Onondaga County
Named for the Onondaga people, Onondaga County occupies about 778 square miles of land in central New York. It was formed in 1794 out of Albany County. As of 2022, the county is home to 472,637 residents, while its county seat is the City of Syracuse.
Onondaga County has six trial courts, including the Supreme, County, Family, Surrogate, City, and Justice Courts. The Supreme Court is Onondaga County's general jurisdiction court, handling all civil and criminal cases not exclusive to other subordinate courts. It typically adjudicates marriage annulment cases and other civil lawsuits involving more than $25,000 in monetary claims. The Supreme Court Commercial Division resolves all complex commercial cases involving commercial class actions and business torts.
The County Court presides over felonies, misdemeanors, and civil cases where the amount in controversy is up to $25,000. Appeals from the City and Justice Courts are heard at the County Court. Onondaga County has a City Court in Syracuse that hears civil lawsuits below $15,000 and criminal cases that carry no more than one-year jail sentences. The Family Court resolves all juvenile and domestic relations cases, while the Surrogate's Court oversees all probate matters in Onondaga County. Also known as Town/Villages, the county's Justice Courts handles ordinance violations, landlord-tenant disputes, and small claims lawsuits.
The Onondaga County Clerk is the official court record custodian in the county. According to the New York Freedom of Information Law, the Clerk maintains the court documents filed in the county's trial courts. These documents include case numbers, filing dates, party names, hearing dates, and locations. Onondaga County public court records include the following:
- Criminal court records
- Family records
- Probate records
- Traffic records
- Civil court records
Juvenile, adoption, and mental health court records are confidential under the state's FOI law. These records are accessible only to record owners, legal representatives, and other authorized persons. Record searchers can obtain court documents by contacting the Clerk's office via phone, email, or in person at:
Onondaga County Clerk
401 Montgomery Street, Room 200
Syracuse, NY 13202-2171
Phone: (315) 435-2229
Email: oncclerk@ongov.net
Requesters can use the contact directory provided by the Clerk to find clerks of Town/Village and City Courts. Onondaga County public court records are accessible online via the NYS eCourts portal. Users must input litigants' names, offenders' names, case index numbers, and filing dates to view court records online. Note that the County Clerk may charge a copy or search fee for obtaining court documents while using the statewide portal is free of charge.
