Middlesex County
Created in 1643 and named after Middlesex, England, Middlesex County encompasses about 817 square miles of land area in north-central Massachusetts. The county is home to about 1.62 million people.
The millions of people in Middlesex County are served by a robust court structure consisting of District Courts, Juvenile Courts, and Superior Courts. There are two Superior Courts in the county, one at the Trade Center and the other at the Lowell Justice Center. Generally, the Superior Court is a trial court of general jurisdiction, handling both civil and criminal cases. It has exclusive original jurisdiction in first-degree murder cases. The court also hears civil matters in which the controversy amount is over $50,000.
Middlesex County has 12 District Courts. Like the Superior Courts, these courts also handle several civil and criminal cases. In addition, they hear juvenile, housing, and mental cases. In civil matters, the county's District Courts handle small claims matters where the amount in controversy is $7,000 or less and cases in which the amount in dispute does not exceed $50,000. In criminal matters, the Middlesex County District Courts hear cases involving felonies punishable by up to 5 years of jail sentence. Its jurisdiction extends to all misdemeanors, ordinance violations, and other felonies with higher penalties.
The Juvenile Courts in Middlesex County have jurisdiction over cases like adoption, juvenile delinquency, and child protection services for minors younger than 18 years. The county has four Juvenile Courts strategically located in Framingham, Waltham, Cambridge, and Lowell.
The Clerk of Courts for each court in Middlesex County maintains records of legal proceedings filed/heard in their respective courts. The records are publicly available to anyone who wishes to obtain them in person or by mail. While some courthouses make provisions for public terminals to access court records, interested persons can also search records of legal proceedings in Middlesex County online through the Access Massachusetts Court Cases System.
