Maryland Case Search
Maryland Judiciary Case Search is an online tool used by the public to search for records of court cases heard in Maryland state courts, which is described in the Maryland Rules on Access to Court Records. Case Search has been open to the public since January 2006 to provide general information about court cases, including the case number, the name and address of people involved, the names of documents in the court file, the dates and times of hearings, or a brief statement about decisions made by the court.
What the Case Search offers is just a summary of case records. If you want to view more detailed information about the case, please go to the courthouse where the case was first created or filed. You will get the complete record from the case file at the Clerk’s office.
How to Find a Case
To get started, please visit the official page.
Before you use Case Search, you need to accept the agreement displayed on the page by clicking the "I Agree" button to indicate that you understand and accept the conditions stated.
A new page appears as you click the "I Agree" button. There are two methods of searching case records.
The first method is to search by Person or Company.
First, you need to select the Court Type - Trial or Appellate.
Second, choose to search by Person or Company. If you choose the Person Search, please input the exact name in the first and last name search fields. For partial name searches, please input at least the first character of the last name, followed by a % symbol. The first name is not necessary. Sometimes you may not find the company name when you choose the Company Search. Try to use the Person Search and input the name of the company in the last name search field.
Third, you can narrow the search results by selecting the Party Type, Case Type, Court System, County, and the range of Filing Date. Finally, click the "Search" button at the bottom.
The second method is to search by Case Number.
You need to select the District Court or County for Circuit Court from the drop-down list of the Court and then enter the case number in the search box. When you enter the case number, you can omit dashes "-" or omit leading zeroes for Traffic. Finally, click the "Get Case" button.
If you choose to search by Person or Company, there will be a list of search results. In the list, the case records are displayed in summary, including case number, name, date of birth, party type, court, case type, case status, filing date, and case caption. Click the case number, and you will enter a new page, on which detailed information about the case is displayed.
If you choose to search by Case Number, you can enter this page directly. On the new page, you will get a wealth of information about the case records, including case information, other reference numbers, involved parties information, mediator/ADR practitioner, plaintiff, attorney(s) for the plaintiff, defendant, attorney(s) for the defendant, court scheduling information, judgement information, document information, and service information.
If you think the information about the case records shown on Case Search is not accurate, you can also contact the court where the original case record was created or filed by sending a written notice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Records Are Available on Case Search?
Case Search offers the records of cases heard in the Maryland District Court, Circuit Court, Appellate Court, and Supreme Court.
Generally speaking, the case records you can search on Cases Search include the criminal, civil, and traffic case records of the District Court of Maryland, the criminal and civil case records of the Circuit Court of Maryland, the petitions, appeals, attorney grievance, and judicial disability case records of the Supreme Court of Maryland, and the appeals, applications for leave to appeal and miscellaneous case records of the Appellate Court of Maryland.
The Clerk’s Office has the responsibility for entering the case information into the Case Search system. The time when the Clerk’s office enters the information and the amount of the historical data vary by jurisdiction.
What Records Are Not Available on Case Search?
Although court case records are usually open to the public in Maryland, Maryland Law also requires some to be kept private, which means that some case records are not available on Case Search and the Clerk’s Office. Only the authorized people are allowed to view the case file.
These case records that are not available on Case Search include but are not limited to truancy, adoption, juvenile delinquency, guardianship ending parental rights, child in need of assistance or CINA cases, emergency mental health assessments, unserved protective orders, unserved arrest warrants, and legal actions seeking a judicial declaration of gender identity.
In addition, federal cases and some court records like land records involving wills or estates also do not appear on Cases Search, and Case Search is not used for criminal background check.
How Records can be Removed from Case Search?
There are two primary methods by which you can require the court to remove the case records from Case Search: expungement and shielding.
Expungement applies to criminal cases. If the application for expungement is approved, the court and law enforcement can remove the details of the criminal case from the records. Shielding normally applies to civil cases. Depending on how the case turns out, civil cases involving peace and protective orders may qualify for shielding. In some other kinds of cases, you can also submit a written request for shielding; however, shielding is only permitted in certain situations.
The records of traffic offenses that are not serious are automatically removed from Case Search after three years.