Reddit, I'm trying to research some of my family drama & I need some help...

Redditors,

My parents split when I was young (4ish) and through all the "grown up" drama, my father was arrested & put in jail/prison. I did not meet my father again until I was 18, but we'll get there...

As many of you can imagine, this was not a topic of discussion in my household growing up. When I was 18 & out of the house, I made the decision that I wanted to meet my father again, and my Mom was suprisingly supportive. Shortly after meeting my father, he was re-diagnosed with cancer, and passed away days before my 22nd birthday.

I never had the guts to ask my Dad about what happened in those early years of my life, but I've had trouble reconciling the stories I was told by my mother with the man that I met & spent so much of those last few years of his life with.

About a month ago, my aunt (Dad's sister) sent me a package including pictures, keepsakes of my Dad's and letters that he had written my sister & me after his arrest & while he was in jail/prison. Up until I sorted through this stuff, I had figured I would let things be... But the fact that he wrote to us flies in the face of the things my mother told us growing up... And my Mom has proven to be a drama queen & is known to twist reality to best fit herself at times. Not suprisingly, I have a feeling there is a lot that I was never told -- and may never know because of my fear of broaching the topic with my Dad while he was sick & withering away...

I am doing my best to not regret that decision (to not bring this all up when my Dad was fighting for his life), but I need some help. I'd like to gain access to my Dad's arrest record. Is this possible, I think that such things are public record, but I'm not completely sure... How do I get this information?

All help is greatly appreciated, as I plan to have "a talk" with my Mom & sister once I have more information to try to figure out what really happened all those years ago, which resulted in my Dad being ripped from my life & my Mom making the choices that she did.

Thank you, Reddit.