📱 Add OPR to your Home Screen iPhone & iPad — two quick taps: Comprehensive 2026 explainers on each major public-records system — what changed, what's open, what's locked. Court Records in 2026 What's new, what's open, what's locked. PACER, sealing standards, Tyler/FTR, and the state systems that changed under you. Civil Records in 2026 The quiet revolution in eviction, liens, and the public right to know. Free Law Project, Stanford SCAC, JPML, FRCP changes. Criminal Records in 2026 The half-sealed system. Clean Slate, NLEAD, automatic expungement, LAPD breach, Giglio databases. Federal Courts in 2026 The year the filing system broke and the replacement began. CM/ECF tear-out, PACER modernization, $125M settlement. Arrest Records in 2026 The year access quietly inverted. Mugshot law shifts, LAPD breach, giglio-bradylist, named-feed coverage. Bankruptcy in 2026 Confirmed filings, failed strategies, and a new distribution calendar. Saks, Spirit, Purdue $7.4B, Harrington 603 U.S. 204. Original, government-sourced reporting on the systems that govern public-records access — the paywalls, the backlogs, and the enforcement actions reshaping who gets to know what. The PACER Paywall: Why Americans Pay $0.10 a Page for Records They Already Funded A $231 million federal program. 619 million record requests. A $125 million refund settlement just affirmed on appeal. And a quiet 2026 modernization that may finally end America's three-decade paywall on public court records. FOIA Is Broken: The 2026 Backlog Numbers Washington Doesn't Want You to Read 1.7 million federal FOIA requests. A backlog that grew at 47 agencies. Exemption 7(E) cited 335,000 times in a single year. The transparency law turned 60 in 2026 — and the numbers tell a story. The Mugshot Extortion Industry Is About to Get Crushed The FTC's February 2026 PADFAA reminder. The May 2026 Kochava ban. Walmart's $100 million settlement. California's AB 1475. How the 2026 data-broker crackdown is quietly rewriting the rules. Practical Guides Short, source-verified how-to guides on finding records, clearing arrests, EEOC compliance, the California Delete Act, and free Census research. Where to Find Arrest Records Online in 2026

State portals, sheriff jail rosters, GovInfo, PACER — and what Clean Slate laws now hide. What's Inside a Police Arrest Report Booking sheet, probable-cause affidavit, incident narrative — what's public and what's redacted. Clearing Your Arrest Record (Clean Slate 2026) 13 states + DC automatically seal eligible records. Federal Clean Slate Act of 2025 explained. Can Someone See Who Viewed Your Record? The honest answer: no — with FCRA, DPPA, and HIPAA exceptions you should know about. Remove Yourself from Online Databases California DROP, the Delete Act, broker opt-outs, Google removal tools, and the scam playbook to avoid. Background Checks vs. Criminal Records How FCRA, EEOC, Ban-the-Box, and 2026 state Fair Chance laws stack up. EEOC Background-Check Rules for Employers (2026) Disparate-impact protection, the case-by-case standard, and 2026 EEOC rule revisions. American Community Survey & Census Tools Free demographic, social, economic, and housing data from the Census Bureau — refreshed February 2026. Search Engine vs. Public-Records Database What Google finds, what it misses, and where the canonical records actually live. Real Estate Property Background Search County assessor, deed history, permits, title reports, CLUE, and seller disclosures — what each reveals. Government Agency Press Releases (2026) DOJ, FBI, SEC, FTC — the primary enforcement feeds, plus 2026 changes like the new National Fraud Division. What Makes Open-Public-Records.com Special 12.9 million case pages, primary-source verification on every claim, free with no upsells. Free Public Records vs. OPR — What's the Difference? Free at the source vs. free and easy to use. The PACER fee saga, FOIA basics, and the scam economy.