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District of Columbia court records

Who holds it: Two courts serve the whole District: the DC Superior Court (trial court of general jurisdiction) and the DC Court of Appeals. DC has no counties, so there are no county courts1

Last checked against official sources on .

On this page
  1. What is public and what is sealed
  2. More details
  3. Related records in District of Columbia
  4. How District of Columbia handles it
  5. Official copies vs look-alike sites
  6. Sources

Fees

Civil: certified copy $5. Family: certified copy $5, photocopy $0.50 per page, record search $10 per name. No fee is stated for online docket search. Criminal Division copy fees are not published2

Statewide case search

Portal (portal-dc.tylertech.cloud/Portal) for Civil, civil Tax, Auditor Master and Probate; eAccess (eaccess.dccourts.gov/eaccess/home.page.2) for Criminal, criminal Tax and Domestic Violence. Both linked from the court's own page3

What is public and what is sealed

What is public
Docket entries in civil, criminal, criminal domestic violence and tax cases, plus probate; document images in some cases only3
Sealed and confidential records
Sealed and juvenile records need an Administrative Order of the Chief Judge; juvenile case records are confidential by statute. A person seals their own record by motion to the Criminal Division; automatic sealing is not yet in effect4

More details

Bulk data
Case-level and aggregate data by Data Request Form to the Strategic Management Division; allow at least 2 weeks for review4
Criminal history checks: state repository
Metropolitan Police Department, Arrest and Criminal History Section, 441 4th Street NW, Room 550 South; (202) 727-42455
Criminal history checks: fee
$7 (cash or card in person; $7 money order by mail, no checks)5
Criminal history checks: who may order
The individual, age 18+; Option B allows the individual to authorize another person5
Divorce records: who holds it
DC Superior Court, Family Court (filings through the Central Intake Center, Moultrie Courthouse JM-540; certified copies via [email protected])6
Probate: who holds it
Register of Wills, Probate Division, DC Superior Court, 515 5th Street NW, Room 3147

How District of Columbia handles it

  • Marriage records are at the Superior Court, not DC Health; birth and death are at DC Health8
  • The DC Courts are outside DC FOIA and run their own Data Request process4

The District's own offices, searches and fees: District of Columbia court records.

Official copies vs look-alike sites

A certified copy comes only from the office that holds the record; reports and "research copies" sold by commercial sites are not issued by any District of Columbia office. How to tell an official record source from a paid look-alike.

Rules in other states: court records in every state. Everything else in District of Columbia: District of Columbia public records guide.

Sources

Every fact above links to the official page it comes from; all 8 sources were checked on November 4, 2026. Fees and rules change, so check the office's own page before you pay or travel.

  1. Superior CourtDistrict of Columbia Courts
  2. Civil Filing FeesDistrict of Columbia Courts
  3. Superior Court Case SearchDistrict of Columbia Courts
  4. Data RequestsDistrict of Columbia Courts
  5. Police Clearances (Arrest and Criminal History Section)Metropolitan Police Department
  6. Family Court Central Intake CenterDistrict of Columbia Courts
  7. Request for Probate Searches and CopiesDistrict of Columbia Courts
  8. MarriageDistrict of Columbia Courts