New Hampshire Court Records Lookup

In New Hampshire, there is one federal district court, trial courts, and the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court oversees the lower levels, which means that it has jurisdiction over them.

On the New Hampshire Supreme Court you'll find five judges, who are allowed to serve until they reach the age of 70. You can find the five current justices easily on the New Hampshire Judicial Branch page.

The entire court system includes the following types of courts, which you can learn more about below:

• Supreme Court
• Superior Court
• District Court
• Family Division
• Probate Court
• Administrative Office of the Courts

• New Hampshire Criminal Records

• New Hampshire Civil Court Records

All New Hampshire courts refer to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, which does have administrative and judicial duties. The Supreme Court is able to review the decisions of the lower courts in the state and over turn the final say. This could be done through an appeals process. However, the Supreme Court might not accept the appeal.

In the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice is the main administrative member- they're in charge. The court can change rules and laws in the lower courts as well. Most of the time, these changes were there to make the trial process and other guidelines more efficient and less time consuming.

New Hampshire courts use oral arguments. These arguments include a full court or a three justice panel as overseers. If the case is less complex, it goes to the three justice panel first. The decisions of the panel need to be unanimous and are often determined within three months.

Full court oral arguments happen less often and are only scheduled a few times during the year. They may also still be available on official websites after the argument is finished.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court in this state consists of five members. They are the only appellate court in New Hampshire. This court hears various appeals from the lower courts and works to come to a resolution. The court will also review these appeals for fairness, both in how the trial and general case were conducted.

The Chief Justice works with the associate justices to review the judges from the other courts too. They make sure that the system runs smoothly and that all of the state policies are being properly followed.

Superior Court

The Superior Court in New Hampshire is the only place in the state that allows jury trials. This court has jurisdiction over civil, domestic, and many criminal cases.

District Court

The District Courts can be found in 36 cities across New Hampshire. They also may be referred to as "community courts".

Cases in these courts can involve families, small claims, evictions or landlord cases, minor crimes, juveniles, families, and more. They generally handle any smaller cases that the court comes across. The disputed amount of funds can not exceed $25,000, however.

Family Division

The Family Division court currently operates in 10 counties including:

• Belknap
• Carroll
• Coos
• Cheshire
• Grafton
• Rockingham
• Stanford
• Sullivan

The cases are assigned to the areas closest to where the involved parties reside. Family Division can handle divorce and parenting cases, child support cases, domestic violence petitions, and guardianship of minors. It also expands to some adoptions and helps children who are neglected or abandoned.

Circuit Court

The circuit court consists of the district division, the probate division, and the family division. This collection refers to the Superior Court, who then refers to the Supreme Court.

Probate Court

Probate Court deals with wills, estates, aoptions, name changes, trusts, guardianships, parental rights, and more. Anything that could also be impacted by a death in the family is generally covered by this type of court in New Hampshire.

Administrative Office of the Courts

The Administrative Office of the Courts, or AOC, works with services to the Supreme Court and various trials and cases. The main goal here is to assist the Supreme Court in any way that they can including:

• Accounting services
• Auditing services
• Money management
• Offering personnel or technology
• Grant administration services

The federal district court in New Hampshire is the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire- there is only this one federal court. The cases they handle can include civil or criminal matters, as long as they fall under the federal law.

The federal court has jurisdiction over the entire state of New Hampshire.

If you want to obtain court records from the state of New Hampshire, make sure to visit the official state records website. You can also access the information from the public terminals in the County Clerk's Office. These documents are free of charge when you use the public terminals there.

Additionally, you can call 800 676-6856 or 1 855 212-1234 (If you're not in the U.S or Canada use 603 415-0162 instead) to talk with officials. They're there to let you know what to do next and to find the information that you need.

The staff can't provide you with legal advice. If you're searching for a lawyer, you'll want to go to the New Hampshire bar page instead.

It's worth noting that any civil cases filed before June of 2004 or criminal cases filed before January of 2005 are still kept in paper document form.

• New Hampshire Judicial Branch
• How to Find What You Need in the Court System
• e-Filing and other Electronic Services - New Hampshire
• Circuit Court District Division Service Center - New Hampshire
• Find Your Court - NH Judicial Branch Self-Help Center
• Superior Court - New Hampshire Judicial Branch
• Circuit Court District Division - New Hampshire Judicial Branch
• Your Guide to the NH Courts - New Hampshire Judicial Branch