How to Get Court Records
Most people begin remotely. The North Carolina eCourts Portal opens the door. Its Smart Search tool returns an eligible public Case Summary, sometimes called a Register of Actions, and it can even display public documents when they exist. That makes it a fine way to find a case and track its current events in the Craven County court docket. It is not, however, the official record. For a court-authenticated copy, an older file, or a document the portal never shows, go to the Craven County Clerk of Superior Court.
- Write down the full file number, the parties' names, and the exact document or record sought.
- Search Portal for an eligible public Case Summary or public document.
- For an unavailable, incomplete, plain, or certified record, contact the clerk by phone, mail, or in person.
- At the clerk office, ask for the public self-service terminal or inspection of the Craven case file.
- State whether a plain copy, certificate under seal, or exemplification is needed and confirm the cost with the cashier.
Mail works too. Address the envelope to Clerk of Superior Court, PO Box 1187, New Bern, NC 28563. State the case number, the document wanted, the copy type, and where to send it. One caution on routing. A court-file request sent through the county's public-record channel comes back to the clerk anyway. The NCAOC process handles administrative records, not the case file itself.
Note: A Portal result can help identify a case, but the county clerk remains the source for an official certified court record.
Craven County Court Records at the Clerk
Here is a mistake worth avoiding. People keep sending court-file requests to the county public-information office, and those requests just bounce. Craven County's public-records routing page sends anything involving divorces, traffic violations, or other court-related criminal and civil matters straight to the Clerk of Court. One office holds it all. The Clerk of Superior Court keeps the files, dockets, indexes, special proceedings, estates, and related records for both Craven Superior Court and District Court.
Need a counter visit instead? The Craven County Courthouse page identifies the court location. Unsure which division handles your court records? Call the main clerk line at 252-639-3000. Civil questions route to 252-639-3003, Criminal Superior to 252-639-3006, and Criminal District, traffic included, to 252-639-3009. Treat those numbers as divisions of a single clerk office rather than separate record custodians.
Craven County Court Records and NCAOC
Administrative records travel a different path than county case files. The NCAOC public-record process covers only records that agency makes or holds. NCAOC itself says it is not the custodian of a Craven case file. It also cannot certify a county case document. So for the original record, a judgment, or a certified copy, name the case. Then contact the Craven Clerk of Superior Court directly.
Types of Court Records
The phrase "court record" covers more than one thing. A Case Summary, or Register of Actions, lists docketable events in order. It also shows available case information. Underneath those events sit the filed documents themselves: the complaint, motion, order, judgment, or other paper tied to each entry. A certified copy is different still. The clerk authenticates it with the required certificate or seal. Whether any of these is public or restricted depends on the case and the document.
- Case Summaries, Register of Actions entries, hearing information, and judgment-index results.
- Public filed documents, including pleadings, motions, orders, and judgments, when available.
- Superior Court and District Court criminal and civil files held by the unified clerk.
- Special proceedings and estate records routed through the clerk's divisions.
- Audio-record and transcript materials, when a recording or reporter record exists and access is authorized.
Craven County Court Record Layers
Do not assume a Case Event equals the document it names. Portal may report that an order, motion, service return, or hearing-related event occurred while the public image is missing, restricted, or simply too large to open. Read Case Events in date order first. Then check the available Hearings, Dispositions, Financial Information, and documents against them. A blank section in a Case Summary never proves the underlying history does not exist.
Portal's near-real-time summary can display case, assignment, party, event, hearing, disposition, and financial information. Even so, the clerk-held file remains the source for inspection, copies, certification, and anything Portal does not show.
What a Court Record Contains
Start with the file number and court assignment. Craven's eCourts cases carry a four-part Enterprise Justice identifier: two digits for the year, case-type letters, a six-digit sequence, then a three-digit county identifier. The official generic example is 21CR000003-910. Case type and public-access status shape the details, so not every field or document appears in every record.
| Case number | Four parts: year, case-type letters, six-digit sequence, and county identifier, including the dash. |
|---|---|
| Case information | Available case type, filing information, status, and assignment details. |
| Party information | Parties and roles used by the party-based search system. |
| Case events | The chronological Register of Actions, such as filings, service returns, orders, and scheduling changes. |
| Hearings and disposition | Current hearing data and outcome information where those sections are available. |
| Documents and financial data | Public document links and financial information only when public and available for that case. |
Craven County Court Records at Terminals
An online docket search does not always show everything. The record can look thin. When that happens, ask at the clerk counter for a public terminal or for the Craven County case file by number. Statewide guidance says clerk offices supply self-service terminals. A file may be viewed where the case is located. The official materials do not give a terminal count, a floor, or the exact document images at a station.
For the terminal, copy, and transcript routes, the Judicial Branch court-record guidance is the official source. It helps most with older paper files or a public record that needs a closer look. Call the clerk before a special trip. A restriction, an older file location, or a court order can change what you can reach.
The state court-record access guidance lays out the public-terminal and clerk-file process step by step.
Every route to a Craven County court record ends at the same place: the clerk office that holds the underlying case file.
Certified Copies and Fees
Plain copying and certification are two separate services with separate charges. The Judicial Branch miscellaneous-cost chart, effective January 1, 2025, lists the current statewide statutory amounts. A certificate under seal adds authentication. Exemplification goes further, as a higher form of authentication. Because the total depends on page count and whether certification is needed, ask the clerk to quote the price for your specific judgment, docket, or document.
| Item | Amount | Craven request note |
|---|---|---|
| First prepared page of each document | $2.00 | Clerk copy preparation under G.S. 7A-308(a)(12). |
| Each additional page or fraction | $0.25 | Applies to the same document copy. |
| Certificate under seal | $3.00 | Certification or seal component under G.S. 7A-308(a)(9). |
| Exemplification | $10.00 | Higher authentication under G.S. 7A-308(a)(10). |
| Certified county criminal-record search | $25.00 | One named county search under G.S. 7A-308(a)(17). |
| Portal Case Summary search | No separate fee located | Confirm any viewing or printing charge before opening or printing a document. |
Craven County Clerk of Superior Court
302 Broad Street
New Bern, NC 28560
252-639-3000
Craven County Court Record Authentication
Pick the authentication that fits the job. A plain copy works when you just need to read a case document. When the other party wants the clerk's certificate or seal, get a certified copy instead. An exemplification costs more. The state fee chart treats it as its own service, not a fancier version of certification. Tell the clerk why you need the copy. Ask which form that purpose requires before you pay.
The eCourts Portal cannot fill this role. The Judicial Branch is clear that Portal is not the official court record. Certification comes from the clerk in the filing county. Craven's cashier and clerk divisions can quote the final fee. They can also take the request for the specific file.
Craven County Court Records and AOC-CR-314
Form AOC-CR-314 offers a different route: a certified criminal-record search. You ask the clerk to search and certify official criminal-case records for one county. It covers Craven if Craven is the county you name. It is not a statewide case search. It also does not replace reading a particular Case Summary. Nor does it replace requesting a particular document.
Why does the form want every name the person may go by? Court records are indexed by name alone, with no other identifying details. The clerk's section notes the search period. It also notes the result or any limitation, the date, a signature, and a raised seal. No seal on each page means the certified result is not valid.
Public Access and Sealed Records
Any eligible Craven court record is open to the public during regular clerk-office hours, unless a law, rule, or court order restricts it. Looking costs nothing under the public-record framework. Copies and certification are paid services. Portal shows public Case Summaries and some public documents, yet sealed or confidential material stays hidden from ordinary users. A search that comes up empty can mean a name or file-number mismatch, a case filed elsewhere, an older conversion issue, an expunction, or a restriction. It does not prove the record never existed.
Key rules:
G.S. 7A-109 requires each clerk to maintain records, files, dockets, and indexes and opens them for inspection unless access is prohibited.
G.S. 132-1 and 132-6.2 provide the public-record framework for inspection, permitted copy costs, and redaction.
G.S. 7B-300 makes juvenile records confidential except for people and agencies the statute authorizes.
G.S. 15A-145.5 is one criminal-expunction provision; a granted order removes the record from ordinary court and Portal access.
Craven County Court Records: Error 141011
Portal lets the public download one document at a time. Error Code 141011 means the file is too large to open that way, according to the Judicial Branch. The Branch points requesters to the Clerk of Superior Court for smaller segments. Have the case number and a description of the document ready. The clerk can then find it fast.
A failed download proves nothing about sealing or absence. The clerk can walk you through the public copy route. The clerk can also explain any fee and whether segments are possible. Sometimes a document is simply not online. It may be restricted. Or the public case summary may lack a public image.
Craven County Court Record Audio Requests
Audio and transcripts travel a separate path from paper records. A court reporter makes the verbatim record and sets the transcript fee. When no reporter was present, a clerk or a digital recording may exist. For a nonconfidential proceeding that has one, file AOC-G-114 with the clerk. Pay the actual CD cost for a duplicate audio copy. A confidential proceeding needs court permission under AOC-G-115.
Not everything gets recorded, though. The Judicial Branch says ordinary criminal District Court proceedings go unrecorded unless a judge orders otherwise. Pleas in H/I felonies are the exception. Ask the Craven clerk with the proceeding date and file number in hand. Never assume a docket entry has an audio file behind it. The NCAOC public-record policies draw the line between administrative records and county case files.
Whatever the request, a case document or audio, the Craven county clerk stays your point of contact for the court-file record.