GovSearch

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the source of Carroll's GovSearch data?

Carroll's obtains verification of its government information directly from the government offices that are listed. Carroll's data is continuously updated by fax and telephone confirmation. In other words, we call every number in our books and make sure that the person at the other end is indeed who we say they are.

Are there any coverage limits in Carroll's data?

Carroll Publishing is the most comprehensive source available for government contact data at all levels. However, we are not able to cover all 9,618,160 government employees (source: Bureau of Labor Statistics). Areas that we do not cover include many mid and lower level staff positions; most federal, state and local boards and commissions; schools; state district courts; municipal or county courts; local parks; district fire and police stations; libraries west of the Mississippi; or private hospitals. At this time, we are unable to provide users with the name of their specific local government official using “Lookup My Elected Officials.” To date, no comprehensive source of local mapping data is available to provide that function. Instead, we provide the complete list of officials from that locality. We are continuously expanding our biographical information on high-level government officials. We provide over 12,000 biographies of federal and state legislators, cabinet officials, federal judges, governors and lt. Governors and local officials from the top 50 cities and counties. At this time, we do not have biographies of heads of state and local agencies and departments or state-level supreme court and appellate judges.

What information does Carroll's GovSearch cover?

Find a Person/Place/Department/Position

Federal Directory
Officials in the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches.

Federal Regional
Officials in the non-DC offices of the Federal government.

State
Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of state governments. We do not include most state boards and commissions or district courts.

Municipal
7,900 cities, towns, and villages. Cities over 15,000 in population include mayor, councils, and major department heads. Small cities, under 15,000 in population, include complete contact information and the chief elected official. Cities under 1,500 in population are not included.

County
52,716 listings
All of the nearly 3,100 counties in the U.S. with major department heads. We exclude school superintendents, local boards and commissions and municipal and county courts.
Biographical Information
Search biographies of over 12,000 high-level government officials, including Federal cabinet members, members of Federal and State Legislatures, Federal judges, governors and lt. Governors, and local city and county government officials from the largest 50 cities or counties.

My Elected Officials

Put in your address to find your individual Federal and State elected officials. Also includes complete city council and county commission rosters. No current local government mapping service exists to search for your specific local representative.

How can I search Carroll's data?

There are a variety of searches available. Under the FIND header on the GovSearch home page you will see several links for finding people, positions, offices, places and biographies. You may find government people or offices, functions, at all levels and in all branches of government.

Also, under TRACK you may obtain information about people and their position changes in Government.

In addition under the LOOKUP heading that is in each page you may do Lookups of Elected Officials as well as look for useful phone numbers and seb site links.

See the Help page to see specific instructions.

How often is it updated and is it reliable?

Carroll's obtains verification of its information directly from the government offices that are listed. Carroll's data is continuously updated by fax and telephone confirmation. In other words, we call every number in our books and make sure that the person at the other end is indeed who we say they are.

How do I get more information?

Double clicking on a person's name, or a department or organization will link to additional information, such as a biography, or Mission Statement.

Why can't I just buy, say, $5 worth of data?

Our current pricing structure does not allow for "by the sip" data sales. We currently allow users access to our data on a yearly subscription basis.

What search criteria may I use to mine Carroll's data?

Depending on the FIND query used and your subscription, subscribers may search on a first name, last name, position, office, department, committee or Agency title fragments or keywords, government branch, party affiliation, state, county, municipality, and on county or municipality population (population search to be available soon).

How can I sort Carroll's data?

You may sort a query's result list by clicking on any of the column headings that are highlighted (underlined).

How do I print a chart?

Charts are available as PDF documents. When you have obtained the PDF file you want, print the chart for the chosen office from within Acrobat® Reader by selecting "File" then "Print" from the toolbar menu.

How do I print non Chart GovSearch information?

Highlight the section of information you wish to print and then select "Edit" then "Copy" from the toolbar menu. Open your word processor or text processor (e.g., Word, Notepad, WordPerfect, WordPad). Paste the information from the browser window to the word processor document. Select "File" then "Print" from your toolbar menu.

Can I download data to create a mail list or to include in my contact database?

Result listings may be downloaded from the results of a query by following results page instructions. Click the box next to the names you wish to include. When you have selected all the names you want, click the "Make List" button. See the topic Download information in the Help page for instructions on downloading information.

Depending on your computer configuration, the contact information may get displayed as a spreadsheet in your browser window. If so, you can save the contact information as a separate file by selecting 'Save As...' from your browser's File menu. If it is a comma-delimited ASCII file, you may "Save to Disk" or cut and paste the information into a text file on your computer. You may then use your contact management, word processor spreadsheet, or database software to import the information into file to be used for creating mail lists.

What is a ".pdf" file?

PDF is a universal file format that preserves all of the fonts, formatting, colors and graphics of any source document, regardless of the application and platform used to create it. PDF files are compact and can easily be viewed and downloaded over the Internet; See How to Download Adobe Acrobat® Reader in our Help page for additional information about downloading the Acrobat® Reader for viewing the Organization Charts. You will be directed to Adobe's Acrobat® Reader download site when you click on the button below.