What a Richmond County Court Docket Is
A court docket is the chronological list of events recorded in a case file. It is not the full case file. Each entry notes what happened: a summons was filed, a motion was made, an order was entered, a hearing was adjourned. The docket tells you the case history at a glance, who filed what and when, and what the next scheduled date is. The full documents, such as a complaint or a judge's written decision, may be attached to the docket entry or may sit in a separate court file requiring a clerk request or NYSCEF access.
In Richmond County, the docket label shifts by court type. Supreme Court civil cases carry an index number. Criminal cases use a docket number or indictment number. Family Court uses a file or docket number. Surrogate's Court uses a file number. All of these identifiers serve the same function: they tag the event list so you can retrieve it by number, or by the parties' names, in the appropriate search tool.
A docket entry is not a verdict or a certified record. If you need the docket for a legal proceeding, you need a certified copy of the specific document from the clerk, not a screenshot of an online docket display. Plain copies from online portals are not authenticated, and courts and agencies will not accept them for filings, applications, or benefits purposes. Certified copies of Richmond County court records cost $8 per document plus $0.25 per page, per the Richmond County Clerk fee schedule. For more on certified copies and the full portal guide, see the Richmond County court records page.
WebCivil Supreme Dockets for Richmond County
WebCivil Supreme is the official public docket tool for New York State Civil Supreme Court cases, including Richmond County. It covers past, present, and future case information for civil Supreme Court matters only. In Richmond County, that means general civil cases over the Civil Court dollar limit, divorce and matrimonial actions, foreclosures, commercial disputes, Article 78 proceedings, and other matters that sit above Civil Court's $50,000 cap. You do not use WebCivil Supreme to find a Criminal Court or Civil Court docket.
The search modes in WebCivil Supreme let you approach a case from several angles. Index number search goes directly to a case if you have it. Party Search takes a name. Attorney/Firm Search and Justice Search work well for tracking cases in bulk or by assigned judge. Court Calendars pull scheduled appearances by county, justice, and part. The eTrack feature sends email reminders for upcoming appearances, which helps monitor a Richmond County civil docket without daily manual checks. For e-filed Supreme Court documents attached to the docket, the NYSCEF guest search provides document-level access without an account.
Note: WebCivil Supreme covers civil Supreme Court cases only. Divorce case shells may appear, but matrimonial documents are subject to Domestic Relations Law restrictions and may not be fully open for public inspection.
WebCivil Local Dockets for Richmond County Civil Court
WebCivil Local covers the lower civil courts in New York State, including the Richmond County branch of New York City Civil Court at 927 Castleton Avenue, Staten Island. Civil Court handles general civil matters up to $50,000, housing and landlord-tenant cases, and small claims up to $10,000. If a dispute involves a rent payment, a consumer debt, a nonpayment proceeding, or a small claims matter, the docket is in WebCivil Local, not WebCivil Supreme.
The search modes mirror WebCivil Supreme but are tuned for local civil courts. Index Search, Party Search, Attorney/Firm Search, and Judge Search are all available. Court Calendars list scheduled hearings by court location, judge, and part. The eTrack service works here as well, letting users sign up for updates on a specific Civil Court case without repeated manual checks.
Richmond County Civil Court holds evening small claims on the third Thursday of each month, with the courtroom open from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. A docket search the day before a Thursday night small claims appearance will show the scheduled calendar in WebCivil Local. The Civil Court building at 927 Castleton Avenue also has a public-access terminal in the basement for in-person docket and record searches. The Richmond County Civil Court page covers housing and small claims procedures in detail.
WebCriminal and Richmond County Criminal Dockets
WebCriminal is the official public tool for pending criminal cases with future appearance dates. It is not a full criminal history database. It shows cases with scheduled court dates in covered New York criminal courts. For Richmond County, the dropdown lets you choose Richmond Criminal Court, Richmond Criminal Court Summons, or Richmond Supreme Criminal Court. Misdemeanor and arraignment cases sit in Criminal Court; felony prosecutions move to Supreme Court Criminal Term at 26 Central Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10301.
The defendant search requires a first and last name, with at least the first two characters of each, or the first five characters of a corporation name. Output can display on the page or as a PDF. The system warns of intermittent data delays for a limited number of cases and advises waiting and re-searching if expected details are missing. Sealed cases, dismissed-and-sealed matters, and youthful offender records do not appear in WebCriminal results. A blank result does not guarantee no criminal history. For more on criminal case records and what the docket shows, see the Richmond County Criminal Court page.
WebCriminal is useful for tracking court dates but is not a background check. A full statewide criminal history search through the court system costs $95 per the official NY CourtHelp guidance and is a separate product from the free public WebCriminal docket search.
WebFamily Calendars for Richmond County Family Court
WebFamily provides limited docket and calendar information for active Family Court and Integrated Domestic Violence cases with future appearances. Richmond County Family Court is at 18 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301, phone 718-675-8800. It hears custody, visitation, child support, family offense, child abuse and neglect, juvenile delinquency, foster-care review, and guardianship matters. Many of these case types are restricted or confidential by statute, so WebFamily is deliberately narrower than the civil docket tools.
WebFamily offers three search paths. File/Docket Search uses a file number or case docket number. Attorney/Firm Search uses the attorney or firm name. The Calendar option generates a calendar by county, court location, date, and judge or part. None of these paths reveal the confidential details of family cases such as child names, abuse findings, or support amounts. A future court date may appear; the underlying facts generally do not. For matters involving Family Court filings, a party, attorney, or authorized agency must work through the court clerk directly rather than through the public WebFamily search.
WebSurrogate File History in Richmond County Estates
WebSurrogate is the NY Courts public search system for Richmond County Surrogate's Court estate proceedings, probate filings, wills, and guardianship matters. Richmond County Surrogate's Court sits at 18 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301. The Surrogate is Hon. Matthew J. Titone; the Chief Clerk is Ronald M. Cerrachio. The online file history in WebSurrogate is one of the stronger document portals in the eCourts network because it offers not just docket entries but document images for files from February 19, 2014 forward.
WebSurrogate search modes include Name Search, File Search, Old Index Search, Index Book Pages, and Will Search. Name Search narrows by date of death. File Search goes directly to a file number. Old Index Search covers historical records, though not every court has complete old records available online. Wills Filed for Safekeeping are not public view. Documents filed before February 19, 2014 may require an in-person visit to the Records Room in the basement, Room B-3, during hours of 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Confidential personal information is protected under 22 NYCRR 207.64; WebSurrogate blocks restricted files but does not redact documents itself, so filers bear responsibility for omitting protected details.
For probate and estate procedures, the Richmond County Surrogate's Court page covers filing requirements, fees, and the petition workflow in full.
How to Read Richmond County Docket Entries
Each line of a Richmond County court docket follows a standard pattern: an event type, a date, and often a brief note of what the court or a party did. The language is shorthand drawn from court rules and practice. The table below explains the docket entries most common across Richmond County civil and criminal cases.
| Docket Entry | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Summons Filed | The plaintiff filed the document that starts the lawsuit and calls the defendant to court. |
| Complaint Filed | The plaintiff's formal statement of claims is in the record. |
| RJI Filed | A Request for Judicial Intervention was filed, asking the court to assign a judge and take active control of the civil case. The current RJI fee is $95 per the Richmond County Clerk fee schedule. |
| Motion Filed | A party asked the court for an order or ruling on a specific issue. |
| Order to Show Cause | An expedited motion format requiring a party to appear and explain why the requested relief should not be granted. |
| Affidavit of Service Filed | A party filed proof that the other side was properly served with court papers. |
| Conference Scheduled | The court set a preliminary or status conference between the parties and the judge. |
| Adjournment | A court date was postponed. The docket entry should show the new date if it was set at the time. |
| Order Entered | The judge signed and entered a formal order resolving a motion or issue. |
| Judgment Entered | The final money or relief decision was entered. This can become the basis for a judgment lien against the losing party's property in Richmond County. |
| Note of Issue Filed | A filing that places the case on the trial-ready calendar after discovery is complete. |
| Stipulation Filed | Both parties agreed in writing to something, and the court has a record of the agreement. |
| Plea / Disposition Entered | In a criminal docket, the defendant entered a plea or the case was otherwise resolved. |
| Sentence Entered | In a criminal docket, the judge imposed punishment or conditions after conviction or plea. |
| Decree Issued | In a Surrogate's Court docket, the court resolved the probate or estate matter by formal decree. |
One entry worth special attention is the RJI. In New York Supreme Court civil cases, a case does not get a judge until someone files the RJI and pays the fee. A case showing only a summons and complaint on the docket but no RJI is still waiting for judicial assignment.
CourtListener and Federal Dockets Involving Richmond County
The CourtListener platform is a free, non-official resource that aggregates some federal court opinions and dockets from PACER. It is run by the Free Law Project and is not part of the New York State Unified Court System. CourtListener does not contain Richmond County state court dockets from WebCivil, WebCriminal, or WebSurrogate. It may have opinions or dockets from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, which covers Richmond County for federal cases, or from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
The screenshot below shows the CourtListener search interface, which some users find useful for researching federal matters involving Staten Island parties. CourtListener is a free, non-official alternative for some federal opinions and dockets, not the official record source.
For official federal docket records, register with PACER at the federal courts' own system. PACER charges per-page fees after registration. CourtListener is a useful starting point for federal opinion research, but it should not be relied on for active case status, deadlines, or certified copy requests. Always verify through PACER or the clerk of the issuing federal court for anything with legal consequences.
Choosing the Right Richmond County Docket Portal
Because Richmond County courts run across separate systems, choosing the wrong portal is the most common reason a docket search comes up empty. The comparison below lays out which tool to use for which court, what it covers, and what it does not show.
| Tool | Court Covered | What It Shows | What It Does Not Show |
|---|---|---|---|
| WebCivil Supreme | Supreme Court civil cases, divorce | Past, present, future civil dockets; calendars; eTrack | Criminal, Family, Civil Court, Surrogate's cases |
| WebCivil Local | Civil Court, Housing, Small Claims | Local civil dockets, housing matters, calendars, eTrack | Supreme, Criminal, Family, Surrogate's cases |
| WebCriminal | Criminal Court and Supreme Criminal Term | Pending cases with future dates; Richmond court dropdown | Disposed cases, sealed matters, full criminal history |
| WebFamily | Family Court, IDV matters | Active cases with future appearances; calendars | Confidential family details, closed cases, most case content |
| WebSurrogate | Surrogate's Court estates, wills | File history; documents from 2/19/2014 onward; name/file search | Wills for safekeeping; pre-2014 images; restricted files |
| NYSCEF Guest Search | E-filed Supreme Court cases | Documents filed electronically in covered civil cases | Paper-only cases; sealed files; family and criminal matters |
For any case not found in these tools, the next step is to contact the relevant court clerk in person or by phone. The Richmond County Supreme Court clerk handles Supreme Court civil and criminal inquiries. The Civil Court clerk handles housing, small claims, and local civil matters. All court systems serving Staten Island have their own clerks' offices in or near the St. George courthouse area.
Why a Richmond County Case May Not Appear
A case that should be in a docket search sometimes does not appear. The cause is almost always one of a short list of reasons. Understanding them helps you decide whether to keep searching or contact the court.
- Wrong tool: the case is in a different court than the one searched. A Family Court matter will not appear in WebCivil Supreme; a Civil Court housing case will not be in WebCriminal.
- Spelling or number error: court records use the spelling from the original filing. A one-character difference in a last name can return zero results.
- Sealed or confidential status: criminal cases sealed under CPL 160.50, youthful offender records, family-matter details, and certain matrimonial papers are withheld from public tools by law.
- No future appearance date: WebCriminal shows pending cases with future dates only. A concluded or dormant criminal case may not appear even if it exists in the system.
- Data delay: WebCriminal itself notes intermittent delays updating a limited number of cases, and advises searching again later if expected details are missing.
- Pre-2014 Surrogate's Court images: WebSurrogate links document images only for files from February 19, 2014 onward. Older files may require courthouse public-access terminals.
- Paper-only case: older cases or courts not yet fully on eCourts may be available only through a clerk request, not through any public online portal.
If the case is real and time-sensitive, contact the clerk rather than assuming it does not exist. Common questions about missing cases and data delays are answered in the Richmond County court records FAQ.