How to look up a court case

Most cases a person runs into, such as traffic tickets, fines, evictions, debt suits and small claims, are in state courts. Federal courts handle federal crimes, bankruptcy and cases under federal law. Where to look depends on which.

State and local courts

Start with the clerk of the court for the county where the case was filed. Many clerks run an online case search by name or case number; many states run one portal for every county. Some records are only at the courthouse, on a public terminal or by request at the clerk's window, and copies usually cost a per-page fee. Search by case number when you have it: a name search can return other people with the same name.

Federal courts: PACER

Federal court records are online through PACER, the judiciary's public access service. Its published fees:

• $0.10 a page for documents, dockets and search results.
• No more than $3 for any one document (transcripts and some reports aside).
• Free if your charges are $30 or less in a quarter: you are billed only when a quarter's total passes $30.
• A party in a case gets one free copy of documents filed in it when the court emails the notice.

What you will not find

Sealed cases, juvenile records, and parts of some family and mental health cases are not public. Many courts also redact Social Security numbers, birth dates and account numbers. Read are court records public? for why.