I recently had the chance to review a locally developed app called Public Record. This application provides search capabilities for legal documents and court records in the state of North Carolina. There are multiple applications that provide this capability, but I cannot compare the functionality as I have not tried them. As a supporter of locally developed apps, I was happy to take a look when Richard Brown (the developer) reached out and asked for me to take a look. I am currently working on a video for the site; but wanted to my impressions here.

The appeal of this app is to those who need access to the data but do not have the time to travel to each county courthouse to go get the records. If you have the citation number and the county, you can pull most information. If you are just testing the app, and haven’t been the system (that you are aware of) it is a bit daunting…but no more daunting then back-end county/state systems it is pulling data from. The app seems very complete for the scope it covers, and I like the fact that it includes a built in dictionary of many of the legal terms related to the data you may be searching for.

The great story behind this app, like many developers, Richard built the app after dealing with the frustration of trying to get these types of documents thru other means. Developing an app for your own needs, and then seeing the value of it, allows users to benefit from your hard work! I hope to post a demo video soon,