How to search District of Columbia court records

District of Columbia 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 District of Columbia portal →

What's actually there

Free, no sign-up for most searches. Civil (incl. landlord-tenant, small claims), civil tax and probate cases are in the Odyssey Portal; criminal, criminal tax and domestic violence cases are in eAccess. Criminal citations are not online, and Family Court domestic relations cases are not listed in either search.

Other official lookups for District of Columbia

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

How the District of Columbia's courts are organized

The District has only two local courts. The Superior Court is the trial court of general jurisdiction for nearly all local matters: criminal, family, civil, juvenile, landlord-tenant, probate, small claims and tax. It works through divisions, including the Civil Division (civil actions over $10,000, small claims of $10,000 or less, and landlord and tenant), the Criminal Division (felonies, misdemeanors and traffic offenses), the Domestic Violence Division, the Family Court and the Probate Division. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals, created by Congress in 1970, is the highest court and hears appeals from the Superior Court.

There are no county or municipal courts, so every local case is in one of these two courts. Federal cases in Washington are in separate federal courts and are not part of these searches.

Using the official case searches

The Superior Court now splits its free online search between two systems, depending on the type of case. The Portal covers Civil Division cases (including landlord and tenant and small claims), civil cases in the Tax Division, the Office of the Auditor-Master and the Probate Division. eAccess covers the Criminal Division, criminal cases in the Tax Division and the Domestic Violence Division. The court's Superior Court Case Search page links to both.

Most Portal case information can be viewed anonymously without registering or signing in. Both systems show docket entries for most cases and document images in some cases. The court says docket entries and images appear within minutes of being entered, but warns that some information may occasionally be inaccurate or out of date and that it does not guarantee the results.

Court of Appeals dockets are on a separate system: the Court of Appeals eFiling site has a public, real-time case search.

Criminal citation cases are not in eAccess; the court says to contact the police district that issued the citation for the court date.
Family Court domestic relations and juvenile cases are not listed among the case types in either public search.
Questions about the search go to the division handling the case or to EOCommunications at dccsystem.gov; the court asks for one to two business days for a reply.

Getting copies and certified copies

Copies come from the clerk's office of the division that handled the case. Criminal Division records are handled at the Moultrie Courthouse, 500 Indiana Avenue NW, and the division offers public computers by appointment for looking up cases.

The Probate Division publishes its own process. A mailed search to find out whether a decedent's estate was opened costs $10.00 by check or money order payable to the Register of Wills, but the same docket information is free online through the Portal. Copies are requested on the Case Information Copy Request Form. Case files and wills for open cases, and for closed cases no more than ten years old, can be inspected in Room 314 at 515 5th Street NW; older closed files are in off-site storage and must be requested on the Archive Case Request Form.

The court's website does not post a general per-page copy fee schedule for the other divisions, so ask the division clerk before you send a request.

Records that are not public: sealing and expungement

Record sealing and expungement in the District are governed by D.C. Code sections 16-801 through 16-809, rewritten by the Second Chance Amendment Act of 2022 (D.C. Law 24-284). Section 16-806 lets a person ask the court to seal records of arrests and charges that did not end in a conviction, and convictions after a waiting period: 5 years after completing the sentence for a misdemeanor and 8 years for a felony. The most serious felonies are excluded, and the court grants the motion when sealing is in the interests of justice. The law also has automatic sealing (section 16-805) and automatic expungement (section 16-802) provisions.

As of the court's February 2026 update, the Superior Court says the automatic sealing and expungement provisions are not yet in effect and no cases are being automatically sealed or expunged. To seal a record now, a person files a motion through the Criminal Information Office, which requires the original and one copy. This is general information, not legal advice; talk to a lawyer or contact the Criminal Information Office or one of the court's self-help centers.

Tip: pick the right system first

Because the Superior Court moved civil and probate cases to the Portal while criminal and domestic violence cases stayed in eAccess, a name search in the wrong system will come back empty even when a case exists. Decide the case type first: a lawsuit, eviction, small claim or estate goes in the Portal; an arrest, criminal charge, traffic offense handled in court or civil protection order goes in eAccess. For family law questions, the Family Court Self-Help Center offers free walk-in and call-in help with general legal information, though it cannot give legal advice.

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 District of Columbia

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 District of Columbia court records online?

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

Does this include criminal records?

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

Does one search cover the whole state?

District of Columbia runs one statewide system, so a single search covers the whole state.

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