What Is a Court Docket in New Castle County
A docket is a chronological list of every action in a case. Each line is one event. It might be a complaint, an answer, a motion, an order, a notice of hearing, a judgment, a writ, or a return of service. The docket is the official scoreboard of a case. It does not show the full text of pleadings. It does not always link to downloadable documents. It just confirms what happened and when. A New Castle County court docket can be days old or decades old. Older paper-only dockets may not appear in the online portal at all.
A docket is not the same as the full case file. The file holds the actual filings, exhibits, transcripts, and orders. The docket just lists them. Think of the docket as the table of contents and the case file as the book. Some courts post part of the file online. Most do not post sealed material. The split between docket and full file matters most when a person needs an exhibit or a signed order rather than just the list of events.
Delaware's court system is unified statewide, so there is no county-level docket separate from the state docket. A New Castle County case still lives on the same Delaware CourtConnect system used for Sussex County or Kent County cases. The county shows up in the case ID prefix and in the court location.
How to Find New Castle County Dockets Online
The state runs one public docket portal for all five state courts. The home page is CourtConnect, titled the State of Delaware Courts Judicial Case Database. It covers Superior Court civil cases, Court of Common Pleas civil and criminal cases within its scope, Justice of the Peace civil and criminal matters, and judgment data. Family Court matters and many sealed records do not show on it. Before any docket pulls, the user must accept the public-access disclaimer, which says the data is provided as is and is not for official use.
The portal supports two main search paths for dockets. One is a name or business search. The other is a docket report search by exact case ID. A case ID lookup is faster when the number is known. The format is short and predictable. For example, N21C-08-063 is a Superior Court civil case filed in 2021.
- Open the CourtConnect home page and accept the disclaimer.
- Pick the search type that fits. Use the person or business path for a name. Use the docket report path for an exact case ID.
- Type the last name or the case ID. Add a date range or case type only if needed to cut down hits.
- Open the matching case to view the docket header, parties, event schedule, and docket entries.
- Note any docket entry that needs a full document, then contact the proper clerk for a copy.
Sample New Castle County Docket Entry
A CourtConnect docket report has a fixed layout. The header block names the case. The party block lists each side and the lawyers. The event block lists upcoming or past hearings. The docket-entry block lists each filing. A sample Superior Court file inspected by hand was N21C-08-063, US Dominion, Inc. v. Newsmax Media, Inc. The fields below show what appeared on that real docket, and the same field set appears on most New Castle County court dockets in the system.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case ID | The full case number, in a county/year/case-type/sequence format such as N21C-08-063 |
| Caption | The party names in plaintiff v. defendant or petitioner v. respondent order |
| Filing Date | The full date the case opened, in weekday and month form |
| Type | A short code plus text, such as CG - DEFAMATION |
| Status | Codes like OPEN, CLOSED, DISPOSED, or STAYED with a short text label |
| Jury Trial Indicator | Flag showing whether the case is set for a jury |
| Case Parties | Sequence number, end date, type, ID, and name for each party; party types include plaintiff, defendant, attorney for plaintiff, attorney for defendant, and commissioner |
| Attorney IDs | Bar-style numeric identifiers shown as linked IDs |
| Addresses | Business and attorney addresses may show; some private addresses are marked unavailable |
| Aliases | Section that may list none or list known alternate names for parties |
| Case Event Schedule | Hearing or event dates when set; the sample file showed no events |
| Related Cases | Section that links to related case IDs when any exist |
| Documents | Pleadings, motions, and orders; the public HTML view did not show free downloadable pleadings in the sample |
| Financial | Section for fines, costs, judgment amount, and satisfaction; sometimes blank in civil docket view |
| Redactions | Social Security numbers, minor names, and protected addresses are not shown in the public view |
Courts That Publish Dockets in New Castle County
Most public court dockets in New Castle County come from Superior Court, the Court of Common Pleas, and Justice of the Peace Court. The Court of Chancery has its own posting system used heavily by corporate lawyers. Family Court dockets are largely restricted because the cases involve children, abuse, custody, and other sensitive topics. The Supreme Court of Delaware posts appeal-level case information separately. Federal cases in the District of Delaware run through PACER and the District Court's own CM/ECF system, not CourtConnect.
- Superior Court: civil cases, felony criminal cases, agency appeals; civil docket on CourtConnect.
- Court of Common Pleas: misdemeanors, preliminary hearings, civil cases within statutory limits; partial docket on CourtConnect.
- Justice of the Peace Court: small claims, landlord-tenant, debt, replevin, trespass, and lower-level criminal matters.
- Family Court: divorce, custody, support, protection from abuse, juvenile delinquency; most dockets are restricted.
- Court of Chancery: equity, corporate, trust, and guardianship matters; major business filings.
- U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware: federal civil and criminal dockets, available through PACER.
Docket vs. Full Case Record
The split between docket and full case record matters at the moment of decision. A docket tells a person whether something was filed and when. A full case record proves what the filing actually said. A lawyer building a case, a self-help filer checking deadlines, or a journalist reading the file all need both at different times. Public dockets are usually free and fast. The full file may need a clerk visit, a copy fee, a certified copy fee, or e-filing access if available.
| Docket | Full Case Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | List of entries with dates and short labels | Full text of pleadings, exhibits, orders, transcripts |
| Access | Often online and free through CourtConnect | May require clerk request, fee, or in-person visit |
| Use | Track case progress, confirm filings, find hearing dates | Legal review, evidence, appeals, certified copies |
| Format of Data | Short coded entries | PDFs and signed orders |
| Sealed Items | May appear as a line with no detail or not at all | Generally withheld unless ordered released |
Note: The Delaware Judiciary disclaimer warns that CourtConnect dockets are not official; certified case records still come from the proper court clerk.
How to Read a New Castle County Docket
Dockets use a lot of short codes. Some are easy to guess. Some are not. A line that reads ORDER usually means a signed ruling by a judge. A line that reads MOT or MOTION is a request. A line that reads CAPIAS is a court order directing law enforcement to bring a person in, often for missing a hearing. A line that reads RETURN OF SERVICE confirms a party was served with papers. A line that reads STIP is a stipulated filing where both sides agree. Each court has its own coding habits, but the codes follow a common pattern. Codes are pulled from the Delaware court rules and clerk procedure.
Disposition codes track the end state of a case. CLOSED means the case is finished on the court's books. DISPOSED is similar and usually appears with a final order or judgment. STAYED means the case is paused, often for an appeal or for a related criminal matter. TRANSFERRED means the case moved to another court. DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE means the case is over and cannot be refiled. DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE means it could be refiled if the law allows. For a deeper read on each step, see New Castle County court records and criminal records. Statutes that affect what shows on a docket include 11 Del. C. §§ 4372 to 4374 on expungement and 29 Del. C. § 10003 on examination of public records.