Transcripts Of Court Proceedings
If you wish to request copies of transcripts of court proceedings, depending upon whether the minutes you seek have been transcribed and are in the court file, you will be required to direct your request to either the clerk of the court or the court reporter. In order to determine whether the minutes are contained in the file, you may send an inquiry to the clerk of the court, indicating the date of the proceeding you require. If the relevant transcripts are maintained in the court file, you will be required to pay the appropriate per-page fees for copies of the transcript, as reflected in CPLR § 8019.
If the minutes of the court proceedings have not been transcribed, and thus are not contained in the court file, the underlying stenographic notes are in the custody of the court reporter who took the minutes of the proceeding. These notes first must be transcribed by the court reporter, and access to these transcripts then is governed by section 300 of the Judiciary Law, which imposes a different set of fees for each page of a transcript. See also 22 NYCRR § 108. In order to obtain copies of the transcripts, you must direct your request to that specific court reporter and pay the appropriate fees. In order to identify a specific reporter, submit your inquiry to the courthouse in which the case was handled, to the attention of the Supervising Court Reporter.
Fee Exemptions For Researchers
Individual researchers working on defined research projects intended for scholarly work can use the attached form to request PACER fee exemptions from multiple courts. In accordance with the EPA fee schedule, the request should be limited in scope, and not be intended for redistribution on the internet or for commercial purposes.
Please note, if you are seeking a fee exemption from a single court and/or for non-research purposes, contact that court directly.
Research Database
Define the data needs for research using the Federal Court Cases Integrated Database provided free of charge by the Federal Judicial Center. The IDB has case data for criminal, civil, appellate, and bankruptcy cases that can help researchers refine their requests.
Federal Court Records Of The National Archives At New York City
The National Archives at New York City has legal custody of records filed in the Federal Courts located in New York, New Jersey, and Puerto Rico. We also have a selection of pre-Federal court records.
Please see our Federal Court Records of the National Archives at New York City Finding Aidfor detailed information about these records and how you can research them. The finding aid provides a description of the records including a Brief Administrative History of the Courts, a list of our holdings , and includes Pre-Federal Court Records, U.S. Circuit and District Court Records, and Records of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
The finding aid also lists some notable cases in our records including the Alger Hiss and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg espionage cases, the prosecution of Susan B. Anthony for illegal voting, the trial of Marcus Garvey for mail fraud, and copyright cases involving Charlie Chaplin, Cole Porter, and Oscar Hammerstein, and the song “Happy Birthday.”
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Are New York Court Records Public
The New York Freedom of Information Law refers to a series of laws stipulating that the public has access to public records of government agencies in New York. This law allows individuals to obtain records from any government agency without a statement of purpose. However, several courts may consider the requestor’s motive, especially where there is litigation. Public records in New York include any information kept, held, filed, or produced by any New York state agency or the state legislature.
New York’s FOIL was first passed in 1974 by the state legislature, but it was later vetoed and replaced in 1977. The law has been amended three times since then. The amendments occurred in 1982, 2005, and 2008.
How Can I Look Up A New York Summons
If a New York police officer or other law enforcement agent gives you a ticket for certain minor offenses, the ticket is actually a criminal court summons ordering you to appear in court and enter a plea. If you lose the summons, you can find it online by searching the summons finder.
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Court Records In The State Archives
The New York State Archives holds over 10,000 cubic feet of records of trial and appellate courts, dating from the 1660s to the 1990s. The State Archives holds almost all surviving records of trial and appellate courts exercising jurisdiction throughout the colony and state of New York during the period 1665-1847. The State Archives acquires post-1847 records of certain appellate courts, including the State Court of Appeals and to a lesser extent, the Second and Third Departments of the Supreme Court Appellate Division.
This pathfinder identifies the courts from which the State Archives has acquired records and discusses the most effective means of identifying and accessing the records of each.
Court of Assizes
The Court of Assizes for the Colony of New York was established in 1665 under the Dukes Laws. It served as the colonys high court until 1683, hearing major civil and criminal cases as both a court of original jurisdiction and a court of appeals. The court ruled on matters of equity when no applicable law existed. The court was comprised of the Governor and Council, but also included varying numbers of justices from courts throughout the colony. The court exercised both legislative and judicial powers.
Finding aids provide detailed information about individual record series held by the State Archives. Follow this link to read descriptions of records series that were created by or related to the Supreme Court of Judicature.
Court of Chancery
Court of Appeals
What Is A New York Divorce Record
A New York state divroce record includes more information than both a divorce certificate and a divorce decree. Essentially, a divorce record is the case file for a divorce case. This record contains all of the information mentioned above, as well as all general case documents including testimonies, evidence, transcripts of proceedings, and all judgments and terms decided at the end of the case. Information about the involved parties are also available in a divorce record, including name, date of birth, and addresses. These records are more public than divorce certificates or decrees. They can be searched for and obtained similar to other types of publicly available records. When searching for a record through official government avenues, specific levels of identification and fees will be required.
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A Fast Way To Get The Information You Want
Getting public records used to be a time-consuming and frustrating process. You had to visit the local county clerk and submit a written request for your documents. If you wanted to search records in a different state, you might have to actually travel to that state and appear in person. Instant Checkmate takes the hassle out of uncovering someones past by making it easy to run a background check online.
Are New York Divorce Records Public
New York divorce records are not available from family courts, although they fall under the New York Family Court Act, Section 166, which determines public access to family law records. These are provided by the Supreme Court and maintained by the New York Department of Health or certain county clerks offices. To find divorce records, visit the office or online website of the county in which the divorce was finalized. The NYSDH also provides copies of divorce certificates upon request. Its records include divorces granted in the state from 1963 to the present. The Department of Health only releases divorce certificates to the parties involved in the case. A third party may obtain this document by presenting a New York State Court Order. Restricted and sealed Family Court records include pleadings, findings, orders, decisions, transcripts, and documents filed during proceedings. Those permitted access to these records include:
- Parties involved in the family law case described in the documents, and their attorneys
- Parents, guardians, and individuals legally allowed to care for a child as well as their attorneys
- Representatives of the child protective service involved in a family law case
- Representatives of the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct
New York Family Courts can redact sections of their records before making them available. Commonly redacted records include addresses of children involved in family law cases.
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How To Access Probate Court Records In New York
As estate planning lawyers, we come across so many questions from clients. One of the most common questions we get is, where can I find a copy of the will or all the records concerned with the case?
The good thing is that probate is a public process, which means that the records are available to access and read. For instance, if the representative has submitted a will, you can acquire a copy.
With contemporary technology, the capability to acquire info regarding the deceased is easy, and in many cases, free.
The more information you have regarding the case, the easier the process becomes!
While it might not be possible to access authentic copies of the records relating to a probate hearing, the minimum you can know is the different types of materials that have been presented to the probate court. You should also be able to identify the representative of the estate, the names of the presiding judge, and the lawyer that the representative is using.
If you cant access pertinent information regarding the case, you can request for information from the office of the court clerk, or the representative.
Does New York Hold Remote Trials
According to The Revised Pandemic Procedures in the Trial Courts issued by the New York Chief Administrative Judge, trial courts in the State of New York may conduct virtual bench trials and hearings. The memo stated that taking effect from November 16, 2020, all future bench trials and hearings will be held virtually unless with the permission of the respective Deputy Chief Administrative Judge. It also notified that new jury trials, whether criminal or civil, will be suspended till further notice. Summons for new grand jurors are also suspended till further notice. Pending criminal, civil, and grand juries will continue till they are concluded.
The provision for remote hearings was due to the unfavorable trends in the rate of transmission of coronavirus in the New York state. However, in-person court conferences might continue under strict social distancing rules, health, and safety procedures. These decisions may be open for further amendments depending on the state of the public health situation.
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Where To Find Court Cases In New York
The chart below gives general information on the types of cases heard in each type of New York court.
We strive to provide accurate information, however, Courtreference.com is not an official source of information for any court or court clerk. No legal advice is offered here and this site is not an alternative to competent legal counsel. None of the information offered by this site can be used for assessing or evaluating a person’s eligibility for employment, housing, insurance, credit, or for any other purpose covered under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Please visit GoodHire for all your employment screening needs.
California Privacy Notice: If you are a California resident, you have the right to know what personal information we collect, the purposes for which we use it, and your options to opt out of its sale. To learn more, click the following link: Do not sell my info
What Are Civil Court And Small Claims
Civil Courts are Trial Courts that decide lawsuits involving damages up to $25,000. This court may also include a small claims section for cases involving damages of up to $5,000 and a housing part for landlord-tenant matters. New York Small Claims Courts are special parts of a court that decides matters involving damages of up to $10,000 or less. An individual may sue another in this court without a lawyer.
However, only residents that are 18 years and above are eligible to sue someone in New York. The individual must also pay a court fee of $15 – $20 and submit a completed court form specifying the claims.
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What Are Public Records
Most documents filed to or created by a government agency are considered public documents. These include vital records , criminal records, court records, professional licenses , tax and property records, reports on publicly-traded companies, and FOIA or FOIL-able documents related to the operations of federal, state, and city government agencies .
Access to public records varies from state to state, by the type of record you are searching, and by the currency or age of the record. In general, when it comes to vital records, older documents are more likely to be public, as in many states privacy laws restrict access to the vital and criminal records of living persons.
Ease of access to public records also varies some are available online, while others are only available in hard copy and require the submission of a snail-mail request to the specific government office in which they were filed. For business, court, tax, and property records, more current documents may be easier to come by, as the are more likely to have been digitized.
This page includes links to public record documents portals, as well as links to some commonly requested or NYC-specific agencies. For more information on filing a public records request from an agency that does not make its documents searchable online, see the FOIA and FOIL page of this guide.
Online Information & Databases
The NY State Unified Court System webpage has information on courts, judges and provides information on court cases in various New York State jurisdictions, including a searchable database of recent court decisions it also provides this page with information on accessing court records. See also the NY State Law Reporting Bureau New York Official Reports.and the NY State Legal Research Portal.
Case Reporters do not contain trial transcripts but rather the decisions and opinions rendered by judges in a case. In a jury trial, the jury decides the outcome and therefore you may not find a particular case in a case reporter unless it is appealed in which case a judge or panel of judges would determine the outcome. The NY State 3rd is available freely online and contains decisions of the Court of Appeals and the Appellate Division, as well as selected opinions of the lower courts.
All are also available LEXIS-NEXIS Academic . It is easiest to find a case if you know its exact citation.
Learn more about researching cases and other legal resources in our Legal Research guide.
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Find Out Where A Probate Estate Has Been Filed
How do you determine the appropriate probate court where an estate is being or has been, probated? In general, an estate is probated in the county where the deceased person lived at the time of his or her death, or, in some cases, the county where the deceased person owned real estate. Check online for the correct name of the county by plugging in the name of the city where the deceased person lived or owned real estate via a city-county search.
What Is The Maine Supreme Court
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court and the only appellate branch of the Maine judicial system. The court’s main role is to decide appeals on questions of law arising from civil actions and criminal trials. It is also responsible for overseeing the admission of attorneys to the Bar and the conduct and discipline of lawyers and judges. The Supreme Court has procedural rulemaking authority over all the courts in Maine and is authorized to issue advisory opinions on legal issues of high public importance. The Supreme Judicial Court is often referred to as the Law Court.
In making its decisions, the justices on the Supreme Court reflect on the questions presented and issue a written opinion deciding the issues in line with its view of the law and affirming or reversing the trial court’s decision. Where the Supreme Court finds no grounds in the appeal that justifies changing the trial court’s ruling, the decision of the trial court is upheld. If the Supreme Court determines that the trial court erred and that the error was not harmless, the decision of the trial court may be vacated in whole or in part.
There are seven justices including a presiding Chief Justice serving on the Maine Supreme Court. These justices serve seven-year terms which may be renewed an unlimited number of times.
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Are Maine Court Records Public
Yes. According to the Maine Freedom of Access Act , court records are considered public records and are hence open to members of the public for inspection or copying. The Maine FOAA applies broadly to government bodies, granting the right of access to public records while protecting legitimate government interests and the privacy rights of citizens. Transparency is at the heart of the Maine FOAA, with the Act ensuring accountability of the government to Maine citizens by providing public access to the records of public bodies.
The legislative arm of the Maine government adopted the FOAA in 1959 as public law and has undergone several amendments. Certain court records are exempted from disclosure if they have been designated as confidential by state or federal statutes. Juvenile records in Maine are also exempted from public disclosure.
The status of a court record requester is not relevant to the individual’s right to inspect or copy such records, However, the status of the requester may allow or limit access to certain types of records that are otherwise exempt from public disclosure. such as the right of the subject of a criminal proceeding to access otherwise confidential criminal records or employee. Typically, the purpose of a request is not required to copy or inspect public court records. However, certain categories of records may be released only for qualified research purposes.