This Is Not a Government Office. North Carolina Court Records is a private reference site. We cannot retrieve official documents, file court papers, or issue certified copies. Those services must come from the North Carolina office that holds the record.
Need an Official Document?
North Carolina has no single statewide clerk counter for trial records. Use the county directory to reach the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where a case or estate was filed. That unified clerk keeps both Superior and District Court files. Local sheriffs hold jail and agency records, while Registers of Deeds hold original marriage instruments.
Records held outside county offices have their own statewide sources. The North Carolina Department of Adult Correction Public Offender Search covers state prison, probation, and parole information. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation handles fingerprint-based personal criminal-history review, and the North Carolina Sex Offender and Public Protection Registry provides its public search. North Carolina Vital Records is the statewide certificate office.
Here is where to look for the records most people ask about in North Carolina:
- Court case files and certified copies: open the county directory to reach the filing county's Clerk of Superior Court
- Marriage and divorce records: see marriage and divorce records
- Probate, wills, and estates: see probate records
- Criminal history, arrests, and charges: see arrest records and court charges
- County jail or state prison custody: see inmate records
- Active warrants: see warrant records
- Other county records: open the county directory and select your county