How to Find Vermont Court Records (2026)

In person. Go to the Superior Court unit and division for the county where the case was filed. Civil Division clerk's offices keep public terminals for their own docket; criminal, family, and probate records are not on public terminals and staff must pull the file for you to review at the counter. Bring the docket number if you have it, or the party names and an approximate year.

By mail or email. Contact the Court Operations Manager for the specific division (civil, criminal, family, or probate) at the county courthouse. Most units accept a written or emailed request identifying the case, the documents needed, and whether plain or certified copies are required, along with payment or a request for a fee quote. Addresses and emails are listed on each division's page on the Vermont Judiciary website.

Online. The Vermont Judiciary Public Portal lets anyone search Civil Division dockets and Judicial Bureau (traffic) cases for free. Criminal, family, and probate case information is not public online under 12 V.S.A. § 5 — even a case you know exists will not appear in a portal search unless you are a party, an attorney of record, or a registered attorney with elevated access.

Records older than the online index. Older paper files may be stored off-site or on microfilm; the Court Operations Manager can tell you whether the file needs to be retrieved before copies can be made, which can add to the turnaround time.

Vermont limits public access to court records in two separate ways: by statute, entire categories of case records are simply never posted online, and separately, individual records can be sealed or expunged by court order.

• Statutory non-disclosure online. Under 12 V.S.A. § 5, the Judiciary may not give the general public internet access to criminal, family, or probate case records at all, regardless of whether the underlying case is otherwise public. Only Superior Court civil case records, court calendars, and appellate decisions are posted for anyone to search.
• Expungement. Under 13 V.S.A. Chapter 230 (§§ 7601–7607), a person may petition to have a qualifying criminal record expunged, which means the record is destroyed and treated as though the arrest, charge, or conviction never happened. Eligibility narrowed substantially under a July 2025 law change.
• Sealing. The same chapter allows sealing of a broader set of records — most misdemeanors after a three-year waiting period, many felonies after seven years, and DUI convictions after ten years, among other categories. A sealed record is removed from any court database the public or most requesters can see, but it is retained by the court and remains visible to law enforcement, the courts themselves, and certain licensing bodies.
• Juvenile and family matters. Juvenile delinquency and CHINS proceedings, and most family-division filings, are confidential under statute and never appear in any public search.
• Adoption and name-change records. Probate Division adoption files are sealed; name-change orders are public but the underlying petition may contain information the court limits on request.

Petitions to expunge or seal are filed with the Criminal Division in the county where the case was heard, using the Petition to Expunge or Seal Criminal History Record form; a separate petition is required for each county where charges were filed.