Worcester County Court Records
Rule XIV of the Massachusetts Trial Court Rules describes the term "court records'' as documents, court papers, orders, exhibits, recordings, and other materials produced, entered, filed, or maintained by the court clerk in connection with a case or proceeding. These records may be in physical or electronic format, such as analog/digital audio or video recordings. Documents related to cases of deliberative proceedings are not court records. Similarly, discovery documents, backup room documents, and interrogatories are not considered court records in Worcester County.
Court records are part of Worcester County Public Records and help to:
- To aid the appeals process
- To establish legal precedents for future cases
- To provide transparency into judicial affairs for the general public
- To aid legal research for law students and analysts
Per G.L. c. 218, § 8 and G.L. c. 218, § 12, the court clerk is the custodian of "all records, books and papers" filed in the Worcester County courts.
Are Court Records Public in Worcester County?
Yes, court records are public in Worcester County, consistent with Rule 2, Rule 3, and Rule 5 of Massachusetts Trial Court Rules. Per these rules, anyone can request the inspection or copying of publicly available court records during the regular business hours of a court. "Publicly available court records" means any court record that is not prohibited from public disclosure.
However, despite common assumptions, public access to court records is not always guaranteed because certain records are confidential. According to S.J.C. Rule 3:12, Canon 3(A)(6), the court clerk may restrict public access to impounded court records, sealed records, juvenile records, and any other record exempt from public disclosure.
What Do Worcester County Court Records Contain?
Worcester County Court records may contain some or all of the following details, depending on the type of court case and presiding court.
- Case information: This includes the involved parties' names, case caption, case number, presiding judge's name, scheduling and occurrence of events, etc.
- Oral arguments
- Court calendars, which include hearing/trial dates
- Pleadings, including petitions, briefs, motions, attachments, and responses
- Memoranda
- Orders and judgments
- Exhibits and submitted evidence, including expert testimonies
Where to Conduct a Worcester County Case Lookup
Interested persons may conduct Worcester County case lookup using any of these means:
- Online via the state courts' eAccess case search portals
- In Person
- At a courthouse where a case was filed
- At the court clerk's office
How to Conduct a Worcester County Case Records Search
Individuals may access Worcester County court records remotely or at a local courthouse. Courthouse access includes access through a computer kiosk and requests to the clerk at the counter. Remote access can be achieved via a public-use internet-based portal (see publicly available cases) or an attorney-use internet portal for registered Massachusetts attorneys (see available cases).
At the Court Clerk's Office: If a person needs to access official public court records in Worcester County, they must visit the court clerk's office where the case was filed. These records provided by the clerk's office will be hard copies of case documents.
At a courthouse: An individual can access case records from Worcester County through courthouse intranet portals. These portals are accessible from public terminal computers in any Massachusetts courthouse.
Public E-Access Portal: To conduct a Worcester County case records search on the public eAccess database, one should observe these steps:
- Visit the Massachusetts eAccess trial courts homepage, read the "Important Notice," and click the button to search public records. This redirects the user to a search page.
- Choose the appropriate court from the "Courts Department" dropdown menu (a superior court, family, district, or other court).
- Select the appropriate court division (Worcester County).
- After the "court location" box fills automatically and the case search tabs and fields appear, searchers can change the number of results they want to see on each page. Subsequently, they can choose their preferred case search tab (Name, Case Type, Case Number, or Ticket/Citation Number) and fill in the required data where applicable.
Note: Although online access to court records is quite convenient for persons who cannot go to the courthouse, not all case files can be viewed remotely. Certain records are exempt under Rule 5 of the Uniform Rules on Public Access to Court Records and can only be viewed at the courthouse or obtained by specific parties.
Worcester County Civil Court Case Records
Civil court case records contain information about cases handled by a particular civil jurisdiction. The district, superior, probate & family, and housing courts in Worcester County hear a wide range of civil cases. To find records created or maintained by these courts, one can visit the relevant courthouse (where a case was filed) to use public access terminals, request records from the clerk's office, or access the internet public access portal found on the Massachusetts judiciary's website.
Worcester County Criminal Court Case Records
Two kinds of trial courts hear criminal cases in Worcester County: the superior and district courts. Worcester County criminal court case records can be obtained as follows:
Remotely: Per Court Rules Rule 5(a)(2), criminal case information from the superior and district courts is available on the internet public access portal, but users cannot obtain copies of filed documents. Remote criminal records searches provide full defendants' names, case numbers, attorney names and bar codes, file dates, charge information, docket information, case disposition, and more.
Courthouse access: Persons can access records of criminal cases not barred from public disclosure at any Worcester County courthouse using the public courthouse terminals. One may also contact the clerk's office for records.
How to Get Court Records Online for Free
Members of the public can get Worcester County court records online for free using case search portals provided on the state judiciary's website. An example is the public eAccess portal, which someone can use to find basic case information, scheduled court dates, court dockets, and calendars in the trial courts. Free appellate court case search options also exist to find Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) briefs, oral arguments, and docket entries from the appellate courts, and so on.
However, actual court documents are not available through these web portals. Usually, a person must visit the courthouse to access those court records or pay for copies. A court clerk's office can provide information on how to find court records in person or using other provided means.
Courts in Worcester County, Massachusetts
Worcester Juvenile Court
225 Main Street
Worcester, MA 01608
Phone: (508) 831-2000
Dudley Juvenile Court
100 West Main Street
Dudley, MA 01571
Phone: (508) 949-3070
Fitchburg Juvenile Court
120 Elm Street
Fitchburg, MA 01420
Phone: (978) 345-7620
Milford Juvenile Court
161 West Street
Milford, MA 01757
Phone: (508) 478-8638
Clinton District Court
300 Boylston Street
Clinton, MA 01510
Phone: (978) 368-7811
Fax: (978) 368-7827
Dudley District Court
279 West Main Street
Dudley, MA 01571
Phone: (508) 943-7123
East Brookfield District Court
544 East Main Street
East Brookfield, MA 01515
Phone: (508) 885-6305
Fax: (508) 885-7623
Fitchburg District Court
100 Elm Street
Fitchburg, MA 01420
Phone: (978) 345-2111
Fax: (978) 342-2461
Gardner District Court
108 Matthews Street
Gardner, MA 01440
Phone: (978) 632-2373
Fax: (978) 630-3902
Leominster District Court
25 School Street
Leominster, MA 01453
Phone: (978) 537-3722
Fax: (978) 537-3970
Milford District Court
161 West Street
Milford, MA 01757
Phone: (508) 473-1260
Fax: (508) 634-8477
Uxbridge District Court
261 South Main Street
Uxbridge, MA 01569
Phone: (508) 278-2454
Fax: (508) 278-2929
Westborough District Court
186 Oak Street
Westborough, MA 01581
Phone: (508) 366-8266
Fax: (508) 366-8268
Winchendon District Court
108 Matthews Street
Gardner District Court
Gardner, MA 01440
Phone: (978) 632-6326
Fax: (978) 630-3902
Worcester District Court
225 Main Street
Worcester, MA 01608
Phone: (508) 831-2010
Fax: (508) 797-0716
Central Housing Court - Worcester Session
225 Main Street
Worcester, MA 01608
Phone: (508) 831-2050
Central Housing Court - Dudley Session
279 West Main Street
Dudley District Court
Dudley, MA 01571
Phone: (508) 831-2050
Central Housing Court - Leominster Session
25 School Street
Leominster, MA 01453
Phone: (508) 831-2050
Worcester Probate and Family Court
225 Main Street
Worcester, MA 01608
Phone: (508) 831-2200
Fax: (508) 752-6138
Worcester County Superior Court
225 Main Street
Worcester, MA 01608
Phone: (508) 831-2300
Fax: (508) 798-3216
