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Court Records

Ohio Court Records

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

Ohio's trial courts are organized county by county, with a court of common pleas in each of the 88 counties and a mix of municipal, county and mayor's courts below them. Each court keeps its own records, and most counties run their own online search.

There is no single statewide trial court search, so you need to know, or guess, the county.

Because each county clerk of courts chooses its own case management system, Ohio online searches look different from county to county. Most of the large urban counties, such as Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Montgomery and Summit, offer free online dockets and many scanned documents.

How Ohio's courts are organized

Ohio has two appellate levels and several kinds of trial courts.

Supreme Court of Ohio

Seven justices hear death penalty appeals, cases of public or great general interest and appeals from state agencies.

District Courts of Appeals

Twelve appellate districts hear most appeals from trial courts.

Courts of common pleas

The general jurisdiction trial courts. They have general, domestic relations, probate and juvenile divisions.

Municipal and county courts

Hear misdemeanors, traffic, small claims, evictions and smaller civil cases.

Court of Claims and mayor's courts

The Court of Claims hears lawsuits against the state and public records disputes. Mayor's courts hear minor local cases in some villages and cities.

Searching Ohio court records online

Start with the clerk of courts website for the county.

Getting records from the clerk's office

The clerk of courts in each county keeps the records of the common pleas court's general division, and often the court of appeals. Probate, domestic relations and juvenile divisions may keep their own records. Municipal and county court clerks keep their courts' records.

Copies and certified copies are available for set fees. Deeds are kept by the county recorder.

In most counties, the probate court keeps estates, guardianships, adoptions and marriage licenses, and the juvenile court keeps juvenile delinquency, dependency, custody and child support cases for unmarried parents. Domestic relations divisions keep divorce and dissolution records. Each division may have its own clerk or records office.

What is public, and what is not

Ohio's Rules of Superintendence (rules 44 to 47) govern public access to court records. Most are open, but juvenile, adoption, mental health and some other records are confidential.

Ohio allows sealing of many criminal records after a waiting period, and expungement (permanent destruction) in some cases. Sealed records are removed from public view.

Ohio's Rules of Superintendence require courts to omit personal identifiers from public case documents and let a court restrict public access to a case document only after weighing specific factors. Ohio law also allows sealing of many conviction records after a waiting period, and some records can be expunged (destroyed) instead of sealed.

Older and archived records

Historical court records are held by county clerks, the Ohio History Connection (the state archives) and a network of local records centers.

Ohio's Local Government Records Program helps counties manage historical court records, many of which are still held by county archives and records centers.

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.

Ohio's Bureau of Criminal Investigation, part of the Attorney General's office, keeps the state's criminal history records. Checks are fingerprint-based through WebCheck.

Federal court records in Ohio

Federal cases, including federal crimes, bankruptcies, and lawsuits over federal law or between citizens of different states, are not filed in Ohio's state courts. Ohio is divided into 2 federal judicial districts, 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 Ohio's federal courts go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Tips for a faster search

  • Misdemeanors and traffic cases are in municipal or county court, not common pleas.
  • The common pleas probate division keeps estates and marriage licenses in most counties.
  • Sealed records will not appear in public searches.
  • Ohio's mayor's courts are not courts of record. If a case was in a mayor's court, contact the village or city directly.
  • 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.