Lake County
Lake County was established in 1840 from land given by Cuyahoga and Geauga Counties in Ohio. It spans 229.4 square miles of land and has an estimated population of 232,236. The county's administrative center is Painesville.
The Lake County court system consists of a Court of Common Pleas, Municipal Courts, and Mayor's Courts. The Court of Common Pleas has general jurisdiction over criminal, juvenile, domestic relations, probate, and civil cases where the amount in contention is above $15,000. It comprises a General Division, as well as a Domestic Relations Division, a Probate Court Division and a Juvenile Court Division, and. The county's Municipal Courts, located in Mentor, Painesville, and Willoughby, handle misdemeanors, traffic infractions, ordinance violations, evictions, small claims (less than $6,000), and civil cases where the amount in contention is less than $15,000. Additionally, certain cities, such as Madison, Perry, and Grand River, have Mayor's Courts that deal with certain misdemeanors, traffic infractions, and ordinance violations.
Lake County public court records encompass case files, orders, motions, and other court-related documentation. Lake County court records are generally classified by case types and include the following:
- Criminal court records
- Civil records
- Probate court records
- Juvenile records
- Traffic records
The Lake County Office of the Clerk of Courts is responsible for filing, docketing, indexing, and preserving all court records. Lake County court records are accessible to the public per the Ohio Public Records Act (ORS). Interested individuals may search for court records online through the Clerk of Courts eAccess Portal or visit the clerk's office in person at:
25 N Park Place,
Painesville, OH 44077
Phone: (440) 350-2657
Access to Lake County court records on the eAccess Portal is free. However, certified copies or any physical copies that aren't certified cost $0.10 for every page and have a $1.00 fee for every certification as well as postage if they are mailed. Requests for physical copies of court records may also be emailed to the Clerk of the Court. The Mentor Municipal Court's records portal, the Painesville Municipal Court's case records search portal, and the Willoughby Municipal Court's case access portal may be used to obtain court records maintained by the Municipal Courts.
