District of Columbia Public Records

Choose the court and the search system separately

The Superior Court and DC Court of Appeals are the District's local judiciary, established by Congress under Article I. They are distinct from the federal District Court and DC Circuit established under Article III. DC Code section 11-101 identifies these separate court systems. A federal agency's involvement in a dispute is a reason to check the named court on the document, rather than assuming that every Washington case belongs to Superior Court.

The Superior Court search instructions divide public searches between Portal and eAccess. Portal covers civil cases, including landlord and tenant and small claims, civil tax cases, probate and the Office of the Auditor Master. eAccess covers criminal, criminal tax and domestic violence cases. Criminal citation cases are excluded from the online search; contact the police district that issued the citation for the court date. A result missing from the wrong system does not establish that no case exists.

Record the case number, division, party spelling and the particular filing you need. A search-result screen, a register of actions and a signed order answer different questions. Read the event description before treating a scheduled hearing as a completed disposition. The existing DC court directory supplies division and federal-court routes for the next stage of a search.

Ask for the document behind the docket entry

The court's Portal FAQ describes a free public search and explains its document exclusions, including sealed material and protected images. A public case entry therefore does not promise that every filed document can be downloaded. Identify the docket entry and ask the division clerk whether the document is open, whether inspection is available, and how to obtain the form of copy required by its recipient.

For divorce and other domestic relations documents, use the Domestic Relations Branch copy-request route. Give the case number, parties and document title, such as the judgment of absolute divorce. The branch handles certified copies and review of public files. A marriage certificate is a different record, issued through the Marriage Bureau; DC Health is not the custodian of a divorce judgment.

Use the court's current sealing instructions when investigating a restricted criminal record. The court states that automatic sealing and expungement under the Second Chance Amendment Act are not in effect and that no cases are being automatically sealed or expunged. An enacted provision and an operating court process are different facts. Keep the court's implementation notice with any eligibility research.

Carry the square and lot from assessment to the recorded instrument

Start with the street address in the District's property research tools and save the square, suffix and lot, commonly abbreviated SSL. The tax database provides assessed information and an owner name; the deed supplies the recorded transaction. If a property is held by an entity, retain that exact entity name for the corporate search. Do not replace the instrument's parties with an abbreviated tax-screen label.

The Recorder of Deeds is within the Office of Tax and Revenue. Its online image coverage starts in August 1921. Search the parties and recording references, then follow the instrument's legal description and references to earlier deeds, releases or amendments. Retain the document number or book and page with the recording date so a later request identifies the same instrument.

For an office copy, the recording and copying schedule lists $2.25 per page for copies and $2.25 per document for a certified copy. Confirm the total for the requested document rather than treating either line as an all-inclusive order price. Recording charges are listed by document type, with a separate surcharge, so a fee for recording an instrument should not be used as a price for retrieving an existing deed.

Plats and subdivisions follow another route. The Department of Buildings' SurDocs instructions identify the Office of the Surveyor as the keeper of legal land plats and subdivision records. Search the land type and lot, or use the referenced book and page. DC has this land-records office even though it has no state geological survey. A historical plat can help interpret a deed reference; an online map does not replace a boundary survey.

Separate a building application from the approval and its conditions

The Department of Buildings' permit resources distinguish Scout application status from eRecords documents, including permits, applications, plans and certificates of occupancy. Save the application identifier and address from a status search, then retrieve the issued permit or occupancy document. An application received or under review does not establish that the work was approved or that a proposed use is authorized.

For a zoning proceeding, use the Office of Zoning's Interactive Zoning Information System to inspect the case record. Public case searches do not require an account. Locate the order and its conditions alongside the exhibits and hearing materials. Check whether the record concerns a map amendment, variance or other application before carrying its conclusion over to a different parcel or project.

Keep a small property research record containing the SSL, recorded deed reference, permit identifier and zoning case number. Those identifiers connect separate agency files without pretending they are interchangeable. If an address search produces several buildings or lots, resolve that difference before ordering copies or attributing a violation to a particular owner.

Describe an existing record and send it to its custodian

The Office of Zoning's DC FOIA instructions explain that each public body responds for its own records. Identify the agency, project or incident, date span, record type and preferred delivery format. For a property matter, include the SSL and permit number already found. For correspondence, identify the subject and relevant office. A request for an existing inspection report is more specific than asking an agency to explain everything that happened at an address.

Write a request in a form such as: "Please provide the issued permit, approved plans available for public release, inspection reports and final approval for [address and SSL], associated with [permit identifier]. Please send electronic copies and advise me of charges before processing beyond [my fee limit]." Adapt the record list to the office's actual duties. Do not send private identification documents unless the custodian's procedure requires them.

Under DC Code section 2-532 the ordinary response period is 15 days excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal public holidays; MPD body-worn-camera requests have a 25-day period with the same exclusions. Written extensions for unusual circumstances can add up to 10 days for ordinary requests or 15 for those recordings, with the same exclusions. These are response rules, not a guarantee that every requested record will be released without redaction.

Save the acknowledgment and request identifier. If records are withheld, read the cited exemption and any partial release before deciding what remains missing. Distinguish a statement that the agency holds no responsive record from a statement that it holds a record but withholds it. The latter does not mean that the event never occurred.

Check entitlement before ordering a vital record

DC Health's birth-certificate instructions require proof of identity and entitlement for restricted records. A spouse or domestic partner is not automatically entitled to order another person's birth certificate. Match the applicant's relationship and supporting documents to the agency's stated category before paying. If names differ, establish the documented name change or relationship instead of assuming that a matching address will suffice.

The agency's current vital-record notices ask customers to allow 2 to 4 weeks for remote order processing, with shipping time separate. A faster carrier does not itself establish faster agency processing. Keep the order confirmation and distinguish an ordinary certificate order from an amendment, which requires a different review. The DC vital-record directory links the separate birth, death, marriage and divorce custodians.

Connect the entity, trade name, license and premises

The Corporations Division now identifies its filing system as BOSS, formerly CorpOnline. Its entity records and corporate filings serve a different purpose from a business license. Start with the exact legal name, then connect any trade name to that entity. Retain the filing reference and status rather than relying on a storefront name alone.

DLCP's business-license instructions distinguish corporate and trade-name registration, tax registration, zoning or occupancy requirements, and licensing. For a premises-based business, compare the licensed activity and address with the certificate of occupancy and the property record. Corporate registration alone does not resolve every permission required to conduct a particular activity at a particular location.

Follow older files across repositories

The Archives research FAQ directs requests for land records before August 1921 to the DC Archives. Send the instrument reference and the names already found in the later deed chain. For agency records stored at the Records Center, contact the originating agency's records officer; storage at the center does not transfer the agency's responsibility for access or certification.

Use the Library of Congress Washington Sanborn map guide to compare a historical address with buildings and uses shown on an appropriate sheet. Record the sheet's date and revision information. A fire-insurance map documents the depiction at that time; it does not establish the current owner, a legal boundary or the condition of a structure today.

For an occupant or business that changed addresses, consult the Library's city-directory access guide and look for successive available editions. Keep the directory year with the entry and separate an occupant from a property owner. The existing DC genealogy directory supplies additional family-history repositories without repeating their collections here.

Use each record for the question it can answer

The Department of Corrections FAQ distinguishes local detention from transfer to the Federal Bureau of Prisons and identifies the DOC Records Office for local custody inquiries. A court docket, police clearance and custody record are separate products. For a custody inquiry, follow the DC inmate-record routes and confirm the relevant custodian instead of treating a missing local result as proof of release.

The existing Washington mine-record map keeps the historical mineral entries and topographic features together. Consult its source records for a named working and compare the mapped location with the actual parcel. A mineral occurrence or quarry point is not evidence of an underground passage beneath an address. Keep that historical location evidence separate from deed, permit and survey conclusions.