How to Find Ohio Court Records (2026)

In person. Go to the clerk of the specific court that heard the case: the Common Pleas Clerk of Courts for felony, major civil, and domestic-relations files; the Probate Court for estates and guardianships; and the Municipal or County Court clerk for misdemeanors, traffic, and small claims. Most clerks keep free public terminals for searching the index; copies are paid at the counter.

By mail. Write to the clerk with the case number if you have it, or the full names of the parties and an approximate filing year; state exactly which document you need (for example, "certified copy of the final judgment entry of divorce"); state whether you need a plain or certified copy; and include a check or money order for the fee, or ask for a fee quote first. A self-addressed stamped envelope speeds up return by mail.

Online. Where the county's Common Pleas, Municipal, or Probate Court publishes a case-search tool (most urban counties do), you can view the docket and sometimes plain document images yourself, at no cost or for a small per-page fee. Certified copies with the clerk's seal almost always require an in-person or mail request, since the clerk has to physically certify the document.

Records older than the online index. Coverage start dates vary widely by county and by court — some Common Pleas dockets go back to the 1980s online, others only to the 1990s or 2000s, and probate indexes can go back a century or more in book or microfilm form only. Older files not yet digitized are held at the courthouse or a county records center, and locating them may take longer and cost a search fee.

Ohio court records are presumed open to the public under Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio, Rules 44–47 (the "Public Access Rules"), but several categories are removed from public view:

• Sealed and expunged records. Ohio Revised Code §2953.32 and related sections in Chapter 2953 let a person petition the sentencing court to seal — and, since Senate Bill 288 (effective April 4, 2023), in some cases fully expunge — eligible conviction records. Certain offenses (first- and second-degree felonies, most sex offenses, offenses against minors, and others listed in the statute) are not eligible. A $50 filing fee applies, waivable for indigent applicants.
• Juvenile records. Delinquency, abuse, neglect, and dependency case records are confidential with narrow statutory exceptions.
• Adoption records. Adoption case files are sealed by statute.
• Mental-health and some guardianship records. Probate cases involving involuntary commitment or a ward's medical information are restricted.
• Personal identifiers. Even in an otherwise-public case, Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, and similar identifiers are excluded from the public record under the Rules of Superintendence.

The Ohio Public Records Act, Revised Code §149.43, governs records held by executive-branch and local-government offices; court case records are instead governed by the Rules of Superintendence and the common-law right of access, and requests go to the clerk of the court that has the file, not through a general public-records request to the county.