How to search Vermont court records

Vermont's statewide portal reaches most, but not all, courts. A few jurisdictions run their own separate systems — see the additional lookups below. There's no charge and no account required — results are visible to anyone who searches.

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Open the official Vermont portal →

What's actually there

The Public Portal is free with no account, but anonymous users see only docket summaries for Civil Division and Judicial Bureau cases. Criminal, Family and Probate cases are barred from remote public access by 12 V.S.A. 5 and can be viewed free at courthouse public access terminals.

Other official lookups for Vermont

DOC offender locator

How Vermont's courts are organized

Vermont has a two-level judiciary. The Supreme Court hears appeals, and the Superior Court is the single trial court. The Superior Court is split into 14 units, one for each county, and into five divisions: Civil, Criminal, Family, Probate and Environmental. Every county unit has the first four divisions; the Environmental Division is one statewide unit.

The Judicial Bureau sits outside those divisions and has statewide jurisdiction, and fines in its cases can be paid through the portal. All of these courts share one statewide Public Portal, but what the public can see from home depends heavily on the division.

Using the Vermont Judiciary Public Portal

The Public Portal is free and anonymous use needs no account. Use Smart Search with a case number or a party name entered as Last, First; you need at least part of both names. Anonymous users can see case summaries (docket sheets) for Civil Division and Judicial Bureau cases, but not the document images.

Criminal, Family and Probate cases cannot be viewed remotely by the public at all. 12 V.S.A. Section 5 bars online access to those divisions for anyone without a specific right of access, which generally means the parties, their lawyers and organizations with a data agreement with the Judiciary. Those users register and ask for elevated access.

Public criminal, family and probate records can be seen at the Public Access Terminals in courthouses, where searching by name or case number is free and printing costs extra. The Judiciary says terminal coverage generally reaches back to the early 1990s. The portal only works for users physically in the United States, its territories or Canada.

Getting copies and certified copies

Fill out the Request for Access to Court Record form (600-00033) and email, mail or hand it to the court where the case was filed. Copies cost 25 cents a page with a $1.00 minimum, a certified copy is $5.00 and an exemplified copy is $10.00, under 32 V.S.A. Section 1751. Older files no longer kept at the courthouse may need a $7.50 postage fee paid in advance.

For a criminal record check by name and date of birth, the Judiciary charges $30 per name. Mail form 200-00331 to the Vermont Judiciary Information Center or bring it to a criminal division for a statewide search; requests for records from before 1990 go to the county where the case was handled. Pay by check or money order to Vermont Superior Court, or note on an emailed form that you want to pay by card over the phone. If you are denied access, form 600-00032 is used to appeal.

Records that are not public

Vermont's expungement and sealing law is 13 V.S.A. Section 7601 and following sections, heavily revised effective July 1, 2025. The revision cut the number of offenses that can be expunged and widened sealing. Under Section 7602, a misdemeanor conviction can generally be sealed after three years and a qualifying felony after seven, once restitution and surcharges are paid; a qualifying DUI misdemeanor needs ten years. Expungement of a conviction is now mostly for conduct that is no longer a crime.

Under Section 7603, charges that end without a conviction, such as dismissals and acquittals, are sealed automatically within 60 days of final disposition unless a party objects. There is generally no filing fee, except for some DUI sealing petitions. For help, talk to a lawyer or contact the Judiciary's Access and Resource Center.

Tip: civil cases online, criminal cases at the courthouse

If you need to look at a Vermont criminal case and are not a party, plan on a courthouse visit or a written request; no amount of searching from home will show it. Hearing schedules for all case types and counties are still posted on the Judiciary's website even when the case itself is not viewable online.

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 Vermont

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 Vermont court records online?

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

Does this include criminal records?

Not reliably. Vermont'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. Vermont'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 Vermont portal link above is dead, tell us on the corrections page.