: Property records

Check within the scope defined by the gate record only. Property records reveal addresses — handle carefully.

Australia:

• Property records are managed by state-level land registries (NSW LRS, Titles Victoria, LINZ for NZ)
• These are largely restricted to paid searches or in-person access. Note as requiring manual follow-up if within scope.

New Zealand:

• LINZ — land title searches (paid)

United Kingdom:

• HM Land Registry — public property search (reveals addresses)

United States:

• County assessor public search — coverage and access vary significantly by county

Step 4: Professional licences

If the gate record covers professional background:

Australia:

• AHPRA — all registered health practitioners (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, physios, psychologists, optometrists, osteopaths, etc.)
• ASIC Financial Advisers Register — licensed financial advisers
• State law societies for lawyers

New Zealand:

• Medical Council of NZ
• Nursing Council of NZ
• NZ Law Society — practising certificate search
• FMA Financial Services Register

United States:

• State licensing boards for medicine, law, finance, real estate, engineering — check state-level

Step 5: Electoral roll

United Kingdom:

• UK electoral register — public search via local council

United States:

• Voter registration is publicly available in many states — availability and access vary

Australia:

• AU electoral rolls are NOT publicly searchable online. AEC rolls can only be inspected in person at AEC offices. Note this as checked but inaccessible via public search.

New Zealand:

• NZ Electoral Commission has limited public search capability. Note what's accessible.

Follow-on skills

This skill covers formal records (court, licences, registrations). For professional history, social presence, and people-search aggregators, run /investigator:people-lookup alongside this skill — together they constitute a complete background check.

If company records surface a complex ownership structure worth mapping, hand off to /investigator:corporate-ownership.

Rules

• Document jurisdiction for every record found. "Court records" without jurisdiction is meaningless.
• Note when a resource requires account creation or paid access — mark as checked but inaccessible, and suggest manual follow-up.
• AU property records are largely paid/restricted — don't attempt paid searches. Note as requiring manual follow-up.
• AU electoral rolls cannot be searched online — note clearly, don't skip without explanation.
• Distinguish between "no records found" (searched, nothing returned) and "not checked" (didn't search this source).

Output format

### Public records: [Name]

**Gate record:** [link or copy]
**Jurisdiction focus:** [AU / NZ / UK / US / other]
**Date:** [today]

#### Court records

[Findings or "no published decisions found" per jurisdiction searched]

#### Business registrations

[Director/officer appointments found — or "none found"]

#### Property records

[Within scope: findings or "requires manual follow-up (paid/restricted)"]

#### Professional licences

[Licences found — or "none found in checked registries"]

#### Electoral roll

[Result or "not publicly searchable online in [jurisdiction]"]

#### Source log

| Source | Searched | Result |
|---|---|---|
| AustLII | Yes | [result] |
| ASIC Connect | Yes | [result] |
| [etc.] | — | — |

#### Gaps and limitations

[What couldn't be accessed, what would require non-public access or manual follow-up]