Delaware Court Records
How Delaware's courts are organized, where their records are kept and how to search them.
Delaware is small, but its courts carry outsized weight. More than half of America's public companies are incorporated in Delaware, and the Court of Chancery is one of the country's most important business courts. The state's court system is fully state-run, with courthouses in each of its three counties.
Civil case dockets for several courts can be searched online for free, while criminal and family records usually require a request to the court.
How Delaware's courts are organized
Delaware has no intermediate appellate court. Its trial courts are divided by subject rather than by level of seriousness alone.
Delaware Supreme Court
Five justices hear all appeals from the trial courts. Delaware is one of the few states where every appeal goes directly to the highest court.
Court of Chancery
A court of equity with no jury, famous for corporate and business disputes. It also handles trusts, estates, guardianships and land disputes.
Superior Court
The general jurisdiction trial court for felonies and most civil cases, including complex commercial litigation.
Family Court
Statewide court for divorce, custody, support, protection from abuse and juvenile delinquency. Most of its records are confidential.
Court of Common Pleas and Justice of the Peace Court
Common Pleas hears misdemeanors, preliminary hearings and mid-sized civil claims. The Justice of the Peace Court handles traffic, minor criminal cases, landlord-tenant and small claims.
Searching Delaware court records online
Delaware's CourtConnect system offers free docket searches for civil cases in several courts.
- Delaware CourtConnectFree docket search for civil cases in the Superior Court, Court of Common Pleas and Justice of the Peace Court, and for some criminal case information.
- Delaware Courts opinions and ordersOpinions from the Supreme Court, Court of Chancery and Superior Court.
- Delaware Supreme Court docketInformation on Supreme Court cases and how to get appellate records.
Getting records from the clerk's office
Copies of case files come from the clerk of the court that heard the case, at the courthouse in New Castle, Kent or Sussex County. The Superior Court Prothonotary keeps that court's records. Many civil and Chancery filings are available through the courts' e-filing vendor for a fee.
Criminal history information from the courts is requested through the State Bureau of Identification rather than by searching each court.
- Delaware CourtsContact information and records request procedures for each court.
What is public, and what is not
Most Delaware court records are public, but Family Court records are generally confidential, as are juvenile, adoption and mental health records. The Court of Chancery allows parties to file confidential versions of business documents, with public redacted versions filed afterward.
Delaware's Clean Slate law now expunges many eligible criminal records automatically, and people can petition for expungement of other records. Expunged records are removed from public view.
- Delaware expungement informationHow expungement works in Delaware's courts.
Older and archived records
Delaware's historical court records, including colonial and county court files, are held at the state archives in Dover, which also stores older closed case files for the courts.
- Delaware Public ArchivesHistorical court records dating to the colonial era.
Criminal history and background records
A court file tells you what happened in one case in one court. A criminal history record (often called a rap sheet) pulls together arrests, charges and outcomes reported from across the state, so it is a different product kept by a different agency.
The Delaware State Police State Bureau of Identification keeps the state's criminal history records and processes background checks.
- State Bureau of IdentificationHow to request a Delaware criminal history check.
- Delaware sex offender registryPublic search of registered sex offenders.
- VINELinkCheck the custody status of people held by the Delaware Department of Correction.
Federal court records in Delaware
Federal cases, including federal crimes, bankruptcies, and lawsuits over federal law or between citizens of different states, are not filed in Delaware's state courts. Delaware is a single federal judicial district, and each has its own clerk's office:
The federal court in Wilmington has one of the busiest patent dockets in the country, and Delaware's federal bankruptcy court handles many large corporate bankruptcies.
Federal case files are searched through PACER, the federal judiciary's records system. PACER charges a small fee per page, but you pay nothing if your charges stay under the quarterly fee-waiver threshold, court opinions are free, and every federal courthouse has public terminals you can use at no cost. Many PACER documents have also been copied into the free RECAP Archive on CourtListener. Appeals from Delaware's federal courts go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Tips for a faster search
- For business disputes, check the Court of Chancery first, then Superior Court's Complex Commercial Litigation Division.
- Family Court records are mostly closed. If you are a party, contact the court directly for copies.
- Delaware is small enough that a single phone call to the right clerk often answers the question.
- Have the full names of the parties, the county and a rough date range ready. A case number is the fastest way in if you have one.
- Online indexes are not the official record. If a decision depends on it, get a copy (or a certified copy) from the clerk's office that holds the file.
Legal help and law libraries
Clerks and law librarians can explain how to find a record, but they cannot give legal advice. These organizations can point you in the right direction:
- Delaware Law LibrariesPublic law libraries in each county courthouse.
- Delaware Courts self-helpForms and guidance for people without a lawyer.
- Legal Services Corporation of DelawareFree civil legal help for low-income residents.
This guide is general information about public records, not legal advice. Court websites, fees and rules change, so confirm details with the court before you rely on them. Civics-Online.org is not affiliated with any court or government agency.