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Make Your Case with Court Records

Learn how to find court records as part of a people search, background check or research project.

Court records are a matter of public record. For that reason, they're an integral part of any people search or public records inquiry. In fact, court records can quickly answer some of your most pressing people search questions. A court records search can often tell you, for instance, a person's full legal name, his or her whereabouts and, of course, whether or not he or she has a criminal history. More than that, though, you can find court records that will tell you if a person has been sued, if a person's property has liens against it, if a person has been married or divorced, if a person has filed for bankruptcy, if a person has inherited money and more.

Indeed, if it happened in the halls of justice, in most cases—with a few exceptions—you're entitled to know about it. For an enthusiastic researcher who wants to learn how to find court records, the possibilities are therefore endless. Start your court records search by:

1. Accessing financial court records from bankruptcy courts.

2. Accessing estate-specific court records from probate courts.

3. Accessing personal and property court records from state courts.

4. Accessing criminal court records from federal courts.

5. Accessing historic court records from government agencies.

Court Records Tools and Techniques

If you need to search court records, use these “how-to” strategies for gaining access to court records:

• Search court records from bankruptcy courts

Because bankruptcy courts keep court records about individuals, companies and other entities that have filed for bankruptcy, they're a good place to turn if you're about to do business with someone, or if you're about to engage in an important financial transaction with a new partner, peer or customer.

PeopleSearch.info Recommends: To learn how to find court records from bankruptcy courts in your state, consult the National Archives Web site, which has state-specific links to information on doing a court records search with bankruptcy courts.

• Search court records from probate courts

Probate courts are where family's turn when someone has passed away, as they keep court records related to wills and estates. For that reason, probate court records are a must-have resource for people who are researching family finances.

PeopleSearch.info Recommends: Because probate courts deal primarily with inheritance laws, it goes without saying that probate court records generally come into being following a death. Before doing a probate court records search, therefore, you should consider verifying an individual's death by accessing public death records. Try the National Center for Health Statistics, which has a list of state links where you can obtain death certificates, or Records.com, where you can do a people search that includes death records.

• Search court records from state courts

State courts maintain court records having to do with any legal matter that falls under state, not federal, jurisdiction. This includes court records for a majority of crimes, as well as court records pertaining to traffic violations, contractual disputes and divorce.

PeopleSearch.info Recommends: To find state courts in your state or in other states, consult the National Center for State Courts, which will connect you with appropriate phone numbers and Web sites with which to begin a state court records search.

• Search court records from federal courts

Although state courts have broad jurisdiction, federal courts also handle a variety of cases and are therefore an important part of any court records search. Among the court records they keep are those related to federal law—involving, for example, criminal court records related to drug trafficking or the U.S. mail—antitrust, interstate commerce, patents, copyrights, Constitutional law and maritime law.

PeopleSearch.info Recommends: You can find court records—including criminal court records—from federal courts by registering with PACER, a government-sponsored service that provides access to court records from U.S. District, Bankruptcy and Appellate courts. The Federal Judiciary is another useful resource when you're engaged in a federal court records search.

• Search court records from the government

Forget federal courts. Federal government also keeps court records, particularly those of historical significance, which may prove useful to people who are researching high profile court cases, to lawyer who are looking for legal precedents or even to families who are studying their genealogy.

PeopleSearch.info Recommends: When it comes to government offices, the National Archives is your best bet for court records, as it collects prominent court records and criminal court records from American history for the purpose of education and research.

Court Records Tips and Tactics

• Although some Web sites allow you to search court records for free, paid court records search services are more likely to be current and—most importantly of all—accurate. Paid court records search services are also more likely to be comprehensive, including court records from a variety of courts and court records systems.

• Because there is no single national database of court records—federal courts, state courts, etc., each keep their own individual court records systems—in order to effectively search court records you must first know where to look. That requires knowing, for instance, where a convicted or suspected criminal lives, has previously lived or even has simply visited, if you think he or she may have been arrested while they were traveling.

• If you're doing a court records search, it's important to remember: Not all court records are public, although many are. Judges who are presiding over court cases may choose at their discretion to "seal" the court records from an individual case. They may do so to protect the parties involved, for instance—if they are minors, for example, or if their safety is in question—or for privacy purposes.

• While many court records have been digitized for access online, not all court records—especially not all older court records—can be viewed on the Internet. If you're looking for specific court records, therefore, but can't find them, an in-person visit to the courthouse may be in order.

• Court records can be helpful not only in a people search, but also in building a legal case. If you're entangled in a lawsuit, or even a criminal case, a court records search can turn up information about yourself, about witnesses and about other parties—not to mention about legal precedents—in your case that can come to the aid of both the defense and the prosecution.

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