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For the complete documentation index, see llms.txt. This page is also available as Markdown.

Docket

A docket lists, in chronological order, every document filed with the court in a case; this also serves as a timeline of events. A docket also includes the judge(s), parties, and lawyers in a case.

A docket number is the individual identifier that a court gives to a case. (Some courts use different terms, but the idea is the same.) Docket numbers usually include some or all of the following information, though it can appear in different orders or formats:

  • The year the case was filed

  • The type of case (civil, criminal, etc.)

  • A unique serial number for the case

  • Information on which courthouse or jurisdiction it was filed in

We collect complete docket numbers as they appear on case documents. We also collect the information it contains (year, case type, etc.) in separate fields.

Our system is designed around the federal courts' docketing conventions. The fields on our website correspond to the normal format for federal court docket number: 1:18-cv-528 (office:year-case type-filing number).

Example: a completely blank document

When accessing the `api/v2p1/cases/case_id/dockets/` endpoint.

{
  "next": null,
  "previous": null,
  "results": [
    {
      "id": null,
      "case_id": null,
      "docket_entries": [
        {
          "row_number": null,
          "id": null,
          "entry_number": null,
          "date_filed": "",
          "attachments": [],
          "url": "",
          "recap_pdf_url": null,
          "pacer_doc_id": null,
          "description": ""
        }
      ],
      "docket_case_type": "",
      "docket_year": null,
      "docket_filing_number": null,
      "is_main_docket": false,
      "court": "",
      "state": "",
      "docket_office_number": "",
      "docket_number_manual": "",
      "scales_html": "",
      "recap_link": "",
      "is_active": false
    }
  ]
}

id

(number)

The ID of the docket. This is different from the case ID and unique to the docket.

case_id

(number)

The ID of the case linked to the docket.

docket_number_manual

(string)

The complete docket number, as it appears on case documents.

docket_office_number

(string)

For federal courts, the courthouse or division where the case was filed. This will always be a one-digit number.

docket_year

(number)

The year the case was filed. We collect complete years (e.g. 2021, not 21).

docket_case_type

(string)

Usually a 2-character code corresponding to a particular type of case (e.g. "cv" = civil; "cr" = criminal).

Not all dockets will have a case type code.

docket_filing_number

(number)

The unique portion of a docket number. The filing number is generally unique within a given court.

last_updated

(string)

ISO 8601 date for when the docket was last updated in RECAP.

court

(string)

The court where the docket exists. The options are the same as the court field for cases – see court.

state

(string)

The state where the docket's court is located in.

is_main_docket

(boolean)

If true, the docket is the main docket for the case. This is typically the trial docket where the case was first filed. On the Clearinghouse site, the main docket is displayed first.

recap_link

(string)

A link to a federal court docket in the RECAP Archive. The RECAP Archive is a free, searchable collection of millions of federal court documents and dockets.

docket_entries

(array[object])

A list of docket entries. See Docket Entry.

Note: Many dockets are available only as a PDF, rather than as a parsed array of docket entries. In those cases, the docket is saved as a document (see Documents).

scales_html

(string)

A URL to an HTML file that is a saved version of the PACER HTML header. PACER, which stands for Public Access to Court Electronic Records, is the federal government's electronic system for providing access to federal court records.

case_name

(string)

The name of the case associated with the docket, as retrieved from the case record. See Case Details.

docket_case_name

(string)

The case name as it appears on the docket record itself. This can differ from case_name, which reflects the associated case's name in the Clearinghouse.

filing_year

(number)

The year the docket was filed. This is tracked separately from docket_year and may differ from it in some cases.

number_of_documents

(number)

The total number of documents associated with this docket.

recap_docket_number

(string)

The docket number as recorded by RECAP (for federal dockets) or supremecourt.gov (for SCOTUS dockets), taken directly from the source data. This may differ from docket_number_manual, which is entered by Clearinghouse staff. null if the docket has no RECAP or SCOTUS record.

scotus_data

(object)

Additional metadata scraped from the docket's page on supremecourt.gov, for Supreme Court dockets only. null for non-SCOTUS dockets. The set of keys returned can vary by docket.

Example from a successful fetch from Supreme Court

Fields present depend on what supremecourt.gov's page actually contains for a given docket — decision_date and case_numbers/lower_ct, for instance, are only populated once the underlying page has that information. docket_id_corrected_from may also appear if the docket number was auto-corrected during the fetch. On a failed fetch, scotus_data instead holds last_error, last_error_at, and optionally tried_urls — none of the case-info keys above are present in that case.

documents_url

(string (URL))

A URL that returns a paginated list of documents associated with this docket, equivalent to /api/v2p1/documents/?docket_id={id}. For details on navigating pages, see the Pagination. See Documents.

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