Court Docket Search

Depending upon the nature of the case, access to court dockets may be a simple matter or quite complicated. If the case is a federal case or one that is playing out in one of the U. S. District courts, most of the information will be found online. However, to access this, a paid registration is usually required. Federal court docket searches, state court docket searches and criminal court docket searches are all performed in basically the same way; access to one or more of these databases may be somewhat limited, however.

Access Via an Online Search

Once the court has been narrowed down and access has been granted to the court’s website either by way of a paid registration or by a legal research membership, the next step is to locate the correct docket entries. The searcher will be directed to input as much information as possible, including the last name, first name and/or middle initial of an individual party or the name of the business. With any luck, the search results will be sufficiently narrowed such that the sought-after party litigant will be available.

Docket Entries

After the party litigant is found from the court docket search, the information that will appear will include a list of all parties to the action, the case number, the name of the judge, and any attorneys that have entered their appearance in the matter. Also available for perusal will include the date a pleading was filed, the number that has been assigned to that pleading and a short summary or text of the pleading which identifies it with some particularity.

By clicking on the number sign, the document itself can be viewed either via a pdf application, saved to the searcher’s computer or printed out. All of these will require a nominal fee. Every pleading that has been entered is shown in the docket entries; however, some pleadings may not be available for viewing.

If a pleading has been sealed, this means the parties have sought permission from the judge to have the document sealed from public view. This may be done because the information in the document may be considered prejudicial or contain information that is confidential and injurious to a party litigant. The only parties who will have access will be the people directly involved in the action.

Types of Searches Performed

Criminal court docket searches are searches that provide information about any and all cases that have been filed against a defendant by any state or federal municipality and the final adjudication or the status of the case. These cases are usually captioned “State versus” and the name of the party defendant or the accused. A civil court docket search will provide information about all cases that are not criminal.  

Court Docket Searches Performed at the Courthouse

If a local court does not have a searchable database online because of the cost of implementation or the funds are simply not available to small jurisdictions, a trip to the local courthouse may be required. Assuming a trip to the local courthouse is necessary, the court records search can be done in one of two ways.

There may be a computer or mainframe system where local information is stored. The search will be performed in the same way as would be done on-line. The litigant’s names will be required, or at least the last name and possibly first initial, as well the date on which the suit was filed. This minimal information may result in a list of names which will require weeding through in order to find the proper party sought.

A more detailed method of conducting in-house court records searches involves actually finding court logs in which all information about a party and/or case has been entered. Sometimes this method is a more effective means of obtaining court information, although can be much more time consuming.  The information is stored in the books, which are arranged alphabetically and by year. It simply requires pulling each book under the correct alphabet and year and searching each page until the information is located.

Online Court Dockets

An Internet-based court records search requires first that the name of the court is known. Once that information is available and the website is located, the area where the court records is located is usually found in a page known generally called “ecf” or “electronic court filings.” Anything that has happened in the case is entered into the ecf section.

In order to access this information, the search may require you to register and set up a password before proceeding. After this has happened, then the searcher can locate information about the parties, the case history and in some instances actually print some of the pleadings that have been filed in the case. The information is sorted chronologically from the inception of the case through to the most current court activity. Even cases that have been closed can usually be accessed through the ecf page.

Specific State and County Docket Information:

Cuyahoga County Docket

Oklahoma Court Dockets