eCourt RecordsSearch the record with context
Search helps locate a passage. The page image helps you verify what it actually says.
Begin with a short, distinctive phrase
The case search checks docket descriptions and extracted PDF text. It matches the words you enter as a phrase, ignoring capitalization and repeated spaces. Start with a surname or a few distinctive words; a long quotation can miss a result if OCR read even one character incorrectly.
Try another route when a search is empty
No result is not proof that a subject is absent from the record. A scan may have faint print, a handwritten note, a stamp, or an unusual layout. Try a shorter phrase, a spelling variation, or the filing reference number. You can also narrow the docket by filing category and read the relevant documents directly.
Read around the match
Search results identify a matching PDF page and show a short excerpt. Open the passage and read the sentences around it. Check who is speaking: a complaint, an answer, a quoted record, and an order can use similar words while serving different purposes. Search excerpts do not resolve those differences.
Check the image before quoting
The searchable text was extracted from existing text layers or recognized from scanned pages. Names, numbers, handwriting, and stamps are especially worth checking visually. The OCR layer does not change the page image. If the text and the image disagree, use the image to verify the wording and report the recognition problem.
Distinguish PDF pages from printed page numbers
The viewer counts pages from the beginning of the PDF, including cover sheets and exhibits. A printed page number can restart inside an exhibit or differ from that count. A useful reference includes the filing number, the PDF page, and the printed page label when one is present.
Keep a reference others can follow
Each available filing has an embedded PDF on its case page. Use Find in this PDF to locate a word or phrase, and the arrows to move between highlighted matches. A link to the filing can be used to return to it. Record the case number and filing reference as well, so your note still makes sense independently of the link.