Navigating the civil judicial system when you are trying to find records can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. With just a few steps, you will be able to lookup a court case in no time. You can use a number of different criteria to search for court records, however, it is best practice to gather as much information as possible before you search– at a minimum, at least two or three of the following types of information. The more information you have before you get started, the easier it will be to find the records you are looking for and find the results of a court case.
The Type of Court Case Information Can Include
- The type of court the case is being tried in. (Supreme, Superior, Small claims, Criminal, etc.)
- Where the case was filed. (This is typically county specific)
- The parties in the case. (plaintiff and defense as well as any attorney or firm information if you can obtain it)
- The docket number. (Usually located on your court documents, court dockets do not change throughout the same case)
- Case specific information? (If related to housing, what is the address? If related to a motor vehicle accident, what was the license plate number, etc.)
Once you have information about the court records, you can proceed to looking them up. The State has all Court records located online at the State of Connecticut Judicial Branch Law Library Services.
- Navigate to https://www.jud.ct.gov/lawlib/publicrecords.htm
- Click on “Case Lookup”
- Determine which type of case you are looking for and click on the link that applies to it. For example, if you are looking for a record of a misdemeanor traffic violation or felony theft, you would click on “Criminal/Motor Vehicle,” which will take you to an area for both automobile and criminal court cases. Each type of court has a separate area for looking up case records.
- Choose a criteria to search by based on the information you gathered above. For example, if you have a docket number, you would click on “By Docket” under Case-Look-Up.
- This will take you to a page where you can input the information you have, such as a party’s name or a docket number.
- If your information is correct, it will pull up the records of the court case. You can click on it and it will show all the information currently available on that case. Note that for more recent cases, there is a delay in inputting updated information. If electronic data is paperless, there will be a blue “E” icon located on this page.
- If you CANNOT find the record with your information, double check that your information is accurate and try again. If the case is recent, it is possible it has not been updated electronically yet.
All in all, having public records access in the information age is a great asset. Of course, if you encounter any issues when using the website, feel free to contact the webmaster of the Case Look-up CT Judicial Branch at EServices@jud.ct.gov.
