Massachusetts Court Records

Massachusetts Court Record Lookup

Official court documents or copies of Massachusetts MA court records can be helpful to enforce judgments, define custody, prove ownership, and demonstrate completion of probation. These are public documents and can be accessed by performing a Massachusetts court records search. You can find civil and traffic court cases, Massachusetts criminal records and more.

District Courts

Most civil and criminal court cases in Massachusetts begin in local district courts of which there are 61, one or more in each county, including Boston Municipal Court. District courts handle civil cases up to $25,000 in value, criminal charges punishable by up to five years imprisonment, traffic tickets, and misdemeanors. These Massachusetts courthouses conduct bench and jury trials while magistrates handle some of the lower-level issues.

Within Massachusetts’ district courts are divisions that have jurisdiction over family law (Massachusetts child support and custody, divorce, negligence), probate (wills and estates, guardianships), land disputes, housing (landlord-tenant, ordinance violations, discrimination), and juvenile matters.

District courts as a whole received about 918,000 cases in a recent year and reported disposing of nearly 87 percent within the time standard for these courts. These Massachusetts court records online can be obtained via Massachusetts court record lookup.

Superior Court

This body is comprised of 82 justices spread among 20 courthouses in the state. Cases in Massachusetts superior court include the most serious felonies, civil cases with value above $25,000, labor disputes, appeals of administrative hearings, and can convene tribunals to examine cases of medical malpractice.  It reversed 196 lower court decisions and offered over 1,250 summary dispositions in a recent year, which can be viewed via Massachusetts court case lookup.

Appellate Courts

The state has an intermediate court of appeals that hears disputed decisions from lower courts and selected state agencies.

Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court is the oldest judiciary in the country and the court of last resort for cases originating in the state. It advises the governor and state legislature on the constitutionality of state laws as well as overseeing the state bar and hearing appeals of selected cases from lower courts. It wrote 170 full opinions and decided 227 appeals in a recent year.

Federal Courts

Bankruptcies, class action lawsuits, violations of federal law, and lawsuits that involve more than one state are handled in U.S. District Courts, one of which is located in every state.