New York Court Records

New York Court Record Lookup

Public access to New York NY court records is possible by performing New York court records search. You can perform search thourgh RecordsFinder.com and find New York criminal records, civil cases, warrants, traffic violations and more. In a state as populous as New York, there are many levels of courts. 

Specialty courts

Family court hears cases of adoption, New York child support, delinquency, paternity, abuse and neglect, and juvenile issues. There are family courts in each of New York City’s five Boroughs and each of the state’s counties.

Surrogate’s court in New York is known as probate court elsewhere as it has jurisdiction over wills, estates, trusts, adoptions, and guardianships. There is one surrogate’s court in each county. Statewide these New York courthouses had over 140,000 cases filed in a recent year.

There are a variety of specialty courts throughout the state designed to remove nonviolent and first-time offenders from the criminal justice system and to provide access to treatment where appropriate. These courts include drug courts, veteran’s courts, mental health, human trafficking, and adolescent diversion courts.

New York City Courts

The city maintains civil and criminal court divisions within its borders to deal with misdemeanors, landlord-tenant suits, civil suits up to $15,0000 and small claims to $5,000 in value. The New York City criminal court saw over 250,000 cases filed in a recent year.

Town and Village Justice Courts

Located in each of the 1,300 municipalities around the state, mentioned courts have jurisdiction over misdemeanors and civil suits up to $15,000 in value.

District courts

Located in Nassau and Suffolk counties, these courts may hear misdemeanor cases and civil cases with up to $15,000 in disputed value. 

County courts

Criminal matters are handled by the county court with jurisdiction. Jury trials may be held at this level, and civil cases with values up to $25,000 are handled here. The combined total of felony cases in county and state supreme courts in a recent year was over 41,500.

Supreme Court

The state supreme court is the trial court with general jurisdiction over all criminal and civil matters. Branches of the court are located in each county. Civil lawsuits in these courts must have monetary value of $25,000 to $250,000. 

Records may be viewed by conducting New York court record lookup, while certain records are restricted from public access by confidentiality laws, including juvenile cases and those that name victims of certain crimes.

Appellate courts

There are appeals courts at both the superior court level and at the uppermost level of the state courts, the New York Court of Appeals. These hear disputes of lower court decisions. The state appeals court also oversees the state bar and discipline of attorneys and judges.

Federal courts

There is at least one federal court in each state that has jurisdiction over bankruptcy petitions, violations of federal law, and lawsuits that involve multiple states. Anyone can access New York court records online via performing New York court case lookup.

New York Notable Court Cases

The Third Department of the Appellate Division ruled a deceased woman's cat was entitled to a $100,000 trust in 2007. This occurred after her two surviving nephews argued the woman's caretaker influenced her to write her nephews out of her will a few years before her death. However, the court found that the nephews could not prove such influence existed, and the final will and testament stood its ground in court.