Over the past fifty years, the divorce rate in the United States had gone up. The bond formed by trust, love, and commitment between two people that had initially resulted to their marriage could easily be shattered given the right circumstances, necessitating the formerly bonded couple to go their separate ways without the burden of their former relationship. Divorces and the events that lead to it are a stressful set of disappointments and dissatisfactions with relief for both parties available only after they had gone their separate ways.

Divorces, however, do not happen just because the parties agreed to the dissolution of their marriage. Just as marriage requires records to be binding, so is a divorce, and the procedures required by law for a divorce to be effective are compiled into divorce records. These records are maintained because it is mandated by law and for practical reasons as well.

These records include the name of the parties, the rationale for the divorce, and other important matters such as history, if any, of domestic violence. Aside from providing a record for the perusal of investigators in case of necessary background checks, they also serve as a means to ensure that the proceedings received the due process of law required and that the proceedings was overseen by an arbiter. More importantly, such records are necessary when one of the parties would apply for a marriage license in case they decide to marry again.

Dawson County, Texas, was established in February 1, 1858, and they have records of divorce from the year 1968. The Texas Department of State Health Services have records of divorces within the state, but certified copies of such records may not obtain from the State Office; rather, they must be obtained from the District Clerk of the County where the divorce was granted. The Texas Department of State Health Services may only give verification whether or not the divorce happened. These requests may be made through the internet using a credit card or through mail by filing out a form available at the website of the Texas Department of State Health Services. Such verification costs twenty dollars and could take anywhere from ten to fifteen days to process.

Copies of divorce decrees are only available from the District Clerk of the County where the divorce was granted. As such a person who seeks to have a copy of such a decree should turn their query on the office of the District Clerk. In Dawson County, the procedure to obtain such a decree involves writing the District Clerk with a request for the information. The more information that could be provided to the office, the easier it would be for the office to locate the decree of divorce and for the district clerk to be certain that the records are indeed the records that are being request for. It is important to note that the person seeking the records would have to respond to any written estimate of charges within ten days after the same was sent, or the request would be considered as automatically withdrawn. The person seeking the information may also ask the district clerk to determine if the information being sought would benefit the public as a whole, and if this is the case, then the payment may be waived or reduced. Under the Texas Public Information Act, all public documents, with exemptions, are presumed to be available to the public.

With the advent of the digital age, however, it had become easier to obtain legal information through the use of the internet. Specialized online databases containing information not limited to divorce abound in the world wide web, and as an added bonus, not only are these databases easy to use, they are mostly free and instant. There is also the added benefit of not having to leave the house and falling in line to conduct the search, one merely has to turn on his or her computer and connect to the web.