U.S. Court Records

Researching in the U.S. Court Records can be a very valuable way to find information about your ancestors. Your ancestors do not have to have been involved in a crime to be found in court records. Court records are a great way to locate ancestors in legal cases, legal proceedings and how they may have interacted with the judicial system. While the majority of U.S. Court Records are public records, the process for accessing them can vary depending on the type of court, the level of court, and the specific information you are seeking; these records should be able to be obtained from the court where they were produced or at an archive in the city, county or state they were filed. Genealogists should always research in court records when researching any ancestor.

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Types of U.S. Court records

The United States has different kinds of court records that can be searched. Knowing the types of records and where to find them can help genealogists narrow down their search.

U.S. Federal Court Records: This court tries cases involving violations of the United States Constitution, United States statutes, laws and treaties and cases involving both federal and state laws. Also, cases between United States citizens and foreigners. The United States federal courts are far smaller than the U.S. State courts in terms of both personnel and caseload, and handle different types of cases.^[1]
U.S. State Courts: These courts are located in each of the 50 U.S. states and hold both civil and criminal cases involving violations of the state constitution, statutes or laws. Each state has its own court system, so it is important that genealogists do a little bit of reading about the state where you want to do research.
Local Courts: The local court system can be found in the county, city, town or village and they will handle civil and criminal cases that have been filed by local citizens within that particular jurisdiction.

Types of cases found in U.S. Court records

There are many types of court cases that could have been filed that can mention our ancestors. The more common types of cases are criminal cases or civil cases.

Criminal Court cases: These cases are usually filed by the government body of the federal court, state court or local court. The person or persons involved in these cases are being brought up on charges of breaking a criminal law. The style of the case would look something like State of Tennessee vs John Brown.
Civil Court cases: The civil court handles non-criminal court cases. Individuals, businesses or governments can file a civil lawsuit against other individuals or organizations. The person being sued is called the defendant and the person filing the suit is called the plaintiff. The plaintiff normally sues for monetary damages they think was caused by the defendant. Civil cases involve a violation of the law that results in harm to an individual or organization.
Equity cases: These cases are brought to the court to determine fairness or justice. They involve disputes between individuals or organizations that do not involve a violation of a stated law.
Probate Court cases: When an individual dies, court records pertaining to the distribution of their estate are filed. Laws governing probate records will vary from state to state, so it is important for genealogists to do their research and understand these laws in the state they are researching. Most of the time, probate records will be found at the county level.

Where to find U.S. Court records

Finding and researching in court records starts with determining from which location to begin our research. It is essential to know where the records are located, what jurisdiction, city, county or state. The records could then be found in a records repository in that area. Some of the places court records are archived are:

Federal records repositories such as the U.S. National Archives in Washington, D.C.
State court records can be found at the state archives. All 50 U.S. states have a state archives and many of them house the court records that were filed at the state level.
Most court records we are looking for our ancestors are going to be found at the local level. This could be in a city court or county court and these records are going to be found at the court office or they could have been transferred to the county archive or the local historical/genealogical society.

Explore more about U.S. Court records

USA - Court Records collection catalog at MyHeritage
Court Records for People of Color Family History Research at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
Family Secrets: The Court Records Tell It All at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
Using Court Records to tell the Story of our Ancestors' Lives at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
Land, Licenses, Love Gone Wrong, and Other Assorted Courthouse Records at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
“Twelve Good and Lawful Men”: Jury Lists in Genealogy at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
That First Trip to the Courthouse at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
The Fair Court: Records of Chancery Courts at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
U.S. National Archives

References

↑ Manweller, Mathew (2006). Chapter 2, The Roles, Functions, and Powers of State Courts. In Hogan, Sean O. (ed.). The Judicial Branch of State Government: People, Process, and Politics. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. pp. 37–96. ISBN 9781851097517.

Contributors

Main contributor: Melissa Barker

Additional contributor: Maor Malul

[1] Manweller, Mathew (2006). Chapter 2, The Roles, Functions, and Powers of State Courts. In Hogan, Sean O. (ed.). The Judicial Branch of State Government: People, Process, and Politics. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. pp. 37–96. ISBN 9781851097517.

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