Reclaim The Records is a not-for-profit organization formed to break down barriers to public access of public records. The work is driven by genealogists, historians, open government advocates and other researchers.
Once the group has located public record sets with value to researchers, they file Freedom of Information or Open Data requests in compliance with local or state laws. If the government doesn't comply, then Reclaim The Records takes them to court.
The ultimate goal is to digitize these public records and put them online for free, without logins, paywalls or usage restrictions. Data sets are maintained by Reclaim The Records.org, and provided to Family Search and The Internet Archive.
The first records reclaimed are primarily from New York and New Jersey, but they represent the first easily available indexes to birth, death and marriage records in these states.
The website maintains a "To-Do" list of records they are attempting to reclaim. It also provides a way for readers to suggest record sets that are currently restricted.
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