Research Guides: Case Records & Briefs Research Guide: Other State Courts

Information and Tips for Locating State & Local Court Records

A Union List of Appellate Court Records and Briefs: Federal and State by Michael Whiteman, Peter Scott Campbell
Call Number: Reference Office KF105.9 .W49 2017 (Available online see below)
ISBN: 9780837740652
Publication Date: 2nd ed., 2017
The Union List is also available online on HeinOnline. An invaluable resource for locating federal and state appellate court records and briefs. Especially hard to find records that may not be available from online sources.
The Manual to Online Public Records by Michael L. Sankey, Cynthia Hetherington
Call Number: Reference Office JK468.P76 S26x 2017
ISBN: 9781889150628
Publication Date: 4th ed., 2017
See chapter 4, "Court Records" pages 55-65. Covers state, local and Native American courts.

Subscription & Fee-Based Sources

Bloomberg Law This link opens in a new window
Bloomberg Law's Dockets section offers access to court documents and docket information for selected state courts (coverage varies).
Lexis This link opens in a new window
Lexis offers several collections of state court case documents including briefs, motions and pleadings. Coverage varies by state.
Westlaw This link opens in a new window
WestlawNext offers various collections of state court case documents including briefs, motions and pleadings. Trial transcripts and oral arguments from selected state court cases (trial to supreme court levels) can be searched from the Trial Transcripts & Oral Arguments database (a multibase of transcripts of selected oral arguments and trials).
Trellis This link opens in a new window
A database of state court data, including documents and analytics.

Freely Available Web Sites

Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse
The University of Michigan Law School's Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse is a growing collection of case documents and other information about civil rights cases in over 20 selected case categories across the United States. Coverage includes case filings and transcripts from state and federal courts at all levels (trial to highest appellate).

Use the directories below to contact a law library for the jurisdiction of interest for information on obtaining case dockets and documents.

Directory of State Court Web Sites
(National Center for State Courts)
Member Libraries - AALL Government Law Libraries SIS
Directory of state, court and county law libraries that are members of the American Association of Law Libraries', Government Law Libraries Special Interest Section. Includes links to library websites and court directories where available.