LibGuides: Court Records Research for Reporters: Finding Court Cases

NYS Civil Court Cases

NYS Courts Electronic Filing System
Sign in as a guest to search civil court cases and electronically filed documents in Supreme Court, Court of Claims, and Surrogate's Court in all of New York State.
eCourts
Civil case date range on eCourts depends on the jurisdiction, but some go back to the 1980s.

County Supreme Courts are good resources for documents in older civil cases. (Search as a guest when prompted)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Surrogate’s court (wills, etc.)
Many NYS surrogate court cases (and documents) are available in this database. (New York/Manhattan is not.)
Here's a list of what types of court records are confidential
It's slightly outdated as it still lists the 50-a cases, and those 50-a disciplinary records are public now.
more...less...
Documents in matrimonial cases aren't public, per NYS law, however, you can see that a case was filed/disposed.
Sealed Criminal Records in NYS

WebCrims
Lists pending criminal cases only (New York State)
New York Statewide criminal history record search
For a $95 fee. Results are verified, reviewed, amended, if necessary, and emailed to our customers the following business day.
Guide to the DCJS Criminal History Report
Word document describing the details of what you might retrieve from a criminal history record search. From the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
NYS Dept. of Correctional Services inmate lookup
Includes every defendant sentenced to NYS prison since the early 1970’s, except youthful offenders and those who have had their convictions set aside by a court.
NYC Inmate Lookup
Current or recently release inmates.

Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Business, legal, news, and medical database with over 12,000 sources and full-text materials. Both English and non-English language newspapers, various disciplinary journals, magazines, news blogs, and other publications are available.

NexisUni is a database that can be accessed through the Research Center by current students.

Has selected state cases. See "Look up a Legal Case" on the bottom of the search page. Search using party name or index #.

Search RECAP database
Search RECAP database of millions of PACER documents.
RECAP Extension for Firefox/Chrome
Install the free RECAP extensions for Firefox and Chrome to contribute to this archive.
PACER Tip Sheet
PACER search tip sheet google doc created by the J-School Research Center in 2022.
Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator
Retrieves age, race, and gender for current and former inmates from 1982 to present

TRACFED This link opens in a new window
Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) is a data gathering, data research, and data distribution organization associated with Syracuse University. The data provided is collected from the federal government, mostly under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and is made available to the public. When off campus you will need to log in using the credentials on the Secure Logins page.

Court Reference
Find online court records (only if they are online) in every state and county.