Tips to conduct your own background checks
Beacon is a local government geographic information system that offers lots of information including property owners. This is a great way to find out who lives around you.
Beacon is available in the following states
Alabama
Arkansas
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Michigan
Missouri
South Carolina
South Dakota
I’m sure there are similar sites in other states, but at the time of this writing, I am unaware of them. If you know of sites like this in your area, please let us know so we can update our list.
Email us at Tips@Mugwatch.org
PUBLIC RECORDS SEARCH DETAIL BY STATE
Alabama
alacourt.com. Offers access to trial court records for each of Alabama’s 67 counties. A subscription has a startup cost of $150 and a monthly fee. Cases include civil, criminal, traffic, domestic relations and child support, outstanding alias warrants, trial court dockets, and attorney case information.
Just One Look TM . Access to Alabama trial court records one case at a time. Basic fee of $9.99 per case plus additional charges.
CourtView . Database includes case records from 24 Alaskan court systems. The remainder of the state may be accessed through an older system called Name Index that is updated quarterly.
Public Access to Court Case Information. Information available from 153 of the 180 courts in Arizona. Search is by case number or party names. The site also features a case notification service.
Arkansas
Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Docket Search Search judicial opinions or the state’s docket by case number or name.
Online Public Records. Benton County, Search Court Dockets.
Pulaski Circuit/County Clerk – Search Civil, Criminal, Probate and Domestic Relations Cases.
District Court of Sebastian County Fort Smith Division. Search Civil, Traffic and Criminal Cases.
Alameda County. DomainWeb provides information about General Civil, Probate and Family Law cases. It does not include Criminal, Juvenile, or Traffic cases.
Butte County. All non-confidential, non-sealed, case types are available (Civil, Criminal, Family Law, Probate, Small Claims, Traffic, etc.).
Costra Costa. Online case information. Information on civil, family, small claims, or probate cases.
Fresno County. Banner CourtConnect. Search by person name, business name or case type.
Glenn County – Search Case Indexes for Civil/Family Law and Criminal/Traffic.
Kern County – Search Civil, Civil Appeals, Family Law, Probate and Small Claims.
Orange County – Case Access to Civil, Criminal and Traffic, Family Law, Probate, and Small Claims.
California Appellate Courts. Access information concerning the California Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. The database does not include juvenile cases or paternity records.
Probate Notes. A service of the Los Angeles Superior Court. It only includes information on the Central District, Compton, Lancaster, Long Beach, Norwalk, Pasadena, Pomona, Santa Monica, Torrance, and Van Nuys District Courts.
CoCourts.com . Access information on Colorado district and county court cases including both open and closed cases. Includes domestic relations, water, civil, criminal, traffic and small claims cases. Sealed, probate, mental health, and juvenile cases are not available. The Web site charges $6 per search.
CoJustice.com. This Web site allows users to review court records pertaining to traffic, criminal, civil and domestic cases. The cost per search is $5.95 per search.
Case Look-up. Provides information about civil, family, criminal, motor vehicle, housing, and small claims cases.
Delaware
Virtual Docket. Manages Delaware’s court documents online. The database allows the user to access information concerning bankruptcy, chancery, claims, district, opinions, and the state’s Supreme Court. The Web site charges a fee to access the information.
Justia is a searchable database of all federal district court filings since 2004. Cases can be searched by party, case type or jurisdiction.
County Official Records SearchNon-subscribers pay between $3.50 and $13.00 for every official record they order. As a subscriber, you’ll pay a fixed, discounted fee of $2.00 per record. This discount applies to all records regardless of type or county. The annual subscription fee is $120. This fee includes logins for five users. You may request logins for additional users for $10 per user per year.
Georgia Felon Search helps you easily conduct checks on the people who matter to your family and business. It’s quick, convenient and affordable. All you need is a name, date of birth and a credit card, and the fee for each search is only $15.
CourtConnect Search for Traffic cases by name or traffic case type.
Ho’ohiki. Database to Hawaii’s court documents. It includes civil, family, and probate cases.
Idaho Department of Correction. This database provides information about offenders currently under Idaho Department of Correction jurisdiction: those incarcerated, on probation, or on parole. The database includes a listing of felonies for which an offender is serving time. It may be serched by offender name and/or offender number(s).
Idaho Supreme Court Data Repository. This Web site is available to the public to provide information on the status of trial court cases in the state of Idaho.
Access to Electronic Full Case Docket Search.Access information from Cook County, Illinois Circuit Court. The database contains information on civil, law, chancery, and domestic relations cases. Information may be accessed by case number, name and filing date.
Jackson County Case Information. Jackson County, Illinois Circuit Court database allows users to search for case information. Users must pay a fee of $12.95 to access the Premium Services.
Macon County Case Information. Retrieve information about Macon County, Illinois cases. The database includes civil, criminal, probate, and small claims cases.
Judici. This Web site is operated by Judici.com, not a court. The site provides access to civil, criminal, and some traffic cases from 50 Illinois counties. There is free access to limited information and fee-based premium services.
Indiana Court Records Online Public access—at no cost to the user—provided by the Indiana Supreme Court to case records from its Odyssey case management system. A significant portion of the statewide caseload is included, and more courts are continually added.
Doxpop Court Cases. A subscription service that provides access to court records in 46 counties (138 courts) in Indiana.
Online Docket – Electronic Case Search for Indiana Supreme Court, Court of Appeals. and Tax Court. Allows users the options to search by case number, litigant’s last name, or attorney’s last name.
Iowa
Iowa Courts Online. Allows users to access information on civil and criminal cases in Iowa. For a fee of $25 per month, users can retrieve additional information on specific cases, such as trial court cases schedules, exhibits, and bonds.
Criminal Court Records. Administered by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, this website allows a user to search an individual’s criminal history.
Case Inquiry System. Serving the Kansas Appellate Courts. The database allows users to search for cases by number or name.
Kentucky Court Records Online. Available for civil, criminal and domestic violence cases. Displays case number and case title only.
Case Search – Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Case Record Database may be searched by District Court Case Number, Appellate Court Case Year or Case Number.
Criminal Record Search.In order to search, one must have the individual’s name, date of birth, and a credit card or InforME subscription for payment.
Maryland Judiciary Case Search. This Web site provides public access to the case records of the Maryland Judiciary. Includes access to civil, criminal, and trafffic, and civil citation cases in the district and circuit courts.
Public Case Information. Allows users to search by docket number, party, attorney, or lower court.
Case Search provides access to docketing level information.
Access Court Records. Access to public records of the Minnesota Judicial Branch.
Case Docket Search . Access information on Mississippi Appellate cases by using case year and sequence number, party’s last and/or first name, or attorney’s last and/or first name.
Case.net. Provides access to the Missouri State Courts Automated Case Management System. Search (by litigant name, filing date, case number or scheduled hearing and trial date) available for Missouri counties’ with JIS automated case records. The database includes civil, criminal, and paternity cases.
Justice Court Case Searches. The Nebraska Trial Courts Case System (JUSTICE) offers online access to court case records for nearly every court in Nebraska (with the exception of Douglas County District Court). Search costs are billed per record or by flat monthly rate.
Justice: Court Case One Time Search. This system is designed to allow easy access to information about court cases throughout Nebraska. For a $15.00 per search fee, a user can search for a party involved in a case in Nebraska.
Clark County Case Search . Access information on civil, criminal, and probates cases in the District Court of Clark County (Las Vegas).
Contexte CourtConnect. Second Judicial District Court – Washoe County (Reno) Nevada. Search by person or case type. .
New Hampshire Court Records Users can access civil and criminal cases in the state of New Hampshire
Civil Motion Calendar Search Page. Users can access information concerning civil cases in the Superior Court of New Jersey.
New Mexico Case Information. Users can access case information from the New Mexico District Court, Magistrate Courts, and Municipal Courts. If searching for case information prior to 1997, one may have the contact the court in order to obtain the desired information.
Bernalillo County Cases requires a password.
Corrections Department Offender Search . One must know the first and last name of the individual or his New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD) number in order to obtain information.
Case Trac Services .Offers information on New York civil Supreme Court cases in all 62 counties. The database also has decisions dating back to 2001 for Allegany, Bronx, Broome, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Cortland, Delaware, Erie, Kings, Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Nassau, New York, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Suffolk, Westchester and Wyoming Counties.
Reports for the Department of Corrections.
Public Information on Offenders Search the docket using case number, person’s name or attorney information
North Dakota
Supreme Court Docket Search. Search the Supreme Court Docket by docket number, party name, or anything else in the text.
Supreme Court Case Docket. Search the docket using the case number, party’s name, or attorney’s information.
Cuyahoga County Public Access . Access the records of the county’s Probate Court. The database includes information on estates, guardianships, and marriage licenses.
Fairfield County Clerk of Courts . Access the records of the county’s courts. The database includes information on civil, criminal, and divorce cases.
Franklin County Public Access. Retrieve information on criminal and civil cases in Franklin County’s Municipal Court.
Franklin County Probate Case Search .Lake County Court Records . Contains information on civil, criminal, domestic relations, and Court of Appeals cases.
Montgomery County Public Records Online (PRO) System . Search court cases by last name, company name, or case number.
Summit County Case Search . Access information on civil, criminal, domestic, and court of appeals cases.
Oklahoma State Court Network . Contains information on the 13 largest counties in Oklahoma and all of the appeals courts.
Oklahoma District Court Records. Search county district court public records.
Your Access to Oregon Cases on the Internet. Subscription service. Startup fee $295.00 plus minimum monthly fee of $10. Case types include civil, domestic relations, criminal, probate and small claims
Public Records Search from the Oregon State Police.
Pennsylvania’s Unified Judicial System (UJS) Web Portal. Public access to appellate court, criminal common pleas court, and magisterial district court docket sheets; court calendars; rules of court; UJS contract postings; and ePay for secure payment of fines, costs and restitution.
Criminal History Search. This website is administered by the Pennsylvania State Police.
UJS Public Access Policies. Find policies and related information pertaining to accessing official case records of the magisterila district courts, electronic case records, and UJS financial records.
First Judicial District, Pennsylvania Civil Trial Division Find information on arbitration appeals, compulsory arbitration, and commerce case management.
Criminal Information Database. Search the public records by name or case identification.
Criminal Records Check. This website is sponsored by the South Carolina Law Enforcement.
Incarcerated Criminals Search.
South Carolina Judicial Department. Users can do a free docket search of most courts in South Carolina from this site.
Criminal and Civil Records. South Dakota offers record searches through the Clerk of Courts office. The state also offers online access to the State Court’s Civil Judgments database. Public, ‘pay as you go’ users can retrieve judgments by name and date.
Subscriber Access Criminal/Subscriber Access Civil – Harris County – Fee Based – $150.00 sign up + $10.00 per month + CPU time charge.
5th Court of Appeals Case Information.
Xchange. Allows users to access information on Utah’s court and cases. The online database requires a paid subscription.
Appellate Docket Search. Allows users to access case information by using the appellate case number. The database does not allow searches for cases that have been closed for longer than 3 months.
Welcome to Vermont Courts Online. Provides detailed case information which includes case summaries and real-time docket chronologies. Access is currently available for Civil and Small Claims cases in 12 of the 14 Superior Courts. There is an activation fee of $12.50
Supreme Court. Search for information on cases using name, case number, or hearing date.
Court of Appeals. Search for information on cases using name, case number, or hearing date.
Circuit Courts.Not all Circuit Courts provide online case information.
District Courts: This is the case management system for General District Courts in Virginia.
Search for a Case. The search tool returns a case summary and, where applicable, calendar information and a list of case activities (docket).
Criminal Records. For a $10.00 search fee, one can access criminal records on the Washington State Patrol Web site.
JIS-Link. Obtain access to information in the Judicial Information System’s statewide computer with a paid subscription.
West Virginia Circuit Court Web Access.West Virginia provides access to court records by subscription. Sign up fee is $125.00 plus a flat monthly fee and a per minute connect charge.
Wisconsin Circuit Court Access. WCCA provides access to the public records of the Consolidated Court Automation Programs. Includes criminal, traffic, forfeiture, family, probate, and civil cases.
Wisconsin Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Case Access. WSCCA provides public access to the status of appeals filed with the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. Generally, this site includes appeals that were considered “Open” from the end of 1993 forward.