How to search Delaware court records

Delaware's statewide portal reaches most, but not all, courts. Some smaller jurisdictions haven't been fully onboarded to the statewide system yet. There's no charge and no account required — results are visible to anyone who searches.

partial free

Open the official Delaware portal →

What's actually there

CourtConnect is civil only: Superior Court, Court of Common Pleas and Justice of the Peace civil cases. No criminal, Family Court or Chancery cases online; Superior Court criminal dockets are viewable free on courthouse terminals.

Other official lookups for Delaware

No additional official lookups are listed for Delaware yet — the main portal above is the only one we've catalogued.

How Delaware's courts are organized

The Delaware Judiciary describes its courts as a pyramid. At the base is the Justice of the Peace Court, which hears civil cases under $25,000, certain misdemeanors and most motor vehicle cases. Next is the Court of Common Pleas, which hears civil cases up to $75,000 and most misdemeanors, and holds preliminary hearings in felony cases. The Superior Court is the general trial court: it has exclusive jurisdiction over felonies and almost all drug offenses, has no cap on civil damages, and hears appeals from the Court of Common Pleas.

Two specialized courts sit beside them. The Family Court handles family and juvenile matters. The Court of Chancery hears equity cases, including the corporate and trust disputes that Delaware is known for. The Supreme Court, which sits in Dover, takes direct appeals from Chancery, Superior and Family Court.

Delaware's free online search, CourtConnect, is a civil search only. It covers civil cases in the Superior Court, the Court of Common Pleas and the Justice of the Peace Court. It does not cover criminal cases, Family Court or the Court of Chancery.

Using CourtConnect

CourtConnect lets you search civil cases by a person's name, a business name or a case type, look for judgments against a person or business, and display a case's information and activity. The Judiciary's search page lists no fee or sign-up for it, and it lists Edge, Chrome, Firefox and Safari as supported browsers.

For criminal cases there is no public online docket search. The Superior Court says its civil and criminal docket and all non-confidential documents can be viewed free on public access terminals in the courthouses in each of Delaware's three counties. Remote access to the Superior Court civil docket beyond CourtConnect is only through File and ServeXpress, a subscription service that charges fees. The Superior Court also lists local document retrieval companies that will search the docket and pull copies for a fee.

Written opinions and orders from the Delaware courts are posted free on the Judiciary's opinions page, which is often the fastest way to read a decision in a Chancery or Supreme Court case.

• Not on CourtConnect: criminal cases in any court, Family Court cases, Court of Chancery cases.
• Criminal history records used in expungement are kept by the State Bureau of Identification, not the courts.

Getting copies and certified copies

Superior Court records are kept by the Prothonotary in each county. The Superior Court asks people to request copies in writing using the court's public access request form, posted on its website.

The Superior Court fee schedule lists a certified copy of any document at $15.00 for up to three pages, an exemplified copy at $25.00 for up to three pages, a copy charge of up to $2.00 per page, and a closed case retrieval fee of $25.00, or $50.00 expedited. Other courts set their own fees, so check with the clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, Justice of the Peace Court or Family Court for records held there.

Records that are not public: expungement

Delaware's expungement law is Title 11, Chapter 43, Subchapter VII of the Delaware Code (sections 4371 to 4378). Mandatory expungement under section 4373 covers cases that ended in the person's favor, such as acquittals, dismissals and nolle prosequi, along with some convictions after a waiting period: violations after 3 years, many misdemeanors after 5 years, and a short list of felonies after 10 years. Domestic violence offenses, offenses against children and vulnerable adults, and other listed offenses are excluded. Since August 1, 2024, section 4373A has the State Bureau of Identification find eligible cases each month and expunge them automatically; a person can still apply if that has not happened.

Other records may qualify for discretionary expungement under section 4374, which requires a petition to the Superior Court in the county where the most recent case ended, or to the Family Court if every case was handled there. Cases from the Court of Common Pleas or Justice of the Peace Court are petitioned through the Superior Court Prothonotary. The court can grant relief when keeping the record would cause manifest injustice. Section 4375 allows expungement after an unconditional pardon for many offenses.

This is a description of the law, not legal advice. Talk to a lawyer or use the Delaware Courts self-help pages, which post the petition forms and instructions.

Tip: which court and which county

Because each Delaware court keeps its own records, start by working out which court heard the case. A traffic ticket or small debt case is usually in the Justice of the Peace Court, a misdemeanor or mid-sized civil claim in the Court of Common Pleas, and a felony or large lawsuit in the Superior Court. Then note the county: New Castle, Kent or Sussex. Superior Court public terminals and Prothonotary offices are organized by county, so knowing both saves a trip.

Sources

• Delaware Courts - Civil Case Search (CourtConnect)
• Delaware Courts - An Overview of the Delaware Court System
• Delaware Superior Court - Access to Court Documents and Docket
• Delaware Superior Court - Civil and Criminal Fees
• Delaware Code Title 11, Chapter 43, Subchapter VII (expungement)
• Delaware Courts - Expungement and Pardon self-help
• Delaware Courts - Opinions and Orders

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 Delaware

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 Delaware court records online?

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

Does this include criminal records?

Not reliably. Delaware's official portal is oriented toward civil and appellate records — check the notes above for where criminal data actually lives.

Does one search cover the whole state?

Mostly. Delaware's statewide portal covers most courts, but a few jurisdictions maintain separate systems — worth checking the additional lookups above if your court isn't listed.

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