Please note: Generally, federal court records less than 15 years old are not held by the National Archives and are still in the possession of individual courts.
To obtain access to those records, researchers must contact the appropriate federal court.
Online access to case and docket information is provided for a fee by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts through PACER. The court may refer you to a Federal Records Center to obtain copies.
Records of the U.S. federal courts held at the National Archives include records created by:
[table striped="true" responsive="true"]The types of records are primarily case files. Categories of case files include:
[table striped="true" responsive="true"]In addition to case files, other type of records are:
[table striped="true" responsive="true"]The earliest court records in our holdings date to approximately 1790.
To identify and locate court records held by the National Archives, consult the National Archives Catalog.
For convenience of access, most of our holdings from the federal court system are stored at National Archives locations around the country. For instance, records of the New Hampshire federal courts are currently located at the National Archives at Boston in Waltham, Massachusetts.
| State | Location of Records |
|---|---|
| Alabama | National Archives at Atlanta |
| Alaska | National Archives at Seattle |
| Arizona | National Archives at Riverside |
| Arkansas | National Archives at Fort Worth |
| California (Northern) | National Archives at San Francisco |
| California (Southern) | National Archives at Riverside |
| Colorado | National Archives at Denver |
| Connecticut | National Archives at Boston |
| Delaware | National Archives at Philadelphia |
| District of Columbia | National Archives at Washington, D.C. |
| Florida | National Archives at Atlanta |
| Georgia | National Archives at Atlanta |
| Guam | National Archives at San Francisco |
| Hawaii | National Archives at San Francisco |
| Idaho | National Archives at Seattle |
| Illinois | National Archives at Chicago |
| Indiana | National Archives at Chicago |
| Iowa | National Archives at Kansas City |
| Kansas | National Archives at Kansas City |
| Kentucky | National Archives at Atlanta |
| Louisiana | National Archives at Fort Worth |
| Maine | National Archives at Boston |
| Maryland | National Archives at Philadelphia |
| Massachusetts | National Archives at Boston |
| Michigan | National Archives at Chicago |
| Minneapolis | National Archives at Chicago |
| Mississippi | National Archives at Atlanta |
| Missouri | National Archives at Kansas City |
| Montana (Early case files) | National Archives at Seattle |
| Montana | National Archives at Denver |
| Nebraska | National Archives at Kansas City |
| Nevada (Las Vegas) | National Archives at Riverside |
| Nevada (except Las Vegas) | National Archives at San Francisco |
| New Hampshire | National Archives at Boston |
| New Jersey | National Archives at New York City |
| New Mexico | National Archives at Denver |
| New York | National Archives at New York City |
| North Carolina | National Archives at Atlanta |
| North Dakota | National Archives at Denver |
| Northern Mariana Islands | National Archives at San Francisco |
| Ohio | National Archives at Chicago |
| Oklahoma | National Archives at Fort Worth |
| Oregon | National Archives at Seattle |
| Pennsylvania | National Archives at Philadelphia |
| Puerto Rico | National Archives at New York City |
| Rhode Island | National Archives at Boston |
| South Carolina | National Archives at Atlanta |
| South Dakota | National Archives at Denver |
| Tennessee | National Archives at Atlanta |
| Texas | National Archives at Fort Worth |
| Utah (& Territory of Utah) | National Archives at Denver |
| Vermont | National Archives at Boston |
| Virgin Islands | National Archives at New York City |
| Virginia | National Archives at Philadelphia |
| Washington | National Archives at Seattle |
| West Virginia | National Archives at Philadelphia |
| Wisconsin (& Territorial Court of Wisconsin) | National Archives at Chicago |
| Wyoming | National Archives at Denver |
| Court | Location of Records |
|---|---|
| First Circuit Court of Appeals | National Archives at Boston |
| Second Circuit Court of Appeals | National Archives at New York City |
| Third Circuit Court of Appeals | National Archives at Philadelphia |
| Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal | National Archives at Philadelphia |
| Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals | National Archives at Fort Worth |
| Sixth Circuit Court of Appeal | National Archives at Chicago |
| Seventh Circuit Court of Appeal | National Archives at Chicago |
| Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals | National Archives at Kansas City |
| Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals | National Archives at San Francisco |
| Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals | National Archives at Denver |
| Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals | National Archives at Atlanta |
Records of the Supreme Court are located at the National Archives at Washington, DC, with the exception of some special media materials and Watergate files which are at the National Archives at College Park.
An exception to the national distribution of court records is when certain holdings that are infrequently used may be centrally stored at a National Archives facility in Kansas for efficiency. In those instances copies may be ordered, or may be consulted at the National Archives at Kansas City by special arrangement. Whenever this applies to records this information is noted in the National Archives Catalog.
For more information about the history and organization of the federal courts, see: