How to search Connecticut court records

Connecticut 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 Connecticut portal →

What's actually there

Separate free look-ups for criminal/motor-vehicle and civil/family cases.

Other official lookups for Connecticut

How Connecticut's courts are organized

Connecticut has no county courts. Almost every case starts in one statewide trial court, the Superior Court, which hears all legal matters except those reserved to the separate Probate Courts. The Superior Court sits in 13 judicial districts, where civil, criminal, family and juvenile matters are heard, and in 17 geographical area (GA) courts. GA courts typically handle all criminal arraignments, whatever the charge. Housing cases get their own sessions in six districts (Bridgeport, Hartford, New Britain, New Haven, Stamford-Norwalk and Waterbury); elsewhere they sit on the regular civil docket. Child protection and delinquency cases go to 11 juvenile court locations.

Appeals go to the Appellate Court and then the Supreme Court, the state's highest court. Probate matters such as estates and guardianships are handled by the Probate Courts, which are outside the Superior Court and not part of the Judicial Branch case look-ups described below.

The Judicial Branch runs three separate free look-ups: one for criminal and motor vehicle cases, one for civil, family, housing and small claims cases, and one for Supreme and Appellate Court cases.

Using the official case look-ups

The criminal and motor vehicle look-up is split into pending cases, convictions and the daily docket. Pending cases and convictions can each be searched by defendant name or by docket number. The conviction search asks for the start of a last name and accepts a first initial, birth year (with a plus-or-minus year range) and court location. You can also search by attorney juris number. Arrest warrants and sentence review dockets have their own pages.

Conviction entries do not stay online forever. The Branch generally shows a conviction for no more than 10 years after sentencing, or a shorter period set by Section 7-13 of the Practice Book, and removes it one month before that period ends. Documents in criminal cases are not posted online; disclosable documents are available from the clerk's office where the case is pending.

The civil look-up (civilinquiry.jud.ct.gov) searches by party name with options for starts with, contains, equals or sounds like, and can be narrowed by location, category (civil or family) and case type. It also searches by docket number, and a separate court events search shows scheduled dates. Civil, family, housing and small claims cases generally stay online for one to ten years after disposition depending on the Practice Book rule for the case type.

There is no fee or account needed to search. The Branch states that the look-up pages are not the official court record and should not be used in place of a criminal background check.

Not shown online: youthful offender cases, juvenile cases, and infraction and violation convictions.
Unvacated bail or bond forfeitures show only in motor vehicle cases.
Some protective order matters may be withheld from the website and available only at the court.
Results can change daily because of erasures, corrections and pardons; each result page shows the date and time it was accurate as of.

Getting copies and certified copies

Copies come from the clerk of the Superior Court location that holds the file: the GA court or judicial district for criminal cases, and the judicial district or housing session for civil and family cases. For criminal files the Branch directs people to the clerk's office where the case is pending.

Clerk fees are set by statute, Connecticut General Statutes section 52-259. Copies are one dollar per page, certifying a document under seal is two dollars, and an exemplified copy is twenty dollars. A copy of a judgment file is a flat twenty-five dollars certified or fifteen dollars uncertified, which includes the copying charge.

Records that are not public: erasure and Clean Slate

Connecticut calls record clearing erasure, governed by General Statutes section 54-142a. Records are erased when a person is found not guilty or the charges are dismissed, once the appeal period ends. A nolled charge is erased after 13 months. Erased records cannot be disclosed except to the person, and the person may say under oath that they were never arrested for the erased matter.

Under the Clean Slate provisions of section 54-142a(e), many convictions are erased after seven years from the most recent conviction for misdemeanors and ten years for class D and E felonies and certain other offenses, once the full sentence including probation and parole is complete. Family violence crimes, sexual offenses and a list of other offenses are excluded. Erasure happens automatically for offenses committed on or after January 1, 2000; older offenses require a petition to the court. The state's Clean Slate site explains eligibility. Section 54-142e requires background screening companies that buy court data in bulk to delete erased records within 30 days of learning about the erasure.

Juvenile records are generally confidential under state law. For your own situation, talk to a lawyer or a Judicial Branch Court Service Center or law library; the Branch's self-help section links to both.

Tip: reading a Connecticut docket number

Criminal and motor vehicle docket numbers are built from a court location code (for example a GA or JD code such as H12M), a case type (CR for criminal, MV for motor vehicle), a two-digit year, a sequence number and a one-character suffix. The docket number search form has a separate box for each part, so copy each piece from a court notice into the matching box. If a name search returns nothing, try the convictions and pending searches separately, since they are different lists, and remember that an erased or older case may simply no longer be displayed.

Sources

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 Connecticut

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 Connecticut court records online?

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

Does this include criminal records?

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

Does one search cover the whole state?

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

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