The New York District Court is divided into four regions: Eastern District, Western District, Northern District and Southern District.
Records show that District Courts have jurisdiction over certain types of civil and criminal cases that may vary from court to court. Normally, the Criminal cases heard by District Courts include mostly misdemeanors, all offenses of a grade less than misdemeanor and preliminary hearings for felony criminal cases. Civil cases heard by District Courts may include civil claims for up to $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs. District Courts are prohibited from having more jurisdiction than Courts of the City of New York, and even additional limits may exist. New York District Court Records regarding cases typically heard by a Court include certain liens for less than $15,000, civil violations of state and local housing standards and summary process (eviction).
District Courts share jurisdiction over Domestic Violence Orders of Protection with Supreme Courts, Family Courts, Town Courts and Village Courts. The District Courts even have a Small Claims division for most general civil claims for less than $5,000, exclusive of interest and costs. Other than that, District Courts have a Commercial Claims division for most consumer transaction claims for less than $5,000, exclusive of interests and costs.
Access New York State Public Court Records
The World Wide Web is the most commonly used medium to access State Public Court Records at a much efficient manner. The websites provides a huge database to access the New York District Court records, thus saving time, which could otherwise be tedious if one had to run to the court to fetch the records. One of the most renowned services rendered in the internet is PACER. Public access to the District of New York's case information is provided through this service. The word PACER is an acronym for Public Access to Court Electronic Records and, it permits account holders to view documents that have been filed within the Court's Electronic Case Filing (ECF) System. It also permits the public to query this database for a particular individual, case name, and other case information.
To obtain a PACER account and password, one simply needs to register online at the PACER Service Center. However, to file case documents electronically, attorneys must register for a ECF account and login to the ECF system. But again, some types of cases are not included in the ECF system and, therefore; will not be accessible through PACER. This is due to the confidential reports attached with such cases. When courts limit the type of dockets or records placed online, their reasoning is based on the need to protect the litigant's privacy (e.g. in family law cases) or to comply with confidentiality laws (e.g. in juvenile law cases). Some courts will place information online that others would not, but attempt to at least insure some privacy over the more "sensitive? information (such as social security numbers or names of minor children in family law cases) by redacting the "sensitive? information.
PACER provides access to the case summary, docket entries, and copies of documents filed in federal cases. Court records are separated by case activity status and/or document type. Also, 24-hour electronic access to certain court records is available through the PACER service.
Even for Attorneys, law librarians and paralegals, records known as dockets can be found online. They are useful for current awareness (e.g. keeping up with who is suing who, what the hot areas of practice are these days). They also use dockets to obtain sample pleadings from cases similar to the one the firm is currently working on.
