Free Court Records Search — Federal, State & County Case Lookup

California court records are split by court level and county, since each Superior Court, such as Los Angeles County Superior Court or San Diego Superior Court, runs its own separate online case portal rather than sharing a statewide system, and search availability varies widely by county. Basic case number and party name lookups are usually free, but viewing full documents or ordering certified copies almost always requires a fee, and some counties charge simply to register for online access. Appellate and Supreme Court opinions are free through the California Courts website, a helpful contrast to the fragmented trial court situation. A California-specific quirk is that many family law, juvenile, and certain civil harassment case files are confidential or require in-person review at the courthouse clerk's window, and sealed or expunged records won't appear in any public search regardless of county. First-time searchers should confirm which specific Superior Court branch handled the case, since large counties like Los Angeles have multiple courthouse branches with separate physical filing locations even though the online portal is countywide, and using the exact case number, once known, is far faster than a name search prone to duplicate matches.

In short: No unified statewide search; each Superior Court runs its own case portal.

Texas court records are managed at both the county and state level, with felony and civil district court cases typically searchable through each county's district clerk website, such as the Harris County District Clerk or Dallas County District Clerk portals, while misdemeanors and lower-value civil cases sit with the county clerk or justice of the peace courts. Basic case searches are usually free, but Texas has no single statewide public case lookup, so tracking someone across counties means repeating the search county by county; viewing full documents or getting certified copies always involves a fee, and some counties use a paid subscription system like re:SearchTX for deeper access. Appellate opinions from the Texas Courts of Appeals and Texas Supreme Court are free through the Texas Judicial Branch website. A quirk worth noting is that many rural county clerks still require in-person or mailed requests since digitization varies widely outside major metro counties. A practical tip: always search using the full legal name and date range when possible, since Texas's large population creates frequent common-name collisions, and cross-check the case number format, which differs by court type and county.

In short: Statewide re:SearchTX exists; full access often via county clerks.

Florida offers one of the more accessible state court systems for public search: most counties participate in the Clerk of Courts' online docket systems, and the statewide Florida Courts E-Filing Portal along with each county clerk's site, like the Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts or Orange County Clerk, lets you search civil, criminal, family, and probate case dockets free of charge at a basic level. Viewing certain documents, especially those with sensitive personal information, may require redaction review or a small fee, and certified copies always cost extra. A Florida-specific quirk is that the state statutorily restricts online access to some case types, such as juvenile dependency or certain family law filings, and sealed or expunged records are excluded entirely, sometimes without any public indication the record ever existed. Also, county-level electronic access varies enough that older cases predating each county's digitization cutoff may only be viewable in person. A useful tip for first-time searchers: use the statewide Florida court records portal for name-based searches across participating counties, since it saves time compared to guessing which county holds a given case, then verify document details directly on the originating county clerk's site.

In short: Most county clerks offer free online case search.

New York's trial court records are searchable through the New York State Unified Court System's WebCrims for criminal cases and the eCourts/WebCivil Supreme system for civil filings, both free for basic case and party searches, though full document images sometimes require an in-person visit to the county clerk or a fee for certified copies. New York City courts and many upstate counties both feed into these statewide systems, but coverage and digitization depth vary by county, meaning older cases or certain local courts may only have records on paper at the courthouse. A distinct New York quirk is that family court and matrimonial case records are generally sealed from public online view by statute, and criminal records can be sealed after certain dispositions under state sealing laws, removing them from public search entirely. Appellate Division decisions are freely available through the Unified Court System's site as well. A practical tip: when searching WebCrims or eCourts, use the exact docket or index number if you have it, since New York's common surnames combined with the state's large population make name-only searches prone to returning many unrelated matches, particularly in New York City boroughs.

In short: Free statewide e-filing and civil case search via NYSCEF.

Pennsylvania is unusual in offering a genuinely useful statewide tool: the Pennsylvania UJS Portal at ujsportal.pacourts.us lets you search Magisterial District Court, Common Pleas, and appellate case records for free across all 67 counties from a single interface, covering docket entries, case status, and scheduling information at no cost. Full document images beyond the docket sheet, however, often require a request to the specific county's clerk of courts or prothonotary and may carry a fee, and certified copies always do. A Pennsylvania-specific quirk is that the UJS Portal explicitly excludes certain record types from public display, including many juvenile, sealed, and expunged cases, and some financially related civil case details are limited under state confidentiality rules. Another wrinkle is that criminal history background searches for employment purposes typically require going through the separate Pennsylvania State Police PATCH system rather than the court portal itself. A helpful tip for newcomers: search by the participant's full name and county together on the UJS Portal, since statewide name searches can return an unwieldy number of results in populous counties like Philadelphia or Allegheny without narrowing by county or date range.

In short: Unified Judicial System portal offers free statewide docket search.

Illinois has no unified statewide court records portal, a significant quirk that surprises many researchers, so access depends heavily on which of the state's 102 counties the case was filed in; Cook County operates its own Clerk of the Circuit Court online case search covering civil, criminal, and traffic dockets for free, while many downstate counties rely on the statewide Odyssey-based system used by some circuits or require in-person requests at the courthouse. Basic docket searches are typically free where available online, but full document copies, especially certified ones, require a per-page fee and sometimes an in-person visit to the circuit clerk. Illinois Supreme Court and Appellate Court opinions are freely searchable through the Illinois Courts website. A notable restriction is that many criminal records get sealed or expunged under Illinois law and are removed from public view once that process completes, and juvenile records are confidential by default. A practical tip: identify the correct circuit and county before searching, since Illinois court administration is organized by judicial circuit rather than any single state system, and Cook County's own portal will not show cases filed in neighboring DuPage or Will counties.

In short: No single statewide portal; Cook County and others run their own.

Ohio court records are managed at the county and municipal level, since the state has no single searchable portal covering every court; the Ohio Courts Network provides case information for many county courts of common pleas, while Cuyahoga County and Franklin County both run detailed free online docket search tools covering civil, criminal, and domestic relations cases. Full document images are sometimes free to view online in more digitized counties, but certified copies and older paper records still require a fee or in-person clerk request. Ohio Supreme Court opinions and dockets are freely searchable through the Ohio Supreme Court's website. An Ohio-specific quirk is the sealing and expungement process, which under state law removes qualifying records from public court databases entirely, and juvenile court records remain confidential by default and are not part of any public search. Domestic relations and probate matters are also often handled by separate specialized county courts rather than the common pleas court, adding another layer to track down. A practical tip: confirm which specific county court division handled the case, criminal, civil, domestic, or probate, since Ohio counties frequently split these into distinct courts with separate case number sequences and sometimes separate online systems.

In short: Most county clerks publish free online dockets.

Georgia court records are decentralized by county and court type, though the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority operates a statewide search covering many Superior Court civil filings and liens, generally free for basic index searches with fees for full document access or certified copies. Criminal case searches, however, typically require going directly to the specific county's Clerk of Superior Court or State Court, such as Fulton County Superior Court or Gwinnett County State Court, since there's no single free statewide criminal case lookup. Georgia's appellate courts, including the Georgia Court of Appeals and Georgia Supreme Court, publish opinions and case status free online. A Georgia-specific quirk is that magistrate court records, covering small claims and minor criminal matters, are often only searchable in person at the county courthouse rather than online, particularly in smaller counties. Records sealed or restricted under Georgia's record restriction statute won't appear in standard searches. A practical tip: start with the county-level clerk's website for the relevant court type before assuming a statewide search exists, and always confirm whether a case was filed in Superior, State, or Magistrate court, since Georgia splits jurisdiction between these in ways that aren't always intuitive.

In short: Access is largely county-by-county; some use PeachCourt.

North Carolina has consolidated much of its court record access into the NC eCourts Odyssey portal, a relatively modern statewide system that has rolled out county by county and now covers the large majority of North Carolina counties for civil, criminal, and traffic case searches, generally free for basic docket lookups. Counties not yet migrated to eCourts still rely on older systems or in-person clerk of superior court access, so coverage can vary depending on when a given county transitioned. Full document images and certified copies typically require a fee regardless of which system a county uses. A North Carolina-specific quirk is that expunged records are removed entirely from public eCourts search once the expunction is granted, and certain juvenile and domestic violence protective order records are restricted from general public view by statute. Appellate opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals and North Carolina Supreme Court are freely available online. A practical tip: when using eCourts, search using the full name plus date of birth or an approximate age range if offered, since North Carolina's growing population has increased the frequency of name collisions, especially in populous counties like Wake and Mecklenburg.

In short: Statewide eCourts portal rolling out free public search.

Michigan court records are managed locally, with no single statewide public case search portal; instead, each county's circuit court, district court, and probate court maintains separate online access, and coverage varies significantly, with counties like Wayne and Oakland offering more robust free online docket search than smaller rural counties that may require in-person requests. The Michigan Courts website provides case search for the Michigan Court of Appeals and Michigan Supreme Court free of charge, along with published opinions. Certified copies of any trial court document always carry a fee set by the specific county clerk, and some counties charge for printing even non-certified copies from an in-person terminal. A Michigan-specific quirk is that district courts handle misdemeanors and civil cases under a certain dollar threshold separately from circuit courts, which handle felonies and larger civil matters, meaning a single individual's court history might be split across two entirely different local court systems with separate case numbering. Records sealed under Michigan's set-aside (expungement) law are removed from public access once granted. A practical tip: identify whether the matter would fall under district or circuit court jurisdiction first, since guessing wrong wastes time searching the incorrect court's system entirely.

In short: No unified statewide portal; access varies by county.

New Jersey consolidates much of its court record access through the New Jersey Courts' eCourts system, which covers Superior Court civil, criminal, family, and appellate matters statewide, offering free basic case search by name or docket number through the state judiciary's website. Viewing full case documents or obtaining certified copies typically requires either a paid account tier or a request directly to the vicinage (county-based court district) that handled the case, and New Jersey groups its 21 counties into 15 vicinages for court administration purposes, an organizational quirk that can confuse first-time searchers expecting a one-to-one county match. Municipal court records, covering traffic and minor offenses, are handled separately by each individual municipality rather than through eCourts, requiring direct contact with that specific municipal court. A notable restriction is that New Jersey's expungement statute removes qualifying criminal records from public eCourts access once granted, and certain family court matters remain confidential by default. A practical tip: determine whether the matter was handled at the Superior Court (vicinage) level or municipal court level before searching, since these are entirely separate systems with different access points and neither will show the other's cases.

In short: Free statewide civil and criminal case lookup via NJ Courts.

Virginia's court records reflect its distinctive city-county split, since independent cities like Richmond and Virginia Beach maintain separate circuit and general district courts from any surrounding county even when the names overlap. The state provides a free online case search through the Virginia Judiciary's Case Information system, covering Circuit Court, General District Court, and Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court records, though each locality's court still administers its own docket, so search results are locality-specific rather than aggregated statewide in one query. Full document copies and certified records require a fee and often an in-person or mailed request to the specific circuit court clerk. A Virginia-specific quirk is that Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court records are confidential by default and excluded from public online search entirely, and expunged criminal records are removed once a court grants expungement. Virginia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals opinions are freely searchable through the judiciary's website. A practical tip: verify whether you need the independent city's court or the surrounding county's court, since Virginia's dual system frequently trips up out-of-state researchers unfamiliar with the city-county distinction.

In short: Free statewide circuit and district court case search.

Washington State's primary tool for court records is the Washington Courts' online case search system, which covers Superior, District, and Municipal Court records across most counties for free at a basic docket level, alongside the statewide Judicial Access Browser System (JIS-Link) that offers deeper search for a subscription fee aimed at frequent users like employers or attorneys. King County and Pierce County also maintain their own more detailed local Superior Court case search portals with free basic access. Certified copies and full document retrieval typically require a fee and sometimes an in-person request to the specific county clerk's office. A Washington-specific quirk is that the state's Vacate and Seal statutes allow many qualifying convictions to be removed from public court record searches once granted, and juvenile records are generally confidential and excluded from standard search. Washington Supreme Court and Court of Appeals opinions are freely available through the courts' website. A practical tip: use the statewide case search first to identify which county the case was filed in, then move to that county's local Superior Court portal if you need more detail than the basic statewide docket search provides.

In short: Free statewide name and case-number search.

Arizona court records benefit from a relatively strong statewide tool, the Arizona Judicial Branch's Public Access to Court Information system, which covers Superior Court cases in most counties, including Maricopa County Superior Court and Pima County Superior Court, for free basic case and docket searches. Maricopa County additionally runs its own more detailed case search portal with free access to docket entries, though full document images and certified copies typically require a fee or in-person request to the clerk of the superior court. Arizona Court of Appeals and Arizona Supreme Court opinions and case status are also freely searchable online. An Arizona-specific quirk is that records set aside under the state's post-conviction relief process remain technically part of the record but are annotated as set aside rather than fully removed, which differs from a true expungement and can confuse people expecting the record to disappear entirely. Justice courts, handling smaller civil and misdemeanor matters, maintain separate case numbering from Superior Court, so a full history sometimes spans two systems. A practical tip: search Maricopa County's dedicated portal directly for cases there rather than relying solely on the statewide system, since it often has more complete docket detail for that county specifically.

In short: Free statewide case search covering most courts.

Tennessee court records are managed at the county level with no single comprehensive statewide public case search, though many counties, including Shelby County (Memphis) and Davidson County (Nashville), operate their own free online docket search tools for circuit, criminal, and chancery court cases. The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts provides appellate court opinions and case tracking for the Tennessee Court of Appeals, Court of Criminal Appeals, and Tennessee Supreme Court free online, but trial-level records require going directly to the relevant county clerk's office or court clerk website. Full document copies and certified records always carry a fee, and many rural counties still require an in-person or mailed request since online docket access varies widely by county resources. A Tennessee-specific quirk is that Nashville's consolidated Metro government combines what would elsewhere be separate city and county court administration, while chancery and circuit courts handle overlapping civil jurisdiction in ways that can require checking both. Expunged records are removed from public access once granted under Tennessee's expungement statute. A practical tip: confirm which specific county court clerk handled the matter before searching, since Tennessee's 95 counties each maintain independent systems with no cross-county aggregation available to the public.

In short: No unified statewide portal; access by county.