Suffolk County Court Docket Records

Suffolk County court docket records cover the most active and complex court system in Massachusetts, encompassing the Suffolk Superior Court, the Boston Municipal Court's seven locations across Boston, the Suffolk Probate and Family Court, and both the Massachusetts Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court at Pemberton Square. This page explains how to search Suffolk County court dockets online, what the different courts handle, and how to get copies of court records in Boston.

How to Search Suffolk County Court Dockets

The Massachusetts Trial Court's eAccess system at masscourts.org is the primary tool for online court docket searches in Suffolk County. It is free and requires no account to use. You can search civil cases by party name across all Massachusetts Trial Court departments, including all Suffolk County locations. Case number searches work for all case types, including criminal. The system returns a list of matching cases with docket entries, hearing dates, and status information for each one.

Name searches through the public internet portal are restricted to civil cases. If you need to find a criminal case in Suffolk County by name, visit a courthouse in person and use a public access terminal. These terminals provide more complete access than the website. Given that Suffolk County includes both the Boston Municipal Court system and the Superior Court, there is a large volume of criminal dockets that are only accessible this way.

For a full explanation of how the eAccess system works, the state's guide is at mass.gov/info-details/how-to-search-court-dockets. This page covers how to enter names, use wildcard characters to broaden a search, and read the docket entries that come back. Because Suffolk County has multiple court types, knowing which department handled your case before you search can help you filter results more quickly.

Note: Criminal name searches are not available through the public web portal. In-person terminals at any Suffolk County courthouse give fuller access for criminal docket lookups.

Suffolk County Courts: A Complex System

Suffolk County is home to more court departments than any other county in Massachusetts. The Suffolk Superior Court at 3 Pemberton Square handles major civil cases, jury trials, and serious felony criminal matters. The Suffolk Probate and Family Court at 24 New Chardon Street handles divorce, estate, guardianship, adoption, and name change cases for the county. These are the two main trial court departments that parallel what you find in other Massachusetts counties.

What makes Suffolk County different is the Boston Municipal Court (BMC) system. Rather than a standard District Court, Boston has its own specialized court structure. The BMC Central Division is at 24 New Chardon Street. Six additional BMC divisions operate across Boston's neighborhoods: Charlestown at 3 City Square, Dorchester at 510 Washington Street, East Boston at 37 Meridian Street, Roxbury at 85 Warren Street, South Boston at 535 East Broadway, and West Roxbury at 445 Arborway in Jamaica Plain. Each BMC division maintains its own separate docket.

The John Adams Courthouse at One Pemberton Square houses both state appellate courts. The Massachusetts Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court are both based here. Cases that are appealed from any Suffolk County trial court come to this building. Appellate dockets are searchable through eAccess alongside trial court dockets. Suffolk County is the only county in Massachusetts where you can find trial courts, intermediate appellate courts, and the highest court all within a short walk of each other.

What Suffolk County Dockets Contain

A court docket is the official chronological record of a case maintained by the clerk's office. Every action taken in a case is logged: initial filings, motions, responses, court orders, scheduled hearings, and final dispositions. When you access a Suffolk County docket through eAccess or at a courthouse terminal, you see the case caption, party and attorney names, filing dates, entry descriptions, and current status. For active cases, dockets update as new filings come in.

Suffolk Superior Court civil dockets tend to be long, particularly in the Business Litigation Session where complex commercial cases can run for years with dozens of motions. The BMC handles a very high volume of shorter matters, so its dockets are often briefer. Probate dockets follow estate or family proceedings over time. Housing Court dockets cover residential landlord-tenant disputes and building code matters specifically. Each court type has its own format, but all are searchable through the same eAccess portal.

Some docket entries include links to viewable electronic documents. Others are log entries only, and the actual document must be requested from the clerk. Older cases from before the court's electronic filing system may have paper-only records. The clerk's office at each courthouse can confirm what is available electronically versus only on paper for any specific case.

Clerk Magistrate Hearings at the BMC are an important exception. These preliminary hearings, sometimes called show-cause hearings, are private proceedings. They do not appear on the public docket unless the clerk magistrate finds probable cause and the matter moves to a formal criminal complaint.

Getting Copies of Court Records

Copies of court documents from Suffolk County cases are available from the clerk's office at the courthouse that handled the case. Non-certified copies cost $0.50 per page. Certified copies are $2.50 per page. Certified orders and decrees cost $20.00. Electronic document copies are $5.00. These are standard Massachusetts Trial Court fees. Payment methods and procedures can vary slightly by location, so call ahead if you are unsure.

Given the number of court locations in Suffolk County, make sure you are going to the right building before you visit. The BMC divisions each have their own clerk's office, and a document from Dorchester BMC is not held at the Central BMC. The Superior Court clerk is at Pemberton Square. The Probate Court clerk is at New Chardon Street. Going to the wrong building will add significant time to your visit.

Mail requests are accepted at all locations. Include the case name, case number, the specific document you need, and a check or money order for the estimated fee. Processing times vary by court. The Suffolk courts are among the busiest in the state, so mail requests may take longer than in smaller counties. For urgent requests, in-person visits during clerk hours (8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday) are more reliable.

Massachusetts public records law at mass.gov gives you the right to access government records. For court records specifically, Trial Court Rule VIII sets the access rules. Formal public records request procedures are at sec.state.ma.us if you need to go that route, though direct contact with the clerk is usually faster.

Appeals Court Dockets in Suffolk County

The Massachusetts Appeals Court is housed at the John Adams Courthouse at One Pemberton Square in Boston. All appeals from Massachusetts trial courts, regardless of the county of origin, are handled here. The Appeals Court's dockets are part of the eAccess system and are searchable by name or case number. For civil cases, a name search will return appellate dockets. For criminal appeals, a case number search is needed through the public web portal.

The Appeals Court maintains its own case information page at mass.gov/info-details/appeals-court-case-information. This page explains how appellate dockets work, what public information is available, and how to request copies of appellate court documents. Appellate filings include briefs, appendices, and ultimately written opinions. Opinions from the Appeals Court become public once issued and are searchable through the court's docket.

The Supreme Judicial Court, also at Pemberton Square, handles the highest-level appeals and has original jurisdiction over certain matters. Its dockets are similarly accessible through eAccess. If a case from any Suffolk County trial court reached the SJC, you can find that docket through the same portal.

The screenshot below is sourced from the Massachusetts Appeals Court case information page, which covers docket access for the court located in Suffolk County at Pemberton Square.

Use this page to understand how to search appellate dockets and what documents are available from cases decided by the Appeals Court.

The eAccess Portal for Suffolk County

The statewide eAccess portal covers all of Suffolk County's trial courts, including every BMC division and the Superior Court. Because Suffolk has so many court departments, it helps to know which division handled your case before searching. The portal lets you filter by court department, which can narrow results when searching for a common name. A search without a department filter will return results from all courts statewide, which for a common name can produce many unrelated results.

The image below comes from the Massachusetts eAccess portal homepage, the main tool for searching court dockets in Suffolk County and across Massachusetts.

The eAccess portal is the fastest way to find a Suffolk County case docket without visiting the courthouse.

A full overview of all docket search options across Massachusetts, including links to court-specific tools, is at mass.gov/search-court-dockets-calendars-and-case-information. This is a useful page to bookmark if you regularly need to look up cases in different courts.

Public Records Rights and Court Access

Massachusetts court records are public under Trial Court Rule VIII, with specific exceptions for sealed and confidential matters. Most civil dockets, filings, and orders are open to anyone who asks. Criminal records carry more restrictions, particularly for cases that were dismissed, resulted in acquittal, or were handled at the Clerk Magistrate level without a formal complaint being issued. Juvenile cases are sealed. Certain domestic matters are confidential by law.

M.G.L. c. 66, Section 10 gives you the legal right to request public records from government agencies, including courts, with a required response within 10 business days. For court records, the clerk's office is typically faster than a formal public records request. Suffolk County's clerk offices are experienced with public records requests given the volume of cases they handle. For most requests, visiting in person or calling the clerk will get you what you need faster than filing a formal request. The state's formal public records process is at sec.state.ma.us. Additional resources on Massachusetts court records are at massachusettscourtrecords.org.

Cities in Suffolk County

Two cities in Suffolk County have dedicated pages on this site based on population.

Nearby Counties

Suffolk County borders three other Massachusetts counties, each with its own court system and docket access points.