Butler County Clerk of Courts: Locating Court Records

Butler County Clerk of Courts Records
The Butler County Clerk of Courts is responsible for maintaining and providing public access to the case file records of the Butler County Court of Common Pleas and the 12th District Court of Appeals. The Clerk of Courts also maintains records of Notary Public certifications filed in Butler County.

The Clerk maintains records for the Common Pleas Court 's General Division and Domestic Relations Division. General Division case files contain criminal felonies, criminal extraditions, civil lawsuits exceeding $15,000, civil protection orders, judgment execution dockets and state tax liens records. Domestic Relations Division case files contain divorce, dissolution, child custody, visitation, child support and domestic violence records.

12th District Court of Appeals cases originate from Area Courts, Municipal Courts, Juvenile Court, Probate Court, Common Pleas Court or an administrative board appeal.

The Clerk of Courts provides electronic access to case files dating from 1986 through present at www.butlercountyclerk.org. The general public can access online records from any computer with an Internet connection. The Clerk of Courts office, located on the 5th floor of the Government Services Center, 315 High Street, Hamilton, Ohio, provides free public terminals for use during business hours.

The following list identifies the records that are physically maintained by the Clerk of Courts in the Government Services Center:

Case Type: Records Available:

Civil	2001-present
Civil Protection	2001-present
Court of Appeals	2005-present
Criminal	2001-present
Criminal Extradition	2001-present
Domestic Relations	2001-present
Domestic Violence	2001-present
Judgment Docket	2001-present
Notary Certification	2002-present
State Tax	2001-present
Withholding Tax	2001-2003

Records not listed on the schedule above are held at the Butler County Records Center. The Records Center has trained specialists available to help the public locate archived or historical records.

Those who need a copy of a case file record that is more than 10 years old should call the Clerk of Courts Document Division at (513) 887-3278 at least 24 hours in advance. This advance notice is necessary to allow time to retrieve and copy archived records.

Municipal Court Records
Within their respective municipalities, the three Butler County Municipal Courts hear and maintain records of cases dealing with criminal misdemeanors, municipal ordinance violations, traffic violations, criminal domestic violence, civil small claims, lawsuits less than $15,000, rent escrow and forcible entry and detainer.

Area Court Records
The three area courts perform the same function as municipal courts in areas of the county that are outside of municipal court jurisdictions. Within their respective territorial jurisdictions, the three Butler County Area Courts hear and maintain records of cases dealing with criminal misdemeanors, local ordinance violations, traffic violations, criminal domestic violence, civil small claims, lawsuits under $15,000.00, rent escrow, and forcible entry and detainer.

Butler County Juvenile Court Records
The Butler County Juvenile Court hears and maintains records of cases dealing with juvenile traffic violations, child support, delinquent and unruly juveniles, child abuse, dependency, paternity, custody, visitation, neglect and adult criminal charges.

Butler County Probate Court Records
The Butler County Probate Court hears and maintains records of cases dealing with marriage licenses, adoption, probate of estates and wills, guardianships, trusts, wrongful death, civil commitments, release from administration and name changes. However, birth and death certificates are kept by the Butler County Health Department. Immigration and naturalization records also are held by the Probate Court and are a valuable resource for genealogic or historic research.

Ohio Statewide Records
These Statewide Record Searches are an organized listing of records databases that are maintained by the 88 county Clerks, Treasurers and Recorders.

Supreme Court of Ohio Records
The Supreme Court hears and maintains records of cases originating from the twelve district courts of appeals, cases involving questions arising under the Ohio or U.S. Constitution, death penalty cases and appellate review of certain administrative agencies including the Public Utilities Commission and the Board of Tax Commission. The Supreme Court also has original jurisdiction to issue extraordinary writs.

U.S. District, Bankruptcy, and Appellate Court Records
The PACER Service Center is the Federal Judiciary's centralized registration, billing, and technical support center for electronic access to U.S. District, Bankruptcy, and Appellate court records.

Butler County Auditor Records
The Butler County Auditor site offers several searches to allow access to public information, including searches for real estate taxes and rates, map locations, dog licensing and vendor licensing.

Butler County Recorder Records
The Butler County Recorder maintains records of deeds, mortgages, leases, powers of attorney, cancellations of mortgage, mechanics liens, partnerships, subdivision plats, registered land records, veteran discharges and grave records.

Butler County Treasurer Records
The Butler County Treasurer online search returns records for three types of property taxes: real estate, manufactured homes, and personal property.

LOCATING COURT RECORDS