Resource of the Week: Court Records Free Reference and Directory
By Shirl Kennedy, Senior Editor
Off the Shelf: ResourceShelf Newsletter http://www.resourceshelf.com/
Number 375 September 11, 2008
http://digbig.com/4xkxd
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.
And these folks offer a Free Public Records Directory:
<http://publicrecords.onlinesearches.com/>
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.
Bonus Resource: Court Records Free Reference and Directory is oriented
toward state courts. Interested in federal courts? Bookmark this one:
+ A Journalist's Guide to the Federal Courts
<http://www.uscourts.gov/journalistguide/toc.html>
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.
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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