Are Court Records Public? A Plain-English Guide to Accessing U.S. Court Data

By the AICasePredict data team · Updated June 2026 · Research & informational use

Are court records public? In the United States, the default answer is yes: most civil and criminal case files are open public records, created by courts that operate in the open and freely available for anyone — including journalists, researchers, and data platforms — to inspect, search, and republish. AICasePredict is a data-analytics company built by data scientists around exactly this principle, indexing 325M+ cases across 13 countries and monitoring 3,124+ U.S. civil courts so that public court data is searchable in one place rather than scattered across thousands of dockets.

This guide explains what “public” actually means for court records, which categories are sealed or restricted, why these records can be lawfully published, and how the case-removal process works on a data platform like ours. It is informational research context, not legal advice. For a wider tour of the U.S. court system, see U.S. court records explained; for a field-by-field walkthrough of a single record, see how to read a case report.

The open-courts principle: why court records are public

American courts run on a long-standing tradition of public access often called the open-courts principle. The idea is straightforward: justice administered in secret cannot be trusted, so the proceedings, filings, and outcomes of a court are presumptively open to the public. When a lawsuit is filed, the complaint, the docket entries, the judge assigned, the parties, and the eventual disposition become part of the public record.

Because these records are public, they are also freely publishable. A court case is a public record, and AICasePredict — like other research and analytics platforms — indexes and displays that information lawfully. We are a data company, not a law firm, and we do not provide legal services or legal advice; we organize records the courts have already made open. Our data is reconciled hourly against PACER (the federal docket system) and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) so that what you search reflects the public record as closely as possible.

Public record vs. official record

A crucial distinction for anyone asking “are court records public” is the difference between a public record and the official record. The official record is the authoritative version held by the clerk of the court. A platform like AICasePredict provides a fast, searchable copy of public court data — extremely useful for research and decision support, but not a substitute for certified court documents.

In practice this means AICasePredict data should be treated as a strong starting point and verified against the originating court before it is relied upon for any consequential purpose. Indexing, transcription timing, and court-side updates can introduce small differences. When the stakes are high, confirm details with the court that issued them.

What is open vs. what is sealed

Public access is the default, but it is not absolute. Several categories of records are restricted, sealed, or removed from public view to protect privacy, safety, or statutory rights. Common exceptions include:

• Sealed cases and documents — a judge can seal a case or specific filings, removing them from public access.
• Juvenile records — matters involving minors are frequently confidential by statute.
• Expunged or set-aside records — when a court orders expungement, the record is treated as no longer public.
• Protected categories — certain family, adoption, mental-health, and victim-related matters carry built-in confidentiality.
• Redacted identifiers — sensitive data like Social Security numbers and financial-account numbers are typically redacted even within open files.

Everything outside these exceptions — the broad universe of civil litigation across case types like Personal Injury, Contract, Employment, Foreclosure, and many more — is generally open and searchable. You can run an unlimited number of free searches on AICasePredict; a full case report costs $20.

How access works on a data platform

Searching public court data on AICasePredict is free and requires no account. Each indexed case can carry fields such as State, Court, Case Type, Case Name, Case Number, File Date, Current Case Status, Disposition, Judge, Plaintiff, Plaintiff Lawyer, Defendant, Defendant Lawyer, and Docket Entries. The case-report guide explains what each field means.

Searching tells you what is happening in a case; it does not tell you how a case is likely to turn out. That predictive, litigation-analytics layer is where our partner premonition.ai comes in. AICasePredict is the free public-records search and case-report layer; premonition.ai is the Win Rate™ analytics platform that complements it — it does not replace our records search, and we do not replace its analytics. Like us, premonition.ai is a data-analytics company, explicitly not a law firm, and treats its outputs as indicative rather than absolute.

Requesting case removal

Because court cases are public records, they are freely publishable, and a data platform is generally not obligated to remove them on request. Our FAQ describes the practical process if you want to request removal of a case from AICasePredict:

1. Visit the relevant case page on the site.
2. Submit a removal request by email.
3. Click the removal link contained in the email you receive.

Importantly, AICasePredict is only required to remove case details when a court has issued an expungement order — consistent with the open-courts principle that public records remain publishable. If you believe a record qualifies, the originating court is the authority that can order expungement. You can read more about how we handle data in our privacy overview.

Privacy considerations and a caution on use

That a record is public does not mean every downstream use is unregulated. Using court records to make decisions about people — for example employment, tenant, or credit screening — can fall under consumer-reporting and anti-discrimination rules. AICasePredict is a research and decision-support tool for data scientists and analysts; we do not advise on permissible uses. If your intended use touches regulated screening, verify the requirements with the court and consult a licensed attorney before acting.

Frequently asked questions

Are court records public by default?

Yes. Under the open-courts principle, most U.S. civil and criminal case records are presumptively public and freely publishable, unless a specific exception — such as sealing, a juvenile-record statute, or an expungement order — applies.

Is AICasePredict data the official court record?

No. AICasePredict is a searchable public-records copy reconciled hourly against PACER and the NCSC. It is excellent for research and decision support, but it is not the certified official record, so verify consequential details with the originating court.

Can I have a case removed from the site?

You can request removal by visiting the case page, emailing a request, and clicking the link in the reply. AICasePredict is only required to remove details when a court has issued an expungement order, because public court cases remain freely publishable.

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