HOW TO SEARCH

You can search for civil, family and probate records using this public access website. You may also search for hearings on the court calendar.

To perform a search: =

Select the appropriate area that you would like to search from the search menu. The different search areas include = the following:

Court Calendar
Civil District Case Information<= /li>
Family District Case Information=
County Courts at Law
County Probate Courts

Select the data you’d like to search on in th= e Search By: drop-down box.

If you are searching Case records, you will have the following options:

· Case (number)<= /p>

· Party (name)

· Attorney (name or bar number)

If you are searching the Court Calendar, you will have the following options:<= o:p>

· Attorney (name or bar number)

· Case (number)<= /p>

· Judicial Officer (judge name)

· Party or Defendant Name

Based on your “Search By” selection, additional search options may display for you to choose from, to narrow your search further.

After you enter your search criteria, click the Sea= rch button. This will take you to the Search Results screen.
To view the case information, click on the case num= ber hyperlink on the Search Results screen.

Required Fields:

Required fields are displayed in bold, RED font to help you easily identify the information required to perform your search.

PARTIAL SEARCHES

If you do not have all of the information you need to search for case records, there are a few tools that might help you perform your search successfully.

· = Soundex – The Soundex feature= is automatically enabled for names searches and allows the search engine to se= arch for and return exact name matches and names that “sound like” t= he search criteria you entered.

· = Wildcard/Partial Search – The Wildcard feature al= lows you to search for incomplete names and case numbers in the system. Th= is tool is helpful for when you may not know the entire case number or may not know how to correctly spell the individual’s name. For instance, you may be searching for an individual with the last name of “Gonzales” but may not know if the individual spells “Gonzales” with a “z” or a “s” at the end of their name. This would be a good time to use the Wildcard tool. By performing a search for the last name of “Gonzale*”, the system will pull in= all the last names that begin with “Gonzale&#= 8221; regardless of what the last name ends with. This means that it will p= ull in both “Gonzales” and “Gonzalez”.

Q: How do I= use the Wildcard feature?

A: Place an * (asterisk) at the end of the Last Name= or First Name, Case Number, or Cross Reference field in which you do not know = the remaining information.

There are a few restrictions when using these helpful search tools. These restrictions are listed below:

1.      <= /span>You must enter at least 1 character of the first name wh= en using the Wildcard feature on a First Name.

2.      <= /span>You must enter at least 3 characters of the last name wh= en using the Wildcard feature on a Last Name.

3.      <= /span>You must enter at least 4 characters (other than dashes)= when using the Wildcard feature on a Case Number or Cross Reference Number.=

AFTER YOU SEARCH

After you search for a case record, you can continue to perform additional searches. If you wish to perform additional searches you can use the hyperlinks located in the black header at the top of the screen. These hyperlinks include the following:

·         Logout – Clicking this link will return you to the main = menu page

·         My Account– This link/feature not applicable

·         Search Menu – Clicking this link will return you to the main = menu page

·         New Search – Clicking this link will allow you to perform a = new (blank) search in the same case type search area

·         Refine Search – Clicking this link will you to edit or build up= on your original search criteria

·         Back – Clicking this link will return you to the previ= ous page you were on

·         Help – Clicking this link will launch the Public Access Help page (this page)