How long are criminal and court records accessible?

July 26, 2019 1:09 AM

I'd like to look up some specific old court proceedings and police investigations. The time periods of the events I'm interested in vary (some in the 1950s, some in the 1980s, and some recently), and all of it happened on the West Coast. Are decades-old court cases and police investigations archived somewhere? And what would I have to do to request those files?
posted by sockanalia to Law & Government (3 answers total)

This will vary state to state and county to county on the specific type of record that you are looking for. As a first step, I would google [County name] records retention, and see if there is a records schedule online. Some of these are very long, but check them to see if the records you are looking for are permanent retention. Some case files and court files are destroyed after a few years.

If you're able to determine that your records should still exist somewhere, I would contact the county records office or archives and see what's involved in seeing them. It might (likely will) require a court order, if you are looking into a specific person's records. Even from the 1950's, and definitely from the 1980's. Even if you are the person in question or related to them, you will need to provide definite proof that you are. These records are usually closed permanently, although I think there has been some pressure to open them after 100 years or so, but you're not in that window.

I did some work as an archivist with juvenile court records, and they are closed permanently, unless you can get a court order, so you should expect to have to jump through a lot of hoops if you're looking in that direction. In the county I worked in, adult criminal case files were destroyed after 30 years, but this is not the case everywhere. I never worked with those, so I don't know what the access restrictions were.
posted by backwards compatible at 5:37 AM on July 26, 2019

Hi. I'm a private investigator. A longtime lurker - I joined up just to answer this question. You do not need a court order to look at court records. Court records are public records. Police reports are sometimes public records too, it depends on the jurisdiction. Call and ask. As to whether the records have been retained, that also varies by jurisdiction. There are lots of older cases still around on microfilm. Sometimes those case files also have the full trial transcript. If not, and if that's what you are looking for, your best bet would be to contact one of the attorneys listed on the case documents, or the court reporter, to see if they are willing to help. Court files also sometimes have police reports in them as well.
Generally, to request a file from the courthouse you need the case title and case number, which you can find on the county court website if it is available for public searching. If not, you may have to call or write the courthouse to request a hand search of the indexes - that is something that courts usually do for a small fee. It is always possible to get a copy service in to search the index and make copies for you if you cannot get to the courthouse yourself. Look for "attorneys services" in the jurisdiction you're interested in and call around. Hope this helps & good luck.
posted by WotSwann at 6:22 AM on July 26, 2019 [12 favorites]

I'm a law librarian. I agree with WotSwann. I'd add that when searching any online databases, you should look at any documentation they have available that may tell you how far back their online records go. Some courts have indexes that go back to the 1910s (for example), but online they only have records available from 1975 or something.

Some jurisdictions will maintain records indefinitely if the case was a capital offense (like murder). Again, it all depends on jurisdiction.

Also, I'd say start online but don't waste too much time poking around online. Call the clerk of the court you're looking at and ask them how old their records are, etc. There's usually a few stages to recordkeeping--at the courthouse, in storage/offsite, scanned/microfiche and/or destroyed. In super high-traffic jurisdictions you might not have as good of luck, but in smaller places, they're usually amenable to helping.

Anyway, feel free to memail me or post follow-up questions and I'll try to help.
posted by purple_bird at 8:57 AM on July 26, 2019 [2 favorites]