What are New York Court Records?

New York State has over 19.6 million residents, making it the fourth-most populous state in the United States. The court structure in the state varies slightly for civil and criminal cases. However, both structures are three-tiered, with main appellate courts, intermediate appellate courts, and courts of original instance.

New York Court Records are official documents generated and maintained by the New York State court system, documenting legal proceedings. These records provide a historical account of various legal matters, including:

Docket Sheet

A court docket is a chronological record of all official actions and documents related to a legal case. It outlines the case's progression, including filed documents, court orders, hearings, and other key events.

Judgments and Orders

These are formal court decisions that dictate specific actions or restrictions for the involved parties. They represent the court's resolution of disputed issues in a case.

Transcripts

Court transcripts are verbatim written records of everything spoken during a court proceeding. They capture the dialogue between the judge, lawyers, witnesses, and other participants.

Evidence

Evidence includes any information or material presented in court to establish the truth or falsity of a claim or allegation.

Court Minutes

Court minutes summarize the judicial proceedings, decisions, and orders issued during a court hearing or trial.

Pleadings

Pleadings are formal written statements filed by parties involved in a lawsuit, outlining their legal positions and the facts supporting their claims or defenses.

Types of Court Cases

Court cases are divided into two primary categories: criminal and civil. Judges deciding criminal and civil cases have different powers. Judges can impose penalties for law violations in criminal cases, including sentencing someone to jail. In contrast, in civil cases, judges handle disputes between parties and can issue orders requiring individuals to pay money or fines or settle financial obligations. They also have the authority to make important decisions regarding family matters.

Civil Cases

Civil cases typically arise when one party brings legal action against another, whether an individual, a business, or a government entity. For instance, civil cases include Housing disputes (such as evictions or foreclosures)

Family law issues (such as divorce, child custody, and support arrangements)
Consumer-related matters (such as resolving debts, addressing bankruptcy, or dealing with unfair business practices)

Additionally, civil cases include matters relating to seeking financial compensation for damages (whether due to property loss, personal injury, or breach of contract).

Criminal Cases

In criminal cases, the government prosecutes an individual accused of violating the law by committing a crime. This individual, known as the defendant, faces charges that may result in serious consequences if found guilty. The burden of proof lies with the government, which must demonstrate the defendant's guilt "beyond a reasonable doubt". If the court determines the defendant to be guilty, the defendant may be punished with imprisonment, fines, or other forms of penalties imposed by the court.

Common examples of criminal cases in New York include:

Murder
Assault
Drug trafficking
Manslaughter
Robbery
Arson

What Are the Different Courts in New York?

New York has a civil court structure and a criminal court structure. In the civil court structure, the Court of Appeals and the appellate divisions of the Supreme Court make up the main appellate division. The Court of Appeals is the apex court in this structure. The appellate terms of the supreme court (first and second departments) and the county courts make up the intermediate appellate courts of the civil court structure. The courts of original instance include the supreme courts, county courts, surrogate's courts, family courts, court of claims, district courts, New York City civil courts, city courts, town courts, and village courts.

In the criminal court structure, the Court of Appeals is the only court in the main appellate court category. The appellate division of the Supreme Court, appellate terms of the Supreme Court (first and second departments), and county courts form the intermediate appellate court division. The courts of original instance comprise the supreme courts, county courts, district courts, New York City criminal courts, city courts, town courts, and village courts.

The Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals is the highest judicial authority in New York State and serves as the court of last resort for most cases. Located in Albany, the court comprises seven judges: a chief judge and six associate judges. The court hears civil and criminal appeals from the state's intermediate appellate courts and, in some instances, from the state's trial courts.

The Court of Appeals also handles appeals of decisions of the State Commission on judicial conduct and makes rules governing the admission of attorneys to the NYSB (New York State Bar). Unlike lower courts, the court of appeal has no jurisdictional limits concerning the monetary value involved in a case or the status of the parties.

Appellate Divisions

The appellate division of the Supreme Court in New York is divided into four separate departments, each serving a distinct geographic region within the state. These courts review appeals from decisions made by the superior courts, including the supreme, county, family, and surrogate courts, in both civil and criminal cases. Justices serving on the appellate division are appointed by the governor from among the sitting Supreme Court justices.

Each department of the appellate division is led by a presiding justice, who oversees the appellate court and serves as the chief supervising judge for all the judicial districts within that department.

The fourth department of the appellate division based in downtown Rochester covers the fifth, seventh, and eighth judicial districts, which include the major cities of Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse.

Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court in the First and Second Departments

The appellate terms of the Supreme Court handles appeals from cases that originate in the New York City civil and criminal courts. In the second department, the appellate terms also review appeals from cases that began in the district, city, town, and village courts. In the third and fourth departments, the county courts, which primarily serve as trial courts, also hear appeals from cases initiated in the city courts and the town and village courts.

Supreme Court

Unlike in other states, the Supreme Court in New York State is not the apex court in the state. The Supreme Court is New York State's trial court with the broadest jurisdiction, handling a wide range of both criminal and civil matters. It is authorized to hear nearly any type of case, except for claims against the state, which the court of claims exclusively handles.

Generally, the Supreme Court takes on cases that fall outside the jurisdiction of other trial courts with more limited authority. One of its key roles is in matters related to marriage, as it is the only court that may grant divorce, annulment, or legal separation.

The Supreme Court is organized into twelve judicial districts across the state, each serving specific geographic areas. Justices of the Supreme Court are elected by voters and serve 14-year terms.

County Court

The county court is present in every county outside of New York City and handles the prosecution of crimes committed within its jurisdiction. While it can address all criminal cases, arraignments, preliminary hearings for felonies, and trials for misdemeanors and minor offenses are often managed by courts with more limited authority.

The county court also deals with civil cases involving disputes up to $25,000. Additionally, it has jurisdiction over certain real estate matters, like property foreclosures, without any monetary limits, as long as the property is located within the county.

The county court serves as an intermediate appellate court, reviewing decisions from city and town courts. In some rural counties, the county court judge may also serve as an acting Supreme Court justice, Family Court judge, and surrogate.

Court of Claims

This is a statewide court with the sole authority to handle claims for monetary damages against New York State. However, it does not have the power to hear cases against individual state employees. Judges in the court are appointed by the governor and serve nine-year terms.

Family Court

The Family Court handles the majority of the cases involving minors aged 8 to 16 charged with offenses that would be categorized as crimes if committed by adults. It also deals with matters related to child custody, adoption, child support, and establishing paternity. However, the court does not handle the termination of marriages, which falls under the Supreme Court's jurisdiction. Judges in the family court are elected to 10-year terms.

Surrogate's Court

A Surrogate's Court exists in every New York State county and it handles cases related to the estates of deceased individuals, including the probate of wills, estate administration, and guardianship matters. Alongside the family court, the surrogate's court also oversees adoption proceedings. Judges in the Surrogate's Court are elected to serve 10-year terms.

City Court

City courts operate in 61 cities across New York and have criminal jurisdiction over misdemeanors and lesser offenses, as well as civil jurisdiction over claims up to $15,000. Many city courts also have specialized divisions for small claims, housing issues, drug treatment, mental health cases, and domestic violence matters. City court judges are responsible for arraigning defendants and conducting preliminary hearings in felony cases.

Town and Village Courts

Town and village courts handle criminal cases involving violations and misdemeanors and civil disputes with claims up to $3,000. These courts also manage traffic infractions. As magistrates, town and village court justices conduct arraignments and preliminary hearings for individuals charged with more serious crimes.

Specialized Courts & Justice Initiatives

Small Claims Court

Small Claims Courts are user-friendly, informal courts where individuals can sue for money damages up to $3,000 without needing a lawyer. Often referred to as "People's Court", these courts are designed to be accessible and straightforward.

Commercial Division of the Supreme Court

The Commercial Division specializes in efficiently handling complex business and commercial disputes. According to 22 NYCRR 202.70(b), these commercial cases involve disputes where the amount in question exceeds $100,000, excluding interest or attorneys' fees. Common types of cases suitable for the Commercial Division include:

Breach of contract cases related to securities, goods, or services provided to a business and franchise or licensing agreements
Shareholder derivative actions
Corporate dissolution or liquidation
Disputes involving general and limited partnerships

Integrated Domestic Violence Courts

The integrated domestic violence (IDV) courts address the challenge of domestic violence victims and their families having to navigate multiple courts and judges for different legal issues. In IDV Courts, a single judge handles all related cases, criminal, family, and matrimonial—when domestic violence is the core issue. This approach aims to improve judicial decisions, ensure consistency in court orders, and reduce the number of court appearances for families. Entry into the IDV Court requires that the case involves criminal allegations of domestic violence.

Drug Treatment Courts

Drug treatment courts focus on intervening in the lives of non-violent, addicted offenders by offering them court-supervised treatment as an alternative to traditional sentencing. In exchange for a reduced sentence, offenders can voluntarily enter a treatment program overseen by the court, with support from a team that includes the defense, prosecution, treatment providers, education services, and law enforcement.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

The New York State Unified Court System has established various Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) programs across all court levels to help resolve cases without litigation. ADR includes mediation, arbitration, neutral evaluation, and summary jury trials.

Currently, most cases in the programs are directed to neutral evaluation, where a neutral evaluator meets with the parties and their attorneys, both together and separately, to hear their presentations, offer opinions, and explore settlement options. Additionally, the court provides a roster of experienced mediators, both attorneys and non-attorneys, from which parties can choose to help resolve their disputes. In mediation, all parties must sign consent and confidentiality agreements.

How Many Federal Courts Are in New York?

New York State has four federal district courts: the United States District Courts for the Southern, Eastern, Northern, and Western Districts of New York. Each district court has its own set of active judges, and appeals from these courts are heard at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

These federal district courts have limited jurisdiction as they can only hear specific case types. They primarily handle cases involving diversity jurisdiction, where the parties are from different states, and federal question jurisdiction, which involves cases related to the U.S. Constitution or federal laws. Additionally, these courts have exclusive jurisdiction over certain matters governed by federal law, such as bankruptcy, patents, copyrights, and admiralty or maritime law.

How Many Court Cases Are Filed Each Year in New York?

Over 1.3 million cases are filed annually in New York trial courts. In 2019, 2,103,568 cases were filed in the New York courts. In 2020, 2021, and 2022, 1,312,531, 1,466,147, and 1,648,822 cases were filed in the trial courts, respectively.

According to the New York courts caseload trends dashboard, 1,778,226 cases were filed in the state's trial courts in 2023. These filings were under the following categories:

Local criminal:	312,506
Supreme and county criminal:	35,159
Local civil:	571,586
Supreme and county civil:	212,293
Family court:	496,259
Surrogate's court:	150,423

How Do I Look Up Court Cases in New York?

The New York State judiciary provides multiple means for requesters to obtain court records in the state. If you intend to get a court record, you can use any of the following methods:

E-filed Case Records Guest Search: You may search New York State supreme court cases and documents e-filed in the New York State Courts Electronic Filing system. You can search the system as a guest; no e-filing account is required.
Criminal History Records Search (CHRS): You can obtain a criminal court record using the CHRS. Each record available from the CHRS costs $95.
eCourts: Current and disposed case information in the state is available via the case search feature of the New York State Unified Courts System
Court Records: Request for New York State court records may be made directly to the clerk of the court or the county clerk maintaining the record
FOIL Request: New York State permits court records to be made available via Freedom of Information Law requests for access to agency administrative records
Genealogy Research: Since 1787, probate records, including wills, have been filed and maintained by the surrogate's court in each county. These records can be accessed at the courthouse, although an appointment may be required. Some records may involve a fee to access. Use the Court Locator tool to locate the appropriate surrogate court for the county you are interested in.

What Court Records Are Not Available to the Public in New York?

While the public has a common law right to access New York State court records, the right of access may be restricted by statute. Several New York State statutes limit access to court records where the interest in confidentiality outweighs the public interest in disclosure. These include:

Family Court Records: Section 166 of the New York State Family Court Act provides that the records of any proceeding in family court are not open to indiscriminate public inspection. To access a family court record, the requester must apply to the court and outline the reasons for the request. It is solely within the court's discretion whether to allow the inspection of such records. Some persons, such as the parties and their representatives, are allowed to access family court records without application to the court.
Sealed Records: Several New York statutes require that criminal case records be sealed under specific circumstances. According to Section 160.50 of the Criminal Procedure Law, records must be sealed when a defendant is acquitted of all charges or when the case is dismissed. Once sealed, these records are inaccessible to anyone other than the defendant, with limited exceptions for certain law enforcement agencies.

Additionally, CPL 720.35(2) mandates sealing court records when a defendant is adjudicated as a youthful offender. If a criminal case involving a juvenile offender is transferred to the family court under CPL Article 725, those records must also be sealed, as specified in CPL 725.15.

Section 4 of the judiciary law states that court proceedings in New York are generally open to the public, and any citizen may attend. However, the court has the discretion to exclude individuals not directly involved in cases involving sensitive matters such as divorce, abortion, rape, assault with intent to commit rape, sodomy, bastardy, or filiation.

While public access to trials is a fundamental right, the court has the authority to close a courtroom when necessary to maintain order, protect the parties and witnesses, or ensure the proper administration of justice. This discretion is typically only exercised in exceptional circumstances, and the court must conduct an inquiry to ensure that the right to a public trial is not compromised without compelling reasons.