New Haven County Court Records Search

How to Access New Haven County Court Records?

New Haven County was founded in 1666 and has a land area of 605 square miles. Its population is estimated at 864,835, and its most-populated city is New Haven. However, there is no county seat, as Connecticut abolished county governments in 1960.

Courts in New Haven County

The highest courts in New Haven County are the Superior Courts, which have general jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases. They are organized by geographical areas and special sessions/divisions. They handle criminal, civil, domestic, housing, and juvenile matters. The following are the Superior Courts in New Haven County:

Probate courts in New Haven County handle probate matters such as admission of wills, managing estates and trusts, and appointments of guardianships. They can also handle mental health matters, child custody, adoptions, and name changes. There are 17 probate courts in Branford, Meriden, Cheshire, Southbury, Derby, East Haven, Hamden, Madison, Meriden, Milford, Naugatuck, New Haven, Wallingford, Waterbury, and West Haven.

Where to Find Public Court Records in New Haven County

Court records that are available to the public in New Haven County include writs, warrants, judgments, court filings, and court proceedings. Each court in New Haven County is in charge of maintaining its public court records in compliance with local and state regulations. The court clerks organize, index, store, maintain, and update these documents.

Using the Case Look-up portal provided by the Connecticut Judicial Branch, members of the public can search for non-confidential court records from New Haven County. In addition, they can visit any of the county's courts to see and request public court records.

Types of Public Court Records in New Haven County

The people's knowledge of and trust in the judicial system in New Haven County is improved because of their access to public court records. Unless sealed by specific court orders, the following types of public court records are available in New Haven County:

  • Family Court Records: includes divorce decrees, maintenance judgments, and custody orders
  • Criminal Court Records: includes court proceedings and court orders for criminal cases
  • Civil Court Records: includes  professional malpractices, personal injury cases, product liabilities, breaches of contracts, and trade secrets
  • Probate Court Records: includes documentation of wills, estates, and trusts

Confidential Court Records in New Haven County

In New Haven County, confidential court records are court records sealed by default under Connecticut law or by court orders. Court records are sealed for privacy or security reasons and can only be accessed by approved persons or by court orders. The following are usually excluded from public court records in New Haven County:

  • Most juvenile delinquency records
  • Adoption records
  • Substance abuse treatment records
  • Sexually transmitted disease (STD) test results and treatment records
  • Medical and mental health records
  • Grand jury proceedings and records

Part or all of a New Haven County court record may also be sealed if it contains sensitive information such as:

  • Intellectual proprietary
  • Social Security number
  • Driver’s license number
  • Bank account details
  • Tax returns

New Haven County is located in the state of Connecticut

New Haven county court records are vital records that are available in most cases to the general public. Some New Haven courthouses are very busy with many different types of cases, and some courts see very few, some do not. It depends on the court structure and the number of homeowners. Many counties have court records posted online on their website for easy access in Connecticut. However, in some cases, you will have to visit a few different search engines to find Connecticut court records.

Public vital records for New Haven County will include criminal cases (both felonies and misdemeanors), civil cases (like personal and business lawsuits), bankruptcies, marriages and divorces, liens, tax issues, small claims, traffic court cases, evictions, family law cases and more.

Since 2008, a total of 141,138 were filed in the county. As of 2018, 100% of the cases were civil cases. The busiest courts in the county were Superior Court.

Finding New Haven County court records is possible using the Connecticut court system website at , and even easier through New Haven County court records search tools like Infotracer. With just a name search, the user can review hundreds of available court records and cases from any New Haven County court.

New Haven County Court Caseload Data and Trends

Depending on the local government practices, and political and economic climates, court case numbers will vary from year to year in specific areas of New Haven County, CT.

The New Haven County court system consists of 1 court type, Superior Court. In 2018, Superior Court recorded 10,161 filings, which indicates a decrease of 2% from 10,391 in 2017. Review the table below for number of cases in the county.

Courts Type Number of filings in 2018
Superior Court10,161

Most Popular Court Cases

You can tell a lot about an area by the types of legal proceedings that appear in county courts.

New Haven County court records data dates back to 2008. Some may date back further, but they started formally recording them since 2008. There was a total of 10,161 cases filed in the county for the year 2018. The most popular type of court case is civil comprising 100% of the total filings. Check out the table below to review the filing information for a specific court case type in county.

There are various choices to lookup for a New Haven County court case using someone’s name, the court type, the courthouse or county name, and other information.

Cases Type Number of filings in 2018
Civil10,161

New Haven County was founded in 1666 and has a land area of 605 square miles. Its population is estimated at 864,835, and its most-populated city is New Haven. However, there is no county seat, as Connecticut abolished county governments in 1960.

Courts in New Haven County

The highest courts in New Haven County are the Superior Courts, which have general jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases. They are organized by geographical areas and special sessions/divisions. They handle criminal, civil, domestic, housing, and juvenile matters. The following are the Superior Courts in New Haven County:

Probate courts in New Haven County handle probate matters such as admission of wills, managing estates and trusts, and appointments of guardianships. They can also handle mental health matters, child custody, adoptions, and name changes. There are 17 probate courts in Branford, Meriden, Cheshire, Southbury, Derby, East Haven, Hamden, Madison, Meriden, Milford, Naugatuck, New Haven, Wallingford, Waterbury, and West Haven.

Where to Find Public Court Records in New Haven County

Court records that are available to the public in New Haven County include writs, warrants, judgments, court filings, and court proceedings. Each court in New Haven County is in charge of maintaining its public court records in compliance with local and state regulations. The court clerks organize, index, store, maintain, and update these documents.

Using the Case Look-up portal provided by the Connecticut Judicial Branch, members of the public can search for non-confidential court records from New Haven County. In addition, they can visit any of the county's courts to see and request public court records.

Types of Public Court Records in New Haven County

The people's knowledge of and trust in the judicial system in New Haven County is improved because of their access to public court records. Unless sealed by specific court orders, the following types of public court records are available in New Haven County:

  • Family Court Records: includes divorce decrees, maintenance judgments, and custody orders
  • Criminal Court Records: includes court proceedings and court orders for criminal cases
  • Civil Court Records: includes  professional malpractices, personal injury cases, product liabilities, breaches of contracts, and trade secrets
  • Probate Court Records: includes documentation of wills, estates, and trusts

Confidential Court Records in New Haven County

In New Haven County, confidential court records are court records sealed by default under Connecticut law or by court orders. Court records are sealed for privacy or security reasons and can only be accessed by approved persons or by court orders. The following are usually excluded from public court records in New Haven County:

  • Most juvenile delinquency records
  • Adoption records
  • Substance abuse treatment records
  • Sexually transmitted disease (STD) test results and treatment records
  • Medical and mental health records
  • Grand jury proceedings and records

Part or all of a New Haven County court record may also be sealed if it contains sensitive information such as:

  • Intellectual proprietary
  • Social Security number
  • Driver’s license number
  • Bank account details
  • Tax returns

Juvenile Delinquency in New Haven, CT

Unfortunately, in many areas of the New Haven County, juvenile delinquency issues are on the rise. There are many reasons for the rise in youth offenders. The juvenile sentence in Connecticut often depends on the severity of the crime, the number of crimes, and other family matters.

In 2017, a total of 1503 juvenile cases were reported for every 100,000 people age 10 to adulthood in the jurisdiction of New Haven County. Of that total, 93% of those proceedings were delinquencies which equaled 1393 court cases. Another 0% were dependency cases that accounted for 0 of the juvenile cases.

A lot of counties, including, New Haven County, are focusing on family therapy and relationships rather than punishment for juvenile crimes. Future New Haven County juvenile delinquency numbers will show whether or not this approach is working.

Juvenile Cases Number of cases
Delinquency13,954
Dependency2
Status12,265

New Haven County, CT Courts