North Carolina, court records
Search North Carolina court records and hearings in the statewide eCourts Portal, and federal cases in PACER.
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Every card below goes to the government office responsible for that record.
Court records
Home of the North Carolina Judicial Branch: courthouse directory, court dates, citation payments, jury service, forms and the eCourts portal.
Open official site North Carolina Judicial BranchCourt records
Nationwide index of federal district, bankruptcy and appeals court cases, searched by party name or case number. Needs a PACER account; $0.10 per page.
Open official site PACER Case LocatorCourt records
Statewide eCourts Portal: Smart Search of court records and case information, hearing search by name or county, payments and the judgment index.
Open official site North Carolina eCourts PortalCourt records
Find the federal district, bankruptcy and appeals courts that serve any location, or look up a federal court by name.
Open official site U.S. Courts, Federal Court FinderGuide
North Carolina divorces, equitable distribution, alimony and support are district court cases under G.S. 7A-244, kept by the Clerk of Superior Court of the county. G.S. 7A-109(a) opens the clerk's records to public inspection except as prohibited by law, and nothing closes a divorce file. The Equitable Distribution Inventory Affidavit under G.S. 50-21(a), listing all marital and separate property with date of separation values, is served on the other party and filed where local rules require; local financial affidavits for alimony and support, the Judgment of Absolute Divorce, equitable distribution judgments, support orders, QDROs and incorporated agreements are public.
The eCourts Portal covers all 100 counties, civil case information is on the public self service terminals in every clerk's office, and clerk staff copy documents for a fee. There is no statewide sealing rule for civil files, only protective orders for discovery under Rule 26(c) on good cause shown. The North Carolina asset search page explains what the inventory affidavit shows.
Record guide
At a glance
The eCourts Portal offers Smart Search of court records and case information, a hearing search by name, county and date, online payments and the North Carolina judgment index.
More North Carolina records on this site: North Carolina public records, Free Background Checks.
Straight answers
Open only the answer you need.
State court records are usually free to view at the courthouse and often free online, with per-page fees for certified copies. PACER charges $0.10 per page (capped at $3.00 per document), waived under $30 per quarter.
No. A sealed case is hidden from the public docket index by court order. Its existence may still be confirmable by number, but documents are not accessible.
Civil cases involve disputes between parties (contracts, torts, family). Criminal cases are brought by the government. Both are indexed by the same court clerks but tracked in separate sub-dockets.
Not in one search. PACER covers all federal courts. Most states have a statewide judiciary portal that covers their state courts, but a few require per-county lookups. This page links to North Carolina's official portal.
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Every state page lists that state's official court record sources, each opened and verified.