Start local, verify jurisdiction, then widen the frame

What does regional news research cover?

Regional research identifies who governs a place, which offices keep its records and which outlets cover it. Use the beat guides for subject sources. Use this hub for place-based ones.

Start here

Which government controls the issue?

Many services sit with governments that are not the county or the city. The Census Bureau sorts local governments into five types: county, municipal, township, special district and school district.

The 2022 Census of Governments counted 39,555 special district governments. That count covers the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The 2017 count was 38,542.

Special districts operate independently from the county or municipality. They can collect their own tax revenue. The Census Bureau lists water, fire, library and mosquito abatement districts among them. Check which unit actually runs the service you are covering.

Use these directories to confirm the unit and its officials:

• USAGov local governments: contact information for local governments by state.
• USAGov elected officials: names and contact details for federal, state and local officials.
• USAGov state and local election offices: the office for registration, voting and election results.
• USAGov state emergency management agencies: the state agency for disaster and weather response.
• BIA Tribal Leaders Directory: contact information for each federally recognized tribe.

The Census Bureau’s Individual State Descriptions report, listed on the same Census page, summarizes how local governments are organized in each state. A federal directory does not replace the local government’s own site. Confirm contacts there.

Which office holds a property, court or vital record?

Property, deed, court and vital records sit in different offices, and the office name changes by county and state.

• Assessor. Holds assessment data. In Illinois, the chief county assessment office keeps a property record card for each parcel. The Illinois Department of Revenue says “Individual property tax records are maintained at the local level of government and not by the state of Illinois.” The Illinois County Treasurer, also called the County Collector, can assist with property tax bills.
• Recorder, register of deeds or clerk. Holds deeds, mortgages, liens and plats. Miami County, Ohio says “The County Recorder keeps and maintains a complete and permanent record of every document which conveys or encumbers land within the county.”
• Clerk of court. Holds dockets and filings. The Library of Congress Law Library says “Dockets and court filings are generally maintained by the clerk of the court where the case was filed.”
• State vital records office. Holds birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates. The CDC says “The federal government does not distribute certificates, files, or indexes with identifying information for vital records.”

The office name is not the same everywhere. These county examples show the range:

• Miami-Dade County, Florida: The Clerk of the Circuit Court is the official recorder under Chapter 28 of the Florida Statutes.
• Madison County, Illinois: The Recorder records documents that transfer land.
• Sonoma County, California: One department is named the Clerk-Recorder-Assessor.
• El Paso County, Texas: The County Clerk lists official public records. Property appraisal rolls sit with the Central Appraisal District.
• North Carolina counties: The UNC School of Government says registers of deeds keep real estate records, birth and death records and marriage licenses.

These are examples, not a national list. Check your county’s own site. Federal cases are different. The federal courts’ court records page sends you to PACER. For more court sources, see the Crime, Courts and Law beat guide. For federal dockets and state court portals, use the Court Records Search guide.

To find who owns a parcel and read its deed, tax and lien records, use the Property Records guide.

How do you do a county records search?

A county records search starts with the record type and the county, not with a name search on a general website.

1. Name the record type and the county where the property, case or event sits. For vital records, use the state where the event happened, as the CDC’s Where to Write for Vital Records page directs.
2. Find the county’s official site through the USAGov local governments directory.
3. Look for the assessor, the recorder or register of deeds and the clerk of court. Property records search works the same way. Start with the county office that holds the document.
4. Check which years the online index covers. Sonoma County’s online index starts in 1964. Earlier documents are indexed in handwritten volumes at the office.
5. Check access rules for court records. The Library of Congress Law Library says availability varies by court and time period, and some databases charge for access.
6. If the record is not online, ask the office how to get it. Use the request steps on Local News Resources. The Reporters Committee (Advocacy) Open Government Guide covers open meeting and open records laws in every state.

Do not treat a private site that sells records as the record. Get the document from the office that holds it.

To recap the method: confirm the jurisdiction with USAGov and the Census of Governments. Name the record. Find the assessor, recorder, clerk of court or state vital records office on the county’s own site. Log the office and the date. The sections below add Census geography checks and local media mapping.

How do Census geography tools help?

The Census Geocoder matches a U.S. address to the geographic entities that contain it.

The tool works only for addresses in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Island Areas. Use it to confirm the county, place and district before you pick an office.

• The Geography Program hosts mapping files, reference maps and reference files.
• data.census.gov offers data profiles for states, counties, places, tribal areas, ZIP codes and congressional districts.
• QuickFacts gives population, income, housing and business statistics.
• A ZIP Code Tabulation Area is a Census product that approximates USPS ZIP Codes. It is not a ZIP Code. Do not treat the two as the same boundary.

Census tools describe geography and population. They do not tell you which agency holds a record. For survey estimates, margins of error and table IDs, use the Census and Demographics beat guide. The Census newsroom lists news releases and information for media.

Where do state legislatures, open meetings and data portals fit?

Congress.gov links to the legislature website for each state, and Data.gov’s catalog includes datasets from some state, city and county open data sites.

Congress.gov says “Use the links below to visit similar websites for the U.S. states and territories.” Use the state site to find bills, committee pages and legislators. USAGov also helps you find and contact elected officials.

Data.gov says numerous states, cities and counties have launched open data sites. Check the local government’s own portal for the dataset. A portal shows what the government chose to publish. It may not hold the record you need.

The Reporters Committee (Advocacy) describes its Open Government Guide as a summary of “the legal landscape for open meeting and open records laws in every state in the U.S.” For campaign finance and federal policy sources, see the Politics and Policy beat guide.

How do you map local media?

An FCC public file for a broadcast station includes ownership data and quarterly lists of significant programs on community issues.

Start with the FCC Public Inspection Files. Search by call sign, network affiliation, channel number or facility ID. The FCC’s database search page also lists AM, FM and television station searches and an ownership report search.

Medill’s State of Local News 2026 report says “In 2026, 238 counties are news deserts, lacking any source of reliable local news based within the community.” The count rose by 26 in one year. The report is a Northwestern University project. Medill built its count of commercial TV newsrooms from FCC licensing databases and public inspection files.

Do not treat a directory listing as proof that an outlet is active. Open the site, confirm recent publishing and note ownership. Two desk guides help:

• U.S. Local Newspapers: confirm that a newspaper still serves its community.
• Current U.S. Newspapers: find active newspapers by place, with no ranking claim.

For station and network records, see Network and Broadcast News Research. Scanner and emergency radio monitoring is a separate task. Use the Police Scanners and Emergency Radio guide to find feeds and confirm what you hear.

How do you build a local contact map?

A contact map lists the governments, offices, outlets and people for one place, with the date each was checked.

1. Confirm city, county, state, tribal and federal jurisdiction.
2. Find the agency page, records officer and public meeting calendar.
3. Add local outlets, public media, universities and community organizations.
4. Record time zone, geography and recurring hazards that shape the assignment.
5. Add the state election office and emergency management agency.
6. Add the office name and web address for each record type you may need.

Add university departments, extension offices and professional societies from the Find Experts and Sources guide. Keep the map in your verification log from the Journalist Toolbox.

What should you check before you file?

• Is the issue with a city, county, township, school district, special district or tribal government?
• Did you name the record and the office that holds it, and read that office’s own page?
• Does the online index cover the years you need?
• For a birth, death, marriage or divorce record, did you use the state where the event happened?
• Do your geographies match? City limits, counties and ZIP codes are not interchangeable.
• Is each outlet active, with recent original reporting and ownership noted?
• Did you log the web address, office and date for each source?

Rules and office names vary by state and county. Check your state’s law.

What changed on October 30, 2026: expanded the page into a full regional hub. Added the local records section, county records search steps, Census geography tools and legislature and data portal sources. Linked the new police scanners guide. The original government, Census and FCC links stay.

Next step: Local News Resources

Sources

1. USAGov state and local governments usa.gov
2. USAGov local governments usa.gov
3. USAGov elected officials usa.gov
4. USAGov state and local election offices usa.gov
5. USAGov state emergency management agencies usa.gov
6. BIA Tribal Leaders Directory bia.gov
7. Census Bureau Government Organization overview census.gov
8. Census Bureau 2022 Census of Governments story census.gov
9. Census of Governments about page census.gov
10. Census Geography Program census.gov
11. Census Geocoder census.gov
12. data.census.gov census.gov
13. Census QuickFacts census.gov
14. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas census.gov
15. Census Bureau newsroom census.gov
16. Congress.gov state legislature websites congress.gov
17. Data.gov open government page data.gov
18. FCC Public Inspection Files fcc.gov
19. FCC database search page fcc.gov
20. Medill State of Local News 2026 report northwestern.edu
21. Library of Congress Law Library, dockets and court filings loc.gov
22. U.S. Courts court records page uscourts.gov
23. CDC Where to Write for Vital Records cdc.gov
24. Illinois Department of Revenue property records answer illinois.gov
25. Miami County, Ohio Recorder miamicountyohio.gov
26. Miami-Dade Clerk official records miamidadeclerk.gov
27. Madison County, Illinois Recorder madisoncountyil.gov
28. Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor sonomacounty.gov
29. El Paso County, Texas records search epcounty.com
30. UNC School of Government, registers of deeds unc.edu
31. Reporters Committee Open Government Guide rcfp.org (Advocacy)