HOW TO SEARCH

You can search for civil, family or probate case records using the public access website.  If you wish to perform a search, follow the steps below:

 

  1. Select the appropriate area that you would like to search from the search menu.  The different search areas include the following:
  2. Select the search by option that you wish to perform the search by from the “Search By” drop down menu.  If you are on the Probate Case Records or the Civil, Family Case Records screen you will have the following options:

If you are on the Court Calendar screen you will have the following options:

·         Case

·         Judicial Officer

·         Party or Defendant Name

  1. The search parameters displayed will be based on the option you selected in     

the “Search By” field.  Enter the information that you wish to search for in the parameters listed.

  1. After you enter the information you wish to search for in the search parameters, click the Search button.  This will take you to the Search Results screen.
  2. To view the case information, click on the case number hyperlink on the Search Results screen (located on the left side of the screen).

 

When searching for case records, certain fields will be required fields.  These fields will require you to enter a value in that field in order to perform a search successfully.  The required fields can be identified with a red “+” symbol.  In addition to the red “+” symbol, these fields will have bold, red labels to help you easily identify which fields are required.

 

 

SEARCH HELP

If you do not have all of the information you need to search for case records, there are a few tools that might help you perform your search successfully. 

 

·         Wildcard – The Wildcard feature will allow you to search for incomplete names and case numbers in the system.  This tool is helpful for when you may not know the entire case number or may not know how to correctly spell the individual’s name.  For instance, you may be searching for an individual with the last name of “Gonzales” but may not know if the individual spells “Gonzales” with a “z” or a “s” at the end of their name.  This would be a good time to use the Wildcard tool.  By performing a search for the last name of “Gonzale*”, the system will pull in all the last names that begin with “Gonzale” regardless of what the last name ends with.  This means that it will pull in both “Gonzales” and “Gonzalez”.  To use the Wildcard feature, simple put an “*” at the end of the name or case number in which you are unsure of.

 

There are a few restrictions when using these helpful search tools.  These restrictions are listed below:

1.     You must have at least 1 character in the first name before using the Wildcard feature on a First Name.

2.      You must have at least 3 characters in the last name before using the Wildcard feature on a Last Name.

3.      You must have at least 4 characters (other than dashes) before using the Wildcard feature on a Case Number.

 

·         Soundex – The Soundex feature is used with names.  It is a “Sounds Like” feature that will find names that are spelled differently but may sound similar.  For example, if you are looking for a party with the last name of Smith and click soundex, defendants with the last name of “Smythe” may also be returned.  This is a helpful feature if you are not sure about how to spell a party’s name.  To use the Soundex feature, simply click the “Use Soundex” box during a party or attorney name search.  Note that you can’t use the wildcard and soundex features together on the same search.

 

 

AFTER YOU SEARCH

After you search for a case record, you can continue to perform additional searches.  If you wish to perform additional searches you can use the hyperlinks located in the black header.  These hyperlinks include the following:

·         Logout, Search Menu – Clicking these hyperlinks will bring you back to the main search screen

·         New Search – Clicking this hyperlink will allow you to perform an additional search in the same search area you are currently in

·         Back – Clicking this hyperlink will bring you back to the previous screen you were on

·         Help – Clicking this hyperlink will launch this help document