If you work with public records at all, you quickly realize that different states and different jurisdictions have all kinds of laws/rules/quirks about what they will or will not make available online. Florida, where I work, is an "open records" state -- which means, in practice, that we are pretty darn spoiled because the amount of public information you can access free via the Internet here is awesome. Not so in other locales, where it can often end up costing serious money to obtain a document.
But since free is good -- particularly in these economic times when everybody's budget is lean -- doesn't it make sense to try fishing for what you need on the Web before contacting a vendor? And let's face it...court records are confusing, especially if you don't work with them regularly. Even if you know your way around the court system in your state, it is often quite different in other states. And so the Court Records Free Reference and Directory -- provided by Northwest Location Services ("Finding People Since 1990") -- is a valuable resource:
Access to trial court records varies from state to state, and many trial courts offer online access to court records or court case information through statewide judiciary or individual court websites. Use CourtReference.com to find online court records and contact information for trial courts in every state and county. To help make a search for court records more targeted and effective, CourtReference.com also offers a summary chart of the types of cases heard by each type of court in each state, as well as more detailed information about the jurisdiction of each type of court.
CourtReference.com lists links to online court record search services offered by statewide trial courts, individual trial courts and government agencies. In addition, there are links to other online legal resources from courts, government agencies, bar associations and non-profit legal services organizations. Statewide and local links include online access to court records, online court case information, court dockets, court calendars, published court orders, legal information, legal research, self-help tools, online court forms, court services, online payment services for court fines and fees, free legal services and lawyer referral services. Links to online legal resources offered by individual courts are listed in the Court Directory, with court location and court contact information for every state and county.
Basically, all you have to do here is choose a state and click. Voila! You get a nicely written and formatted guide to that state's court system. At the top of each page, you will find a few search options -- a dropdown menu that offers directories of courts by county; a search box that helps you find court records by town or zip code; a dropdown menu that helps you locate court resources by category (e.g., case records, dockets, opinions, online fine payments, etc.); and, finally, a dropdown menu that allows you to hop to a different state page.
Note that there is a "Public Records Search" form directly below these options; this is basically an advertisement for Intelius, which is a pay service.
Keep scrolling down the page for a brief, lucid explanation of the state's court system. At the bottom of the page is a useful chart that tells you where to find which kinds of cases. Keep in mind that you will not necessarily have Web access to these documents, but at least you will have some idea of where you should be looking.
You might also be interested in the Court Records Blog associated with this resource.
Use of our links is absolutely free , although some state or county agencies may charge fees for accessing public records. All links indicate whether online public records searches are available for free, as paid services, or not available online. Where no online search options are available, we attempt to provide contact information for the appropriate agency.
It has its own associated blog, as well as a discussion forum that is organized by state.
Federal judges and the journalists who cover them share much common ground. One clear area of mutual interest is accurate and informed coverage of federal courts. A Journalist's Guide to the Federal Courts is intended to assist reporters assigned to court coverage.
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There are justifiable and distinct differences between the three branches of government and the access they grant the news media. Most of the work of federal courts is performed in open court and decisions, and in most cases court filings are available on the Internet. This primer is aimed at helping reporters who cover federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts – the cases, the people, and the process.
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