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Court Records

Nevada Court Records

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

Nevada's courts are organized around 11 judicial districts, with justice and municipal courts handling minor matters. Most people live in Clark County (Las Vegas) and Washoe County (Reno), and the courts there run their own online case systems.

There is no single statewide search of trial court records, but Nevada's Supreme Court and Court of Appeals cases are searchable online for free.

In Clark County, the Eighth Judicial District Court handles the large majority of the state's district court cases, and Las Vegas Justice Court is one of the busiest limited jurisdiction courts in the country. Both run their own online systems, so a search for a Las Vegas case usually starts on the county court websites rather than a state portal.

How Nevada's courts are organized

Nevada has two appellate courts and three kinds of trial courts.

Supreme Court of Nevada

Seven justices hear appeals and assign some to the Court of Appeals.

Nevada Court of Appeals

Created in 2014, it hears cases assigned by the Supreme Court.

District courts

The general jurisdiction trial courts. They hear felonies, larger civil cases, family law, probate and juvenile cases.

Justice and municipal courts

Justice courts hear misdemeanors, preliminary hearings, small claims, evictions and smaller civil cases. Municipal courts hear city ordinance and traffic cases.

Searching Nevada court records online

Use the court's own portal for trial cases and the Supreme Court's system for appeals.

Getting records from the clerk's office

District court records come from the clerk of the district court in each county. In Clark County, the court's own clerk keeps the records; in most other counties, the elected county clerk serves as clerk of the district court. Justice and municipal court records come from those courts.

Clerks provide copies and certified copies for fees set by statute.

Clark County's district court clerk offers online access to many case documents, sometimes for a per-page fee, while the Las Vegas Justice Court has its own search for misdemeanors, small claims and evictions. In rural counties, records requests usually go to the elected county clerk by phone, mail or email.

What is public, and what is not

Most Nevada court records are public, but juvenile, adoption, mental health and many family records are confidential. Nevada Supreme Court rules govern sealing of civil records.

Nevada allows sealing of most criminal records after a waiting period, and records of dismissed charges or acquittals can be sealed right away. Sealed records are treated as though they never existed for most purposes.

Nevada Supreme Court Rules governing sealing and redacting court records (SRCR) set the test a judge must apply before sealing a civil case. Family court records in divorce and custody cases are confidential if a party asks, and juvenile records are sealed when the person turns 21 in many cases.

Older and archived records

Older closed court files are kept by county clerks or transferred to the Nevada State Library, Archives and Public Records, which holds historical Supreme Court and county court records.

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 Nevada Department of Public Safety Records, Communications and Compliance Division keeps the state's criminal history repository. Fingerprint-based checks are available for authorized purposes.

Federal court records in Nevada

Federal cases, including federal crimes, bankruptcies, and lawsuits over federal law or between citizens of different states, are not filed in Nevada's state courts. Nevada is a single federal judicial district, and each has its own clerk's office:

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 Nevada's federal courts go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Tips for a faster search

  • Las Vegas has several justice courts and municipal courts; check where the incident happened.
  • District court case numbers in Clark County include a case type letter, such as C for criminal or A for civil.
  • Sealed records will not show up anywhere online.
  • Las Vegas has several overlapping courts: Las Vegas Justice Court, Henderson and North Las Vegas Justice Courts, and city municipal courts. Check which jurisdiction the incident happened in before you search.
  • 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:

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.