Federal vs. State, the Split Most People Miss
The U.S. court system has two sides that don't share records with each other. Federal courts handle federal crimes, lawsuits between people from different states, bankruptcy, and constitutional cases. Everything else is in state and county courts, and that includes most of what people are actually looking for. Most criminal cases are state cases. Divorces are state cases. Custody, traffic tickets, evictions, probate, small claims, all state.
Federal records are unified in one system called PACER. State records are 50 separate systems, and many of them are broken into county systems underneath. Some states put everything online. Some states put almost nothing online. A few only let you search by case number, which is useless if you don't already have one. There is no single national search for state court records. There never has been.
If you don't know whether your case is federal or state, the simplest test is who brought it. If the United States is the plaintiff or the prosecutor, it's federal. If a state, county, city, or private party is, it's state. Bankruptcy is always federal. Most divorces are always state.
Federal Court Caseload, 12 Months Ending March 31, 2025
Bankruptcy filings rose 13% from the year before. Criminal defendant filings rose 12%. Civil filings dropped 22% after rising 22% the year before. A lot of that civil swing was tied to 3M Combat Arms earplug multidistrict litigation winding down. Bankruptcy adversary proceedings rose 31%.
Source: uscourts.gov, Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics 2025.
Federal and Nationwide Resources
The federal court records system. All 94 district courts, 13 circuit courts of appeals, and 90 bankruptcy courts use it. Searching for a case is free. Pulling documents costs 10 cents per page with a $3 cap per document, and if your account stays under $30 a quarter you pay nothing. As of February 2026 you need multi-factor authentication to log in.
PACER Case Locator Account requiredSame system, but searches every federal court at once. Useful when you don't know which district the case was filed in. Same fee structure.
CourtListener FreeRun by the Free Law Project, a nonprofit. Has millions of opinions and dockets from 471 jurisdictions. Their RECAP archive holds federal documents that other PACER users already paid for and uploaded, so you can sometimes get a federal docket free that PACER would charge you for.
Justia Dockets and Filings FreeFederal civil cases and filings going back to 2004. Also covers the U.S. Courts of Appeals. The interface is plain and the data is solid.
CourtReference FreeDirectory of court websites, clerk contacts, and online search systems for every state and county. When you don't know which clerk's office holds the file you need, this is usually the fastest way to find out.
U.S. Courts, Court Role and Structure ReferencePlain-language explainer of how the federal courts are organized. Worth reading once if you're new to federal research.
U.S. Supreme Court FreeOfficial site of the Supreme Court of the United States with docket, opinions, oral argument transcripts, and case calendars.
Types of Court Records
Civil
Lawsuits between people, businesses, or organizations. Contract disputes, personal injury, debt collection, property fights, injunctions. Most civil cases are state, though anything involving federal law or parties from different states can land in federal court.
Criminal
Cases brought by the government against someone charged with a crime. Arraignments, plea records, trial transcripts, sentencing orders. Most criminal cases are state. Federal criminal cases involve federal crimes like drug trafficking, immigration violations, fraud against the government, and interstate offenses.
Bankruptcy
Petitions filed under Chapter 7, 11, 12, or 13 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Always federal. Always searched through PACER. The schedules attached to a bankruptcy filing list every asset, every creditor, and every recent transfer the filer has, which makes them one of the most revealing public records in the system.
Family Court
Divorce, custody, child support, adoption, domestic relations. State or county. Some files like adoptions and cases involving minors are sealed by default.
Probate
Wills, estates, guardianships, conservatorships. State or county. Probate files often include the full will, the inventory of assets, and the names of beneficiaries.
Traffic and Small Claims
Minor infractions, low-dollar disputes, municipal violations. Local courts, magistrate courts, or justice courts depending on the state. Many of these are not searchable online at all.
Federal Court Structure
- U.S. District Courts (94)The trial courts of the federal system. Every state has at least one. Some big states have multiple districts, sometimes split into divisions inside the district. Hear both civil and criminal cases under federal jurisdiction.
- U.S. Courts of Appeals (13)Twelve regional circuits plus the Federal Circuit. The 94 district courts are grouped into the 12 circuits. The Federal Circuit handles specialized appeals like patents, trademarks, and international trade. Other circuits hear appeals from the district courts in their region.
- U.S. Bankruptcy Courts (90)Run as units of the district courts. All bankruptcy cases go here. Searched through PACER like the rest of the federal system.
- U.S. Supreme CourtThe last stop. Picks a small number of cases each year, mostly constitutional questions or splits between circuits. Opinions, oral argument transcripts, and audio are at supremecourt.gov for free.
Things Worth Knowing Before You Search
- Federal and state systems are not connected.PACER will not show you a state court case. A state court search will not show you a federal case. If you don't know which one you need, look at who filed it.
- Most trial court records live at the county level.After you pick a state, you may have to drill down to the right county clerk. CourtReference is the fastest way to find that.
- Different record types live in different courts.A divorce file is not in the same court as a criminal record. A probate record is not in the same court as a civil lawsuit. Knowing what you need before you start saves time.
- Free sources cover a lot.Paid does not always mean better. CourtListener, Justia, and Google Scholar are free and excellent for what they do. PACER charges per page for documents, but case searches are free, and many state courts publish dockets online for free.
- Certified copies always come from the court itself.If you need a stamped, official version of a court record for legal purposes, the clerk of the court that handled the case is the only place that issues it.
- Older records often aren't digitized.Federal cases before about 1996 may not be in PACER. State and county records before the 2000s often exist only on paper or microfilm at the clerk's office. For anything pre-digital, expect to call or visit.
Court Records by State
Select a state to open its court records directory page.
How to Use This Portal
- Start broad, then narrow.Use the federal and nationwide tools above first, then move into the state page that matches your case, then to the right county or local court.
- Certified copies come from the court.Online dockets and document images are useful for research, but for anything legal, you need the official version stamped by the clerk.
- Cross-check related sources.Criminal records, bankruptcy filings, judgments and liens, and other public record hubs often help fill in the picture when a single court file doesn't tell the whole story.