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Maryland Court Case Search — Find Your Lawsuit

Dena Standley | February 23, 2023

Dena Standley
Legal Expert, Paralegal
Dena Standley, BA

Dena Standley is a seasoned paralegal with more than 20 years of experience in legal research and writing, having received a certification as a Legal Assistant/Paralegal from Southern Technical College.

Edited by Hannah Locklear

Hannah Locklear
Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Searching for your court case online is like ^^

Summary: Looking for your court case status in Maryland? Keep reading for SoloSuit's guide on Maryland's state court structure, court case search tools, and how to search for your case online.

Our article will help you get started on how to find a case in a Maryland court.

Use SoloSettle to make an offer to settle your lawsuit.

Understand the Maryland state court structure

Finding your case online will be much easier if you understand which court has jurisdiction over your type of case. The Maryland civil court system has four levels:

  1. Court of Appeals
  2. Court of Special Appeals
  3. Circuit Court
  4. District Court

The graphic below illustrates the court structure for civil cases in Maryland:

Maryland court structure

The highest court is the Court of Appeals, and the Court of Special Appeals is the mid-level appeal. Followed by Circuit and District Courts, which are trial courts at the bottom of Maryland's court hierarchy. The clerk's office enters case information into the system, and Case Search displays it instantly, except for Montgomery County Circuit Court, where it takes approximately 10 minutes.

The District Court is where most people experience the court system. Small claims and other civil cases involving limited amounts are handled by this court, including recoveries of wrongfully detained goods. District courts are located in every county and the City of Baltimore. There is no jury trial in District Court and cases are argued before judges only. Civil cases involving $5,000 or less are exclusively subject to the District Court's jurisdiction, and cases involving amounts over $5,000 but less than $30,000 are subject to the circuit court's jurisdiction.

In some cases, it is impossible to collect an old debt. The Maryland statute of limitations applies if you have been sued more than three years after last missing a payment. As an example, if your last payment was in June 2015 and you were supposed to make a payment in July 2015 but didn't, you should be sued by December 2018.

Search for your Maryland court case online

Maryland Judiciary case search is an online database that provides access to court cases throughout the state. As described in rules 16-901 through 16-912, Rule 1-322.1, Case Search provides Internet access to Maryland case records. Court clerks began using Case Search in January 2006 to respond to information requests commonly received.

The information includes the name of each party, their city, and state, their case number, their date of birth, their trial date, their charges, and their disposition. This tool provides detailed case information for all Maryland District and Circuit Court Case Management Systems.

First, visit mdcourts.gov/casesearch to view District Court and Circuit Court case records using CASE SEARCH. The Maryland Judiciary Case Search is the primary means for the public to find court records. An overview of what's in the official case file is available in Case Search. You can use Case Search to discover general information about a case, including its type, number, and dates. But you may have to visit the clerk's office for a complete record.

Search for a case using a name

By default, Case Search searches only for exact names. But you can enter the first character of your last name, followed by a % symbol, to search for partial names. The system will search for the exact first and last names entered in both fields.

Example:

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When searching for a partial name, enter the first character of the last name, followed by an "%" sign. First names are unnecessary. Enter any characters followed by "%" if you search for part of a first name. "%" cannot be inserted before or after words.

Example:

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Search for a case using the case number

The easiest and fastest way to search for your court case online is to enter your case number. Each case is assigned a case number to help the court keep track of all the court records. If you aren't sure what your case number is, you can also start by searching your name, or you can call the court clerk to see if they can help you find the case number over the phone.

Request paper records from the court clerk

Documents from court hearings are kept at the courthouse. The clerk's office allows anyone to view the records in person with a few requirements. If you wish to see a court record, you must provide the clerk with the case number.

A clerk may locate the file with the names of the individuals involved if you do not have the case number. If you would like copies of documents in the file, you can request them from the clerk at a fee. You may also call the courthouse to see if the record you need can be found there. Find court locations and numbers here.

Solosuit can help you respond to your lawsuit

If you've been sued for a debt in Maryland, SoloSuit can help you respond. You can save the money and stress of finding an attorney and represent yourself instead. The first step to winning a debt collection lawsuit is to file a written Answer.

Check out this video to learn more about how to draft an Answer to a debt collection lawsuit:

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to fight debt collectors.

You can use SoloSuit to respond to a debt lawsuit, to send letters to collectors, and even to settle a debt.

SoloSuit's Answer service is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your Answer. Upon completion, we'll have an attorney review your document and we'll file it for you.

Respond with SoloSuit

"First time getting sued by a debt collector and I was searching all over YouTube and ran across SoloSuit, so I decided to buy their services with their attorney reviewed documentation which cost extra but it was well worth it! SoloSuit sent the documentation to the parties and to the court which saved me time from having to go to court and in a few weeks the case got dismissed!" – James

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