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Court Records

District of Columbia Court Records

How the District's courts are organized, where their records are kept and how to search them.

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Washington, D.C. is not a state, but it has its own local court system, created by Congress and separate from the federal courts that also sit in the city. Two courts handle every local case: the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, which hears all trial-level matters, and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the District's highest court.

Because there are no counties, cities or separate local courts, a single Superior Court search covers almost every local case in D.C., from traffic and small claims to felonies, divorces and estates. The courts are funded by the federal government but are run by the District's own judiciary.

How the District's courts are organized

D.C.'s local courts have two levels. The Superior Court is organized into divisions, each with its own clerk's office.

District of Columbia Court of Appeals

The highest court of the District, equivalent to a state supreme court. It hears all appeals from the Superior Court and reviews decisions of some D.C. agencies.

Superior Court: Criminal Division

Hears felonies, misdemeanors and traffic offenses prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office or the D.C. Attorney General.

Superior Court: Civil Division

Hears lawsuits of all sizes, including the Landlord and Tenant Branch and the Small Claims Branch.

Superior Court: Family Court

Hears divorce, custody, child support, adoption, juvenile and neglect cases. Many of its records are confidential.

Superior Court: Probate and Tax Divisions

The Probate Division handles estates, wills, trusts and guardianships; the Tax Division hears tax appeals.

Searching District of Columbia court records online

The Superior Court's online case search lets anyone look up public cases in the Civil, Criminal, Probate and Tax Divisions by name or case number, showing parties, docket entries and hearing dates, and some documents can be viewed. Family Court and other confidential cases, and sealed criminal records, are not shown. The Court of Appeals has a separate case search.

Daily case calendars for the Superior Court are also posted online.

A court index is not a background check. Online indexes leave out sealed, expunged and confidential cases, may not include every local court, and can mix up people with similar names. Confirm any match against the case file before you rely on it.

Getting copies from the clerk's office

Each Superior Court division has its own clerk's office in the Moultrie Courthouse and nearby court buildings. Contact the division that heard the case: Criminal, Civil, Family, Probate or Tax.

Divisions take copy requests in person and by mail, and the Probate Division has its own request form for searches and copies. Give the case number, the party names, the documents you want and whether they must be certified. Copy and certification fees are set by the court's fee schedules, and the clerk will tell you the cost.

Deeds and other land records are kept by the D.C. Recorder of Deeds, part of the Office of Tax and Revenue, not the courts.

What is public, and what is not

Most D.C. Superior Court records are public, but Family Court records involving children, juvenile, adoption, mental health and neglect records are confidential, and filers must redact personal identifiers.

D.C.'s record sealing law, D.C. Code sections 16-801 to 16-807, was expanded by the Second Look Amendment Act and the Record Sealing Modernization Amendment Act of 2022. It allows sealing of many non-conviction records and many misdemeanor and some felony convictions after a waiting period, and provides for automatic sealing of some records as the courts implement it.

For records not sealed automatically, you file a motion in the Criminal Division, served on the prosecutor, who can oppose it. Sealed records are removed from public view and the online case search.

Older and archived records

The Superior Court was created in 1971, when Congress reorganized D.C.'s courts; older local cases were heard by the federal District Court and other predecessor courts. Older Superior Court files are kept by each division or in storage under the court's retention schedule.

Historical D.C. court records from before 1971, including many early civil, criminal and probate records, are held by the National Archives in Washington and College Park. The D.C. Archives (Office of Public Records) holds some later District government records, and the Probate Division keeps historical will books.

Criminal history and background records

D.C.'s criminal history records are kept by the Metropolitan Police Department, which issues police clearances and records checks; most require the subject's consent. For another person's cases, the public usually searches the Superior Court's Criminal Division records.

Because federal crimes committed in D.C. are prosecuted in the federal District Court, a full search should include both the Superior Court and PACER.

  • MPD police clearances (external site)How to request a D.C. criminal history record (police clearance) from the Metropolitan Police Department.
  • D.C. sex offender registry (external site)The Metropolitan Police Department publishes the District's public registry of Class A and B sex offenders; registration is supervised by the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency. A registry listing is not a court record; check the Superior Court for the case itself.

Federal court records in District of Columbia

Federal crimes, bankruptcies and lawsuits under federal law are filed in federal court, not in the local D.C. courts. The District is a single federal judicial district, served by one clerk's office:

Federal courts in Washington also hear many lawsuits against the federal government, so the D.C. federal court's docket is unusually large for a district of its size.

Federal case files are searched through PACER (external site), which charges per page but waives small quarterly bills, and is free on courthouse terminals. Many documents are also free in the RECAP Archive (external site). Appeals go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (external site).

Tips for a faster District of Columbia search

  • D.C. Superior Court case numbers include the year, a case type such as CF1 or CF2 (felonies), CMD (misdemeanors), CAB (civil) or DRB (domestic relations), and a sequence number.
  • If a criminal case is not in the Superior Court search, it may be a federal prosecution in the U.S. District Court; check PACER.
  • Landlord and tenant cases are in the Civil Division's Landlord and Tenant Branch.
  • Family Court cases will not appear in public searches; parties should contact the Family Court clerk.

Common questions about District of Columbia court records

Is there a free D.C. court search?

Yes. The Superior Court's case search covers public civil, criminal, probate and tax cases, and the Court of Appeals has its own search.

Are D.C. courts state or federal?

The Superior Court and Court of Appeals are D.C.'s local courts, created by Congress but separate from the federal District Court and D.C. Circuit.

Can D.C. criminal records be sealed?

Yes. Many non-conviction records and many misdemeanor and some felony convictions can be sealed, some automatically.

Where are D.C. deeds and wills?

Deeds are with the Recorder of Deeds; wills and estates are with the Superior Court's Probate Division.

Legal help and law libraries

The D.C. Courts run free self-help centers for family, probate, civil and landlord-tenant cases, and several legal aid groups serve D.C. 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.