So, a civil-judgement letter for mom’s annoying neighbor got delivered wrongly to her. Nope, i didn’t open it but now I know the name of who I think is the punk kid living there.
Poked around a bit and learn he is “famous” once for being on TV or something to protest for higher minimal wage and also been a defendant for multiple civil cases. So, the question is, how do I get to take a look at the case files? This is at the county court and it ask one to register for an account but doesn’t really say anything about fee. I hate to register only to be asked for credit card later. Is there typically a charge for county court record online?
Paid online access to local courts is usually for law firms and public records database people who use it a lot, and it’s expensive. My local civil court wanted $100/mo. The cheapest way to see the file is to go down to the court clerks office and ask to see it for free.
You usually fill out a little slip and they go get it and hand it to you. You can read it, but you can’t take it out of the office. They charge for copies, and will yell at you if they catch you copying it with a camera phone. There’s usually a little table where you can sit down and look at it. There is also usually a computer version of a card catalog for looking up case numbers, similar to that of a public library.
They’re considered public records open for inspection, and there are also simple matters like name changes in which one might need to check out the file on a case to walk it to a judges chambers and back, Wear a mediocre suit like a junior lawyer and they’re less likely to hassle you about stuff.
I’ll warn you. It’s probably much less interesting than you think. Probably not worth the paid parking to go downtown.
Oh wow, thanks for the detailed answer. If I can’t do it in sitting in my boxer short at home it’s unlikely I would ever make a trip to the court and it’s a scary place even in the best of times. Heck, the sheriff got attacked by crazy person around the court house once and the county begged the city to put more police around it (the county court house is in the city).
My curiosity doesn’t end though.
There was one incident about a year ago where this kid (I think) came around mom’s house, looked in the mailbox and all around but never knocked on the door. Since I didn’t recognize him on the camera, I called the cop on him. Later on he left a message in the mailbox saying he was looking for a package that got sent to the wrong address. Makes me wonder what’s so important in the “package” to look through someone’s mailbox without first asking.
