New Castle County
New Castle County is the northernmost of Delaware's three counties and accounts for about more than half of the state's population. It was founded in 1673 and named after William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle. The county is currently home to over 578,500 residents; its largest city and county seat is Wilmington.
New Castle County has a comprehensive trial court system composed of Superior, Chancery, Family, Common Pleas, Justice of the Peace, and Alderman's Courts that address different types of cases:
- The Superior Court is the county's primary trial court. This court has general jurisdiction over all criminal and civil matters, except equity and domestic relations cases. The Superior Court typically handles felonies, drug-related offenses, and civil matters outside the jurisdiction of the other courts.
- The Court of Chancery exclusively handles all equity-related matters, such as disputes involving the purchase of land and real estate titles.
- The Family Court has jurisdiction over all domestic relations and juvenile matters.
- The Court of Common Pleas handles misdemeanors, preliminary felony hearings, motor vehicle offenses, civil lawsuits that do not exceed $75,000, and change of name petitions.
- The Justice of the Peace Courts are entry-level courts that typically handle minor criminal and civil matters, such as civil cases where the amount in dispute is less than $25,000, certain misdemeanors, and non-felony motor vehicle offenses.
- The Alderman's Courts are generally limited to local ordinance violations, minor traffic offenses, and other small-scale criminal matters within their specific municipalities.
New Castle County public court records are documents generated or received during court proceedings and other related activities in the county. They include court filings, dispositions, case files, summonses, subpoenas, trial transcripts, citations, sworn affidavits, settlement agreements, judgments, and verdicts. The record custodian for these court records varies depending on the type of court and the nature of the records. For instance, the county's Prothonotary maintains case records for the Superior Court and makes them accessible to members of the public when necessary. Likewise, the Register in Chancery and Court Clerks do this for the Court in Chancery and other lower courts, respectively.
As such, to request copies of New Castle County public court records, you need to contact the court that handled the case. The Delaware Judicial Branch also provides a CourtConnect platform that you can use to access information on civil cases heard in the Superior, Common Pleas, and Justice of the Peace Courts online.
