How to Request Court Documents

Request Court Documents

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Court Documents can sometimes be found online or if your county or state is as slow as mine you physically have to go to the court house to requests copies. The state you live in will determine where and how you can request court documents.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

Internet
Or White Pages(Blue Section)

Step1

First to determine if your state has a website you will have to search for the state court website. You put in your states name and add website to the search.

Step2

Second you have to know what county the documents are in. Once on the state website most have a county directory and will list the county website. A great website I use is www.naco.org which lists all the county websites in the United States. (Sorry No Documents Outside the US)

Step3

Once you get on the county website go to the County Clerk's Website. If they offer documents online it will be called Official Records or Civil Records depending on which court the case was seen.

Step4

The website will give you an address you can mail to with a fee for copying the document. You mail it in and when they get to it they will mail them to you. Sometimes the court system lets you print from the website, but most will only allow certain documents to be seen. Anything family related will not be shown on the internet.

Step5

If you need a copy immediately you will have to go to the County Courthouse and fill out a form. You will have to find the County Clerk's Office and they will let you fill out the form there and sometimes if you are extremely nice and they are not over worked you can get it while you are standing there. Be prepared to pay for each page.

Tips & Warnings

Looking in the phone book your county website will be listed in the blue pages.
On the internet type in www.whitepages.com for the internet phone book.
I would suggest you call ahead to find out where the County Clerk's office is located.
Although most court documents are public documents there are laws about getting a copy. Talk to your County Clerk's Office they will instruct you.