How to Look Up Court Records: A Step-by-Step Guide
Court records are mostly public, but there is no single national search. This guide shows you how to find the official portal for any state or federal case, search it, and get copies — with a direct link to every state and DC.
Are Court Records Public?
In the United States, court records are presumptively public. The principle that court proceedings and their records are open to the public is deeply rooted in the common-law tradition and reinforced by the First Amendment, and it means that anyone — not just the parties or a lawyer — can generally inspect a case file. That is why you can look up a lawsuit, a criminal case, or a probate matter without explaining why you want to see it.
The presumption is strong but not absolute. Courts routinely shield categories of records where openness would cause specific harm: juvenile cases, adoptions, matters sealed by a judge, records wiped by expungement, and sensitive personal identifiers such as Social Security and financial account numbers. Everything below is about the large majority of records that are open, and how to find them at their official source.
One caution before you start. These records are public information, but they are not a background-check product. Federal law — the Fair Credit Reporting Act — regulates how information may be used to screen people for employment, housing, or credit. Reading a public docket is fine; using court records to make those decisions is governed by rules that public-records portals do not satisfy.
How to Search Court Records Online
The mechanics are the same almost everywhere, even though the website changes from state to state. The whole task comes down to five steps: figure out which court has the case, open that court's official search tool, search by name or case number, read the docket, and order copies if you need them.
- Identify the right court. Work out where the case was filed. Criminal, civil, family, probate, and traffic matters are usually heard in a state trial court in the county where the events happened; federal matters are heard in a US district court. Knowing the state and county — or that the case is federal — tells you which records system to use.
- Find the official portal. Go to the state judiciary's own website or its statewide case-search portal. Where a state has no single portal, records live with each county clerk of court, so you go to that county clerk's official site instead. Start from the official domain, not a third-party site that resells the same public data.
- Search by name or case number. If you have the case number, that is the fastest and most exact way to pull a single case. Otherwise search by the party's name, then narrow by filing date, court, or case type to find the right record among people who share a name.
- Open the docket and read the case history. The docket lists every filing and event in the case in date order. From there you can see the charges or claims, the parties, the judge, hearing dates, and the outcome. Some documents are viewable online; others are available only at the courthouse.
- Request copies if you need them. For an official or certified copy — the kind a court or agency will accept — order it from the clerk of the court that holds the file. Certified copies almost always carry a per-page or per-document fee, even when the online search itself is free.
The single most common mistake is starting on a commercial “public records” site instead of the court's own portal. Those sites repackage the same public data, often charge for it, and are frequently out of date. Begin at the official judiciary or clerk website every time — the directory below links you straight to each one.
State Court Records: Find Your State's Official Portal
Pick your state to see its official judiciary site, its statewide case-search portal where one exists, what is and is not public there, and the counties we cover in detail. States marked Statewide portal have a single search that spans the state; the rest keep records with individual county clerks, so you search county by county.
Federal Court Records: PACER and Free Alternatives
Cases in the federal courts — the US district courts, bankruptcy courts, and courts of appeals — are not in any state system. They are filed electronically through CM/ECF and searched nationwide through PACER, Public Access to Court Electronic Records. PACER charges a small per-page fee to view documents, though a quarterly free-usage threshold waives the charge for light users. Much of the same material is also mirrored for free in the CourtListener/RECAP archive. Our federal court records and PACER guide covers the fee math and the free workflow in detail.
Searching Court Records by County
In states without a single statewide portal, the county is where the records actually live. The office that holds them is the clerk of court — sometimes called the circuit clerk, district clerk, or clerk of the superior court, depending on the state. If you know the county but not much else, the method is the same: find that county clerk's official site and use its case search. Our guide to finding county court records walks through it, including the trap of common county names — there is a Smith, a Montgomery, and a Marion County in many different states.
What You Cannot See: Sealed and Expunged Records
A sealed record still exists but is hidden from public view by court order; an expunged record is treated, for most purposes, as though the case never happened. Juvenile matters, adoptions, and many family cases are confidential by default. When a case is restricted this way it will not appear in the public search, and a clerk cannot release it to you — that is the system working as intended, not a gap in the portal. If you are a party to a sealed case, the court that sealed it is the only place that can give you access.
Free vs Paid Court Records Sites
Most official court searches are free to run, and many let you view the docket at no charge; what you typically pay for is a certified copy from the clerk. That is the honest cost structure — free to look, a modest fee for official paper. A handful of state systems do charge subscription or per-search fees for full online access, and we note those on each state's page.
The paid sites you see advertised — the “instant background check” and “search anyone” services — are not courts. They resell public records, frequently at a premium, and are not permitted to be used for FCRA-regulated screening. You almost never need them: the official portal for the right court, linked from this page, has the authoritative record. Start from the Legal Journal homepage for the rest of our research guides, read how the US court system works, or find law libraries near you for hands-on research help.