Frequently Asked Questions - DC Court's

1 Frequently Asked Questions What is eAccess? The Superi or court is enhancing and expanding onli ne access to court re cord s by launchin g an eAccess pla tform. eAccess pro vid es in tern et access to court dockets, in cluding images of cert ain case documents . Public court re cord s will continue to be avail able on site at the Superi or court to all members of the public. Do I need to register to use eAccess? No. eAccess is immedia tely avail able to anyone with access to the in tern et and a bro wser. You can search for cases by usin g the DC Superior C ourt eAccess System Is there a fee for using eAccess? No, eAccess is a fre e service pro vid ed by the Superi or court to enhance public access to court in formation. Are all records of the Superior court available on eAccess?

2 No. Neit her sealed, nor confid ential re cord s are avail able for vie win g on eAccess. Pl ease see pages 2 and 3 of the eAccess User Guid e for additional detail s. How current are the records on eAccess? Docket in formation and document images are avail able wit hin minutes of bein g input or scanned into the court re cord . However, ple ase note that document images may not be scanned immediately . How far back in time do eAccess records go? Docket entries for most Superio r court cases wil l become avail able on eAccess; these re cord s go back to 1980 in most divis io ns. Document images will be avail able in some case types beginning on August 11, 2017. Pl ease see pages 2 and 3 of the eAccess User Guid e for additional details about image avail ability. Does eAccess give me the official court record ?

3 No. eAccess pro vid es in tern et access to public docket entries in public case types. To obtain official copies of court re cord s, ple ase contact the appropri ate div is ion wit hin the Superi or court . For additional information about the div is io ns, ple ase see I believe that some information on eAccess is wrong. How do I get it corrected? The Superi or court handle s appro ximately 100,000 cases each year and makes every re asonable effort to accura tely main tain a complete and official re cord. Pl ease report to the appropri ate divis ion cle rk s office any dis crepancy you beli eve exists in the official court re cord. Can I get a case removed from eAccess? The Superi or court routinely consid ers motions to seal or expunge a court re cord . If a court re cord is ordered sealed or expunged, it will no longer be avail able for viewin g on eAccess.

4 To determin e if you are eligible to seal a court re cord and/or how to seal or expunge a case, contact an attorn ey. For criminal cases, you may contact the Public Defender Service at 202/628-1200. What does the message Displaying 1000 of 9999 total matches mean? eAccess wil l re turn a maximum of 1,000 matches for any search criteria pro vid ed. eAccess ale rt s you to how many more than 1,000 matches you ve genera ted so you may add additi onal search terms to get fewer re sult s. Can I use the date of birth field in my search? You can only use date of birth in a search for cr iminal cases. Usin g this fie ld to search other case types will re turn err oneous re sults (li kely the search will yie ld no matches even though there is a case or numerous cases that match the other search terms used).

5 Can I use the date of death field in my search? You can only use date of death in a search for probate cases. Usin g this field to search for other case types will re turn err oneous re sults (li kely the search will yield no matches even though there is a case or numerous cases that match the other search terms used). Can I use eAccess to run a criminal background check? In the District of Colu mbia , criminal background checks are pro vid ed by the Metropolitan Police Depart ment, not the Superi or court . For more information, ple ase see https:// e-clearances-arr est-and- criminal- history -section Can I file a document in my case through eAccess? No. eAccess is for vie win g court re cord s. The Superi or court encoura ges and in some instances re quir es eFiling by parties.

6 For more in formation, ple ase see Will eAccess work with my browser? eAccess wil l work with many bro wsers in cludin g Microsoft Intern et Explore r Versio n 8 or later, Google Chro me Vers io n 24 or later, and Mozilla Firefox Versio n 3 or la ter. If you are experi encing problems accessin g eAccess, you might try a different bro wser. Will I still be able to use court Cases Online? No. eAccess repla ces court Cases Onli ne. eAccess pro vid es greater access , in cludin g access to document images in cert ain cases. Where can I get more information about eAccess? Additional in formation about eAccess is hig hli ghted wit hin the system at DC Superior court eAccess System. Pl ease consult the DC Courts website at ov for case-specific inquir es or other Questions about court matters.

7 If you still have Questions about eAccess, ple ase call 202-879-1700 or, for technical Questions , email