How to search Alaska court records

Alaska runs a single statewide case-lookup system, so one search — with the name spelled correctly — reaches courts across the entire state. There's no charge and no account required — results are visible to anyone who searches.

statewide free criminal data

Open the official Alaska portal →

What's actually there

CourtView covers criminal, civil and minor-offense cases statewide.

Other official lookups for Alaska

• CourtView system information

How Alaska's courts are organized

Alaska has one statewide court system. The Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals hear appeals. Below them are two trial courts. The superior court is the court of general jurisdiction: it hears felonies and other civil and criminal cases, appeals from district court, and juvenile, child-protection, probate, mental commitment and domestic relations matters. The district court is the limited-jurisdiction court for state misdemeanors, city and borough ordinance violations, smaller civil claims, small claims and domestic violence cases.

Magistrate judges are judicial officers of the district court. They hear minor offenses and traffic infractions, issue warrants, handle some preliminary hearings and small civil cases, and cover communities that do not need a full-time district judge. The state is divided into four judicial districts.

All trial court cases, superior and district, are in one public search, CourtView, at records.courts.alaska.gov. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals cases are in a separate appellate search.

Using CourtView

CourtView is free and needs no account. You can search by case number (the default), a person's name, a business name, or a ticket or citation number. Results are capped at 500 cases per search. Case pages show status (open, closed or reopened), each charge and whether it was a felony or misdemeanor or was amended, case and charge dispositions, a docket of proceedings, hearing events and financial activity such as fines, bail and costs. Party addresses and Social Security numbers are not shown, and documents themselves are not posted online; the docket does not include sentencing details or probation conditions, which are in the case file.

Coverage has real limits. The court says there is no comprehensive case information for any location before 1990. Confidential case types never appear: delinquency, child in need of aid, adoption, mental and alcohol commitment, emancipation, medical emergency, minor settlement, and most probate types other than estates and protective proceedings. Information goes online once a clerk enters it, which can lag the event by several days.

The court is direct that a CourtView search is not a criminal history check. For an official State of Alaska criminal history report, it sends people to the Department of Public Safety. It also warns users to confirm a date of birth before assuming a record belongs to the person they are looking for.

The appellate search lets you look up a case by appellate or trial court case number, party name, attorney name or bar number, and filter by court and open or closed status.

Getting copies and certified copies

Ask the clerk or records department of the court where the case was filed. Requests can be made in person or by email, fax or mail using form TF-311 (Anchorage, Fairbanks and Palmer have their own versions of the form). The court's posted fees are $5.00 for the first document copied and $3.00 for each additional document requested at the same time; $10.00 for the first certified copy and $3.00 for each additional copy of the same document; $15.00 for each exemplified or authenticated copy; and $30.00 per hour for research. A deposit may be required.

Audio recordings of hearings are $20.00 per CD, requested on form TF-304 from the clerk where the hearing was held. Only parties can get copies from confidential files, such as juvenile cases, and they must show photo ID.

Records that are not public, set-asides and removal from CourtView

The court system's guidance does not describe a general expungement process. What it does describe is keeping certain records off the public website under Administrative Rule 40(a) and two statutes. Cases sealed or made confidential by statute, rule or court order are removed. AS 22.35.030 bars the court system from publishing a criminal case online once 60 days have passed after an acquittal or a dismissal that meets the statute's conditions. AS 04.21.078 keeps certain under-21 alcohol cases charged on or after October 4, 2016 offline. If you find a case that should have come down, file form TF-810 with the court where it was filed.

A suspended imposition of sentence (SIS) under AS 12.55.085 lets a judge set aside a conviction after probation is completed. The court's SIS pamphlet stresses that a set-aside means you are no longer considered convicted but the conviction does not disappear from your criminal record. Administrative Rule 40(a)(13) now removes some set-aside cases from CourtView when the other charges were dismissed or ended in acquittal. This is a factual summary, not legal advice; talk to a lawyer or start with the Alaska Court System Self-Help Center.

Alaska tips

• Case numbers follow the pattern 3PA-98-01234CI: a location code (judicial district and court), the filing year, a sequence number, and a suffix for the case category.
• Common suffixes: CR criminal, CI civil, DR divorce and dissolution, DV domestic violence, PR probate, MO minor offense (a non-criminal violation or infraction).
• Wills deposited with any Alaska court can be found in CourtView under the WI suffix.
• Tickets and citations can be looked up and paid online through the same records site.

Sources

• Alaska Court System - Search Cases
• Alaska Court System - CourtView information
• Alaska Trial Courts records search (CourtView)
• Alaska Appellate Courts case search
• Alaska Court System - Trial Courts (requesting copies)
• Alaska Court System - Court System Information
• PUB-41 Suspended Imposition of Sentence
• Form TF-810 request to remove a case from CourtView
• Alaska Statutes (Alaska Legislature)
• Alaska Court System Self-Help Center
• Alaska Department of Public Safety - criminal history background checks

Checked against the official sources above in October 2026. Court rules and fees change; the court's own site is the final word. This is general information, not legal advice.

Federal cases filed in Alaska

State portals don't cover federal court. If the case you're looking for might be a federal criminal prosecution, civil suit, or bankruptcy, use CourtRecordsFree's live federal search — it queries CourtListener/RECAP directly and isn't limited to any one state.

Search tips

• Try both "Last, First" and "First Last" — courts index names inconsistently.
• Middle initials and suffixes (Jr., III) often matter for common names.
• A date of birth or case number is the only reliable way to confirm you found the right person.
• An arrest or charge shown in a docket is not a conviction — read the disposition.

Frequently asked questions

Is it free to search Alaska court records online?

Yes. Alaska's statewide search is free to use, with no account or subscription required.

Does this include criminal records?

Yes. Alaska's portal includes criminal case records alongside civil cases, though sealed and expunged cases are not shown.

Does one search cover the whole state?

Alaska runs one statewide system, so a single search covers the whole state.

Links move. If the Alaska portal link above is dead, tell us on the corrections page.