State Court Records
A state court file is kept by the clerk of the court where the case was filed, whether a municipal, county or district court. The clerk’s office makes the copies, plain or certified.
We go to the clerk’s office in any U.S. court, state or federal, and send you the copies, plain or certified.
Free written quote first. No payment until you approve the quote.
All 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico · NAPPS since 2023
Court document retrieval means getting copies of a court record from the clerk’s office of the court that holds it: a docket sheet, a complaint, a motion, an order, a judgment or the entire case file.
You tell us the court, the case and the documents. We submit the request to the clerk, pay the court’s copy and certification fees, and send you the copies as a PDF by email or by mail.
Local, state and federal courts all keep their own records. When a court’s online portal does not have the document, or you need a certified copy, the request goes through the clerk’s office.
Need papers served, filed or domesticated in the same case? See service of process, court filing and subpoena domestication, and our pricing page.
Name the documents by docket number, or write “entire file” or “docket sheet”. Up to ten cases fit on one order.
The same four steps apply to a municipal court, a county court or a federal district court. What changes is the clerk’s fees and how long the clerk takes.
Send the court’s name and address, the case number or the party names, and the documents you need.
Your written quote lists our fee and an estimate of the clerk’s copy and certification fees. Nothing is requested until you approve it.
We submit the request to the clerk’s office and pay the court’s fees. Processing times are set by the Clerk’s Office.
We scan the copies and email them to you as a PDF, or mail them, certified under the clerk’s seal where you asked.
We retrieve from municipal, county and district courts, state courts and the federal courts, in all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico.
A state court file is kept by the clerk of the court where the case was filed, whether a municipal, county or district court. The clerk’s office makes the copies, plain or certified.
U.S. District Courts, Bankruptcy Courts and Courts of Appeals. Most of their filings are on PACER, but a certified copy comes only from the clerk’s office of the court that holds the case.
Federal court records less than 15 years old are generally still held by the court. Closed files can be stored at a Federal Records Center. Bankruptcy files that have gone to the National Archives are at the National Archives at Kansas City.
Add up to ten cases from the same court on the form, and list the documents you need from each one: the docket sheet in one case, the entire file in another. All of them come back on one written quote, with the clerk’s fees estimated for each case.
Name the court and the case, get a written quote. Get a free quote
A certified copy carries the clerk’s official seal and certification language stating that it is a true and complete copy of the record. A plain copy has neither.
Certified copies are often required when a record is used in another state.
Choose Plain Copies or Certified Copies on the form. Need both? Say so under special instructions.
If the record is going to another court or agency, check what it accepts before you order. The clerk certifies a copy when it is made; certifying it later takes a new request.
An apostille is the single certificate, under the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, that lets a public document be used abroad in place of the longer legalization process. A designated authority where the document originates issues it.
For a federal district court or court of appeals record, that court’s clerk issues it. For a Florida court record, the Florida Secretary of State issues it for copies certified by a Florida clerk.
Answer Yes to “Apostille Needed?” on the form. The apostille is quoted with the order, and the copies can be mailed to any address in any country.
These are the federal courts’ published fees. They are the court’s own. When we request records from a clerk’s office, the clerk’s copy and certification fees are billed on your invoice with our Check Advance Fee.
PACER gives you an electronic copy of a federal court document. A PACER download is not certified no matter how it is printed.
A certified copy comes from the clerk’s office of the court that holds the case. That is the copy we request when you choose Certified Copies.
Electronic Public Access Fee Schedule, effective January 1, 2020. uscourts.gov
Each state court sets its own copy and certification fees, often per page. Your free quote estimates them for the court you name.
The clerk’s actual charge is billed on your invoice with our Check Advance Fee.
District Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule, effective December 1, 2023. uscourts.gov
State or federal, plain or certified, the court’s fees estimated in one written quote. Get a free quote
The same terms appear on your written quote.
What attorneys, paralegals and people handling their own case ask before they order a court record.
Getting copies of a court record from the clerk’s office of the court that holds it: a docket sheet, a pleading, an order, a judgment or the entire case file.
You send the court, the case and the documents. We submit the request to the clerk and send you the copies, plain or certified, as a PDF by email or by mail.
For a federal case, often yes: PACER charges $0.10 per page, at most $3 per document, and no fee is owed until an account passes $30 in a quarter.
A PACER download is not certified no matter how it is printed. A certified copy comes from the clerk’s office of the court that holds the case, and a federal clerk charges $12 to certify a document.
A certified copy carries the clerk’s official seal and certification language stating that it is a true and complete copy of the record. A plain copy does not.
Certified copies are often required when a record is used in another state, or apostilled for use abroad.
Yes, on request. Answer Yes to “Apostille Needed?” on the form and the apostille is quoted with the order.
A federal district court or court of appeals clerk issues the apostille for that court’s records. For a Florida court record, the Florida Secretary of State issues it for copies certified by a Florida clerk.
Clerks charge per page and per certification. Your written quote includes an estimate of the clerk’s copy and certification fees, and they are billed with our Check Advance Fee.
If the clerk charges more than the estimate, we bill only the difference, with the clerk’s receipt.
Processing times are set by the Clerk’s Office and vary from court to court. If you have a deadline, put it on the form under Desired Deadline for Retrieval and it appears on your quote.
Our fee covers one attempt at the clerk’s office and is due whether or not the court releases the record, including a record that is missing, sealed or restricted.
The form asks you to confirm that the records are public and not sealed before you send it.
The court’s name and address, the case number or the party names, and the documents you need: docket numbers, “entire file” or “docket sheet”. A docket sheet or a prior filing helps us find the record; upload it with the form or email it to info@served123.com.
Yes. Choose Mail the Copies and enter the mailing address, in any country. Mailing is quoted with the order. Copies can also come as a PDF by email.
Yes. Federal court records less than 15 years old are generally still held by the court. Closed files can be stored at a Federal Records Center and remain in the court’s legal custody. Bankruptcy files that have gone to the National Archives are at the National Archives at Kansas City. Name the court and the case, and the request goes through the clerk.
Still deciding? Call (800) 321-2377 or get a free quote.
Tell us the court, the case and the documents. Your free written quote lists our fee and the estimated court fees before anything is requested.
Questions first? Call or email us.
Processing times are set by the Clerk’s Office. Served 123 LLC is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.