The Maryland Judiciary has expanded its public access database, known as Maryland Judiciary Case Search, to include appellate court case information. This expansion allows remote access to case details from the Court of Appeals (COA) and the Court of Special Appeals (COSA), in addition to existing trial court cases.
The newly available appellate case information includes COA data from 2015 onward and COSA data from 2016 onward. As outlined in Rules 8-102 and 8-421, these courts operate in terms starting September 1 of each term year until August 31 of the following year.
Maryland Court of Appeals Chief Judge Mary Ellen Barbera commented on this development, stating: “By implementing this expansion, the Judiciary will be able to provide, for the first time, online public access to civil and criminal case information for the two appellate courts in addition to the two trial courts.” She added that it enhances transparency within state appellate courts.
Users can search for appellate cases using party names or case numbers through Case Search. While it does not include case documents, detailed information is available from all Maryland appellate, circuit, and district court management systems. This feature aims to fulfill many common requests received by court clerks' offices.
Court of Special Appeals Chief Judge Matthew J. Fader praised the effort involved in updating Case Search: “Court of Special Appeals and Judicial Information Systems staff converted thousands of pages of case data from the court’s legacy electronic case management systems into Case Search for this critical upgrade.”
Launched in January 2006, Case Search offers online access to Maryland case records per the Maryland Rules on Access to Judicial Records (Rules 16-901 through 16-914). It provides near real-time docket information including party names, locations, case numbers, trial dates, charges, and dispositions.
The database encompasses district court traffic, criminal and civil cases; circuit court criminal and civil cases; and now appellate cases. Information restricted by the Maryland Rules on Access or other laws and historical records predating automated systems are not included.
Further details about Maryland Judiciary Case Search can be found on their FAQ page at www.mdcourts.gov.