How to find court records
Court records are kept by the clerk of the court that heard the case. To find one, work out which court that was (felony, civil, family, probate, small claims or traffic), then use that court's official case search or ask its clerk for a copy.
On this page
Which court heard the case
States split cases between general courts (called district, circuit or superior courts) and limited courts (county, magistrate, justice of the peace or municipal courts). Felonies, large civil claims and divorces usually go to the general court; misdemeanors, small claims and traffic cases often go to a limited court. In Texas, for example, the district clerk keeps district court files while the county clerk keeps county court and probate files (see Texas court records).
Official case searches
Many states run one statewide case search; others leave it to each county clerk. The table below names the official statewide search where there is one. Some are free, some charge per search or per page, and most show only the docket, not the documents. Commercial "court record" sites are not official and may be incomplete or out of date.
What is public and what is sealed
Most case files are public, but juvenile, adoption and mental health cases are usually closed, and judges can seal individual records. Court records are often outside the state's public records act and follow court rules instead. Each state page quotes the rule.
Court records by state
| State | Who holds it | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Unified state judicial system: Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, Court of Civil Appeals, circuit court (general jurisdiction), district court (limited), probate court, municipal courts | — |
| Alaska | Unified state court system (Alaska Court System) administered by the Alaska Supreme Court | Copies $5.00 first document, $3.00 each additional document (per document, not per page) |
| Arizona | Integrated state judicial department: Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Superior Court (a single statewide court with judges in every county | Statutory Clerk of Superior Court fees (A.R.S. 12-284 amounts): copies $.50 per page |
| Arkansas | Circuit courts (general jurisdiction, five divisions: criminal, civil, probate, domestic relations, juvenile) and district courts (traffic, misdemeanors, preliminary felony matters, civil claims up to $25,000). Circuit court records are kept by the county Circuit Clerk | — |
| California | Unified state trial court system: one Superior Court per county (58), unified as of February 2001 | Statewide civil fee schedule (eff. Jan. 1, 2026): copy $0.50/page (GC 70627(a)) |
| Colorado | State court system (Colorado Judicial Branch: county and district trial courts, listed by county), except Denver County Court, which is administered separately from the state courts. | Under CJD 06-01: copies $0.25/page (max $15 for parties) |
| Connecticut | Unified state court system: the Superior Court is the sole trial court of general jurisdiction (civil, criminal, family, housing, small claims, juvenile), organized by judicial district and geographical area. Probate is a separate system of 54 Probate Courts. | Clerk copy fee $1 per page |
| Delaware | Unified state court system (not county courts): Supreme Court, Court of Chancery, Superior Court (criminal and civil cases | Family Court (Schedule of Assessed Costs, effective 7/20/26): document copying $1.00 per page |
| District of Columbia | 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 courts | 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 published |
| Florida | Unified state court system: Supreme Court, District Courts of Appeal, circuit courts and county courts | Copies $1.00/page |
| Georgia | Not unified at the trial level: separate classes of court (Superior, State, Magistrate, Probate, Juvenile, Municipal) with a Superior Court and elected Clerk of Superior Court in every county | Clerk copy fees: $0.50/page uncertified (no assistance), $1.00/page with assistance, certified $2.50 first page + $0.50 each additional |
| Hawaii | Unified state judiciary: Supreme Court, Intermediate Court of Appeals, and trial-level Circuit, Family and District Courts in four judicial circuits (First = Oahu | Online (eCourt Kokua): $3 flat per document of 1-30 pages, $0.10 per page beyond 30 |
| Idaho | Unified statewide court system (Idaho Judicial Branch): district courts with a magistrate division in each county | Copies of court records $1.00 per page |
| Illinois | Illinois Supreme Court, Appellate Court and Circuit Courts | — |
| Indiana | State judicial branch | Clerk document fee: not more than $1 per page for a copy |
| Iowa | Unified statewide Iowa Judicial Branch | Copies $0.50 per page |
| Kansas | A district court in each county with general original jurisdiction of civil and criminal matters (K.S.A. 20-301) | Civil docket fee $173 (K.S.A. 60-2001) plus a Supreme Court additional charge of up to $22 per docket fee to fund non-judicial personnel, authorized from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2030 by 2026 Session Laws ch. 35 (HB 2393). Copy/certification fees for court records are set by each district court (K.S.A. 28-170(a)(3)) |
| Kentucky | Unified Kentucky Court of Justice: District Court (misdemeanors, civil up to $5,000, probate), Circuit Court (felonies, civil over $5,000, divorce | — |
| Louisiana | State court system: district courts are the trial courts of general jurisdiction (judicial districts of one or more parishes) | Statutory ceilings for district court clerks (R.S. 13:841): certification of copy $5 |
| Maine | State-run Judicial Branch: Supreme Judicial Court, Superior Court and District Court under one fee schedule | Copies $2 first page, $1 each further page |
| Maryland | Unified state Judiciary: Supreme Court of Maryland and Appellate Court of Maryland (Annapolis) | Circuit Court: copies $0.50/page |
| Massachusetts | Unified state court system: Supreme Judicial Court, Appeals Court and a statewide Trial Court with 7 departments (BMC, District, Housing, Juvenile, Land, Probate & Family, Superior) | Trial Court uniform fees: $2.50/page attested copy |
| Michigan | One court of justice: Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, circuit court, probate court, and courts of limited jurisdiction | $10.00 plus $1.00 per page (circuit, district, probate) unless another fee applies |
| Minnesota | State district courts with a court administrator for each county, appointed by the district's judges | Certified copy $14 |
| Mississippi | State judiciary with county-based trial courts: Circuit (felonies, civil suits), Chancery (equity, divorce, wills, guardianships, land), County Court (24 counties), Justice Court (small claims to $3,500, misdemeanors, rural traffic), Municipal Courts | PAMEC: $0.20 per page of search results (no-match searches billed as one page), billed monthly, plus an annual renewal fee |
| Missouri | Unified state court system. Case.net databases are organized by Supreme Court, Eastern/Southern/Western appellate districts and individual circuit courts | — |
| Montana | State judiciary: Supreme Court, district courts (general jurisdiction, by judicial district) and courts of limited jurisdiction (at least one justice court per county | $2 per certificate with seal |
| Nebraska | Unified state judicial branch under the Supreme Court: one district court (general jurisdiction | County court: photocopies $0.25/page |
| Nevada | State judiciary headed by the Supreme Court of Nevada | Statutory district court clerk fees (NRS 19.013): copies $0.50 per page |
| New Hampshire | State Judicial Branch: Supreme Court, Superior Court (criminal and civil cases | Circuit Court (schedule dated 07/01/2025): copied material $.50/page |
| New Jersey | State judicial branch (not county government): Supreme Court, Superior Court of New Jersey (with county-based vicinages), municipal courts and the Administrative Office of the Courts | — |
| New Mexico | State judiciary: Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, district courts in 13 judicial districts, magistrate courts, the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, 33 county probate courts and municipal courts | Supreme Court clerk: 10 cents per folio, 5 cents for additional copies ordered together |
| New York | Unified state court system (New York State Unified Court System, administered by the Office of Court Administration) | Court clerks charge County Clerk rates under CPLR 8019(f) via Judiciary Law § 255 (copy 65 cents/page, min $1.30 |
| North Carolina | Statewide North Carolina Judicial Branch with a clerk of superior court office in each county | Copies: $2.00 first page of each document, $0.25 each additional page or fraction |
| North Dakota | State district courts, with clerk of district court services in each county provided by the Supreme Court and funded by the state, through judicial-system employees or service agreements. Clerks are the custodians. Municipal courts are listed separately. | Certified copy $20, additional copies of the same document $10 |
| Ohio | Unified state judiciary under Ohio Constitution Art. IV | Clerk of common pleas: $1 per page for copies of pleadings, process, record or files, including certificate and seal |
| Oklahoma | Unified state court system: 77 District Courts (one per county) with an elected Court Clerk in each county | Court clerk copies: $1.00 first page, $0.50 each subsequent page |
| Oregon | Unified state court system run by the Oregon Judicial Department: circuit courts in every county (36 counties), plus Tax Court, Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. Some small counties share a circuit court website (e.g., Curry with Coos, Harney with Grant). | Location and inspection of court records: $0. Paper copies: $3 per request in a case + 25 cents per page |
| Pennsylvania | Unified Judicial System: Supreme, Superior, Commonwealth Courts, Courts of Common Pleas (county) and Magisterial District Judges | — |
| Rhode Island | Unified, state-run Rhode Island Judiciary: Supreme, Superior, Family, District and Workers' Compensation Courts and the Traffic Tribunal (no county-run courts). Probate courts are municipal. | — |
| South Carolina | State-run court system with county clerks: Circuit Court (Common Pleas civil, General Sessions criminal), Family Court, Probate Court, Magistrate and Municipal courts | — |
| South Dakota | Unified Judicial System: Supreme Court plus circuit courts (trial courts, seven judicial circuits) with magistrate courts handling misdemeanors, minor civil and small claims | Statewide record search by mail/email form: $20 per name (criminal from Jan 1989, civil from Jan 2006) |
| Tennessee | Tennessee's 95 counties form 32 judicial districts with Circuit and Chancery Courts, plus legislatively established Criminal and Probate Courts in some districts, and General Sessions courts. Records are kept by county-level clerks: elected Circuit Court Clerk (often also General Sessions clerk), appointed Clerk and Master (Chancery) | Clerk copy fees under T.C.A. § 8-21-401(i): $5.00 per certification and seal plus $0.50 per page |
| Texas | Not unified: each court keeps its own records. District Clerk keeps district court files (felony, civil, family/divorce) | District clerk: certified copy $5 (certificate and seal) plus $1 per page |
| Utah | Unified state court system: district courts (general jurisdiction: civil, domestic, felony and class A misdemeanor) in eight judicial districts, plus justice courts (limited jurisdiction: most class B/C misdemeanors, infractions, traffic, small claims) and juvenile courts. | Copies of court records: paper $0.25 per sheet |
| Vermont | Unified state court: Vermont Superior Court with 14 units (one per county), divisions civil, criminal, environmental, family, probate, plus statewide Judicial Bureau | Copies 25¢ per page ($1.00 minimum) |
| Virginia | Unified state court system administered by the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia: circuit courts (all felonies | Circuit clerk copies $0.50/page, certification $2 (§ 17.1-275) |
| Washington | State court system administered by the Administrative Office of the Courts: Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, superior courts (general jurisdiction | Superior court clerk copies: certified $5 first page + $1 each additional page |
| West Virginia | Circuit courts (general jurisdiction trial courts | Circuit clerk: $1 per page for a transcript, copy or paper to go out of the office |
| Wisconsin | Unified state trial court: one level of circuit courts handles all case types (civil, criminal, family, probate, juvenile, traffic) in all 72 counties | Clerk of circuit court: copies (certified or not) $1.25 per page |
| Wyoming | Unified state court system: district courts (general jurisdiction: felonies, civil over $50,000, domestic relations, juvenile, probate) and circuit courts (misdemeanors, civil up to $50,000, small claims, protection orders, evictions) in all 23 counties, plus a statewide Chancery Court and the Supreme Court. Each county has a clerk of district court (elected in first- and second-class counties | Inspection is free (in person or at terminals). District court statutory copy fee: $1.00 for a one-page record, $0.50 each additional page |
Each state links to its guide, where every office and fee carries its official source and check date. Fees shown are the state’s fee for a copy; the state guide lists the others.
Get copies from the office, not a look-alike site
Searching an official index costs nothing or the fee the office sets. Some commercial sites that rank for record searches sell subscriptions or reports that are not certified copies. How to tell them apart.