List of Court Record Types
Researching Court Records
This article is part of a series. |
Overview of Court Records |
Court Procedures |
Equity Cases |
Probate |
Divorce Actions |
Types of Court Records |
List of Court Record Types |
Researching Court Records |
Selected Proceedings and Courts |
Justice of the Peace Courts |
List of Useful Court References |
Topics |
This article originally appeared in "Court Records" by Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, FUGA, Loretto Dennis Szucs, FUGA, and Arlene H. Eakle, Ph.D. in The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy
Record | Type | Bound Volume | Filed Papers | Loose Papers | Case File |
Indexes (alphabetical): | Plaintiff | • |
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Defendant | • |
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Reverse | • |
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Every name | • |
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Dockets: calendar or waiting list of pending cases, in the order they will be considered by the court | Civil | • |
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Criminal | • |
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Equity | • |
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Chancery | • |
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Estate | • |
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Orphans'Ãô | • |
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Guardian | • |
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Probate | • |
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Name change | • |
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Claims | • |
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Insolvents'Ãô | • |
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Bankruptcy | • |
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Divorce | • |
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Adoption | • |
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Lunacy | • |
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Reference | • |
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Execution | • |
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Appearance | • |
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Appeals | • |
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New actions | • |
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Minutes: descriptive entries of all actions taking place in the court process | Journals | • |
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Register of actions | • |
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Appeal briefs | • |
• | |||
Orders: official record of all orders of the judge(s) | Journals | • |
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Writs | • |
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Summons | • |
• | |||
Warrants | • |
• | |||
Subpoenae | • |
• | |||
Actions | • |
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Indictments | • | ||||
Presentments | • | ||||
Executions | • |
• | |||
Stays (demurrers) | • |
• | |||
Injunctions | • | ||||
Foreclosures | • | ||||
Attachments | • | ||||
Distraints | • |
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Jury lists | |||||
Judgments: final decisions, punishments, and awards made by the court | Satisfied | • |
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Short | • |
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Equity | • |
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Decrees | • |
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Fines | • |
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Liens | • |
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Verdicts | • |
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Opinions | • |
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Decisions | • |
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Reports | • |
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Appeals | • |
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Bills of costs | • |
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Case files or packets: all original papers placed in the hands of the court during a court case | Civil | • | |||
Criminal | • | ||||
Equity | • | ||||
Estate | • | ||||
Orphans'Ãô | • | ||||
Probate | • | ||||
Chancery | • | ||||
Divorce | • | ||||
Adoption | • | ||||
Claims | • | ||||
Insolvents'Ãô | • | ||||
Lunacy | • | ||||
Bankruptcy | • | ||||
Appeals | • | ||||
Bonds | • | ||||
Depositions | • | ||||
Testimony | • | ||||
Declarations | • | ||||
Inventories | • | ||||
Documents | • | ||||
Exhibits | • | ||||
Receipts | • | ||||
Petitions | • | ||||
Affidavits | • | ||||
Pleas | • | ||||
Pleadings | • | ||||
Allegations | • | ||||
Complaints | • | ||||
Inquisitions | • | ||||
Examinations | • | ||||
Promissory notes | • | ||||
Letters | • | ||||
Appraisals | • | ||||
Arbitration reports | • |