Court records search — the layer that says how it ended
Case number, court, filed date, charge and disposition. Court records are the only layer that says whether a charge became a conviction — and the layer most criminal searches quietly skip.
Three records, three different claims
The same person can appear in all three layers, and each says something materially different. Reading one as though it were another is the most common and most damaging error in this data.
Jail booking
Claim: this person was taken into custody on this date, on these charges as recorded at booking. Says nothing about guilt, and charges at booking are frequently reduced or dropped.
Court record
Claim: a case existed, in this court, and ended this way. The disposition is the only authoritative statement about the outcome.
Prison record
Claim: this person is or was serving a state sentence. It implies a conviction, but carries the custody facts rather than the case.
The 22 states with a statewide court source
Court publishing is the most fragmented layer in US criminal data. Many states publish court records county by county rather than through any single statewide system, and no API can invent a statewide record that does not exist. Where a statewide source exists, it is here.
| State | County jail rosters | Statewide prison system | Warrants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | 15 | Yes | — |
| Arkansas | 14 | Yes | Yes |
| Colorado | 66 | Yes | Yes |
| Connecticut | 1 | Yes | Yes |
| District of Columbia | 1 | Yes | — |
| Georgia | 44 | Yes | — |
| Illinois | 27 | Yes | Yes |
| Indiana | 49 | Yes | — |
| Iowa | 18 | Yes | Yes |
| Maryland | 27 | Yes | — |
| Minnesota | 18 | Yes | Yes |
| Nevada | 17 | Yes | Yes |
| New Jersey | 21 | Yes | — |
| Ohio | 51 | Yes | — |
| Oklahoma | 17 | Yes | Yes |
| Oregon | 38 | Yes | Yes |
| Pennsylvania | 65 | Yes | Yes |
| Tennessee | 16 | Yes | Yes |
| Virginia | 34 | Yes | — |
| Washington | 40 | Yes | Yes |
| West Virginia | 9 | Yes | — |
For the states without a statewide court source, the custody and county layers still answer — see county criminal records.
Court records questions
What is a disposition, and why does it matter so much?
The disposition is how a case ended — dismissed, acquitted, convicted, deferred, pleaded down. It is the difference between "this person was arrested" and "this person was convicted", and those are not remotely the same fact. Arrest and booking records carry no disposition. If a search only reaches custody data, it can tell you someone was taken into a jail and nothing at all about whether the charge survived.
Which states have court records available?
Statewide court sources are live for 22 states, listed on this page. Court publishing in the US is genuinely fragmented — many states publish court records county by county rather than through any single statewide system, so a statewide court source does not exist for them. Where it does not, the county and custody layers still apply.
Is this the same as PACER or a federal docket search?
No. These are state court systems. Federal cases live in the federal district courts, an entirely separate system, and are addressed on the federal records page. A person can have a federal case and a spotless state record, or the reverse.
What does a court record carry?
Case number, the court that holds it, the filed date, the charge and — where the source publishes it — the disposition. Every record cites the jurisdiction it came from so the official docket can be reached directly.