Accessing court information from arbitrary locations is very effective in streamlining the activities of the court system and staying up to date the going on of the judicial system. Information is power and gives the people the freedom of choice. The Maryland case search is also referred to as the Maryland judiciary case search. It is known to be an excellent tool in accessing the Maryland court system. There are 24 counties in Maryland and whose cases can be accessed through the Maryland case search. This includes both the circuit and district courts. The information drawn from the Maryland case search is substantial.
The Maryland district court receives up to two million cases in a year. Many records in the clerk’s office were unavailable and required a lot of time to sift through and access. This necessitated the need for a reliable system that keeps the people of Maryland up to date with information about the judicial system. The answer was the Maryland case search which has become the go to for all things court and legal related in Maryland State.
Maryland case search defined
Maryland case search is a website whose main purpose is to provide the public with access to the records of cases in the Maryland judiciary. The Maryland rules on Access to Court Records governs the access to these records. Information provided by Maryland case search reflects the current trends and decisions of the Maryland courts. Case information is immediately entered into the system by the clerk’s office. It is then immediately reflected upon entry. The exception is the Montgomery County Circuit Court which has a 10 minute delay.
The uses of the Maryland judiciary case search
Similar to search engines, the Maryland judiciary case search has vast uses:
1.) Checking court dates
Availing yourself for court when you are needed is very important. It is possible to forget when you have a court hearing and missing such hearings may be held against you as contempt of court. With the Maryland judiciary case search, you can easily find out court dates not just for case you’re involved in but also in those you are interested in.
2.) Seeing how a particular case was solved
Judges have an inclination of following judicial precedence. This means that the verdict of a case may be applied to another relevant case. The Maryland case search can help you identify cases that relate to any ongoing cases you have. The handling of that case may just give you the strategy you need to win your case.
3.) Searching the database for old cases
Whether you are a law student, a lawyer or a curious civilian, old cases are very significant. More than their uniqueness, old cases are generally interesting. The precedents of old cases inform the verdicts of current cases. People can inquire about cases as far back as 1989 some of the criminal and civil cases in the district court. Cases in the circuit court can be accessed as far back as 1997 for both criminal and civil cases. Furthermore, there is now fear of these records being removed because records remain on the case search indefinitely until a court order is given for reasons such as expungement.
4.) Searching potential roommates or employees
The Maryland case search can be used to vet potential roommates or employees. People with records in any case files should be a red flag. When making the decision of who to live with or to employ, keep away from individuals who have had serious encounters with the law. With the Maryland case search, you don’t have to have firsthand experience from such individuals in order to judge their character. The case search is enough for you to be a pretty good judge of character and to make a good decision.
5.) Checking a blind date
Everyone wants to be safe especially in this day and age of blind dates and online dating. Going on a blind date no longer has to be a risky situation that could go south. In previous times, it was practically impossible to determine the genuineness of a blind date before you met them. Some dates could be stalkers or previously convicted felons and this information would only be available when it’s too late. Fortunately, with the Maryland case search, you can find out more about your blind date even before you meet them.
The directory of Maryland case search however prefers that people use the Criminal Justice Information System of the Department of Public safety& Correctional services for any background checks. This department maintains Maryland’s fingerprint-supported criminal identification records and criminal history record information.
6.) Finding attorneys
It is not every day that you may be involved in a court case. However, when you are in a fix and you need to find the best representation, look to the Maryland case search. The Maryland judicial case search gives you a variety of attorneys to choose from whether it is a civil or criminal case. Furthermore, you can check the reputation of the attorney you have settled on to represent you. How often do they win or lose? What is their track record? These are necessary questions that the Maryland case search can help you answer.
7.) Checking civil or criminal cases
The Maryland case search is useful in finding information on civil or criminal cases.
8.) Checking traffic cases
Traffic offences are the most common in every state. Parking tickets or running a red light are some of the common traffic offences. The serious cases could involve driving under the influence or general road accidents. You can access traffic cases from the Maryland case search whether it concerns you or not.
9.) Checking plaintiffs
The Maryland case search can be very useful for lawyers to find out more about plaintiffs. The more a lawyer knows about them, the easier to develop a counter-attack strategy. A defendant also stands to gain from knowing the identity of the plaintiff.
10.) Defendants
Information about defendants is important for both plaintiffs and lawyers to understand who they are up against.
Generally, the Maryland case search gives any interested party access to any necessary information. With the information, people can make informed choices.
11.) Searching appellate opinions
There are several significant cases that have been determined by both the court of appeals and the court of special appeals. All these cases can be accessed from the Maryland case search.
How to use the Maryland case search
When using a search engine like google, you use keywords or specific names to search for what you’re looking for. The search engine is then able to give you results based on the keywords. In the same way, the Maryland case search is significantly useful when you search by name or by case number. A search by name or case number is more effective than a generalized case search which may give you irrelevant results.
Privacy
The idea of Maryland case search is public access to information. However, there are instances when this information needs to be shielded from the public. There are three ways in which court record information can be removed from public inspection which include:
- Shielding certain information in the record
- Sealing a record
- Expunging the record
Why Maryland case search?
- Information provided is truthful
- Maryland case search is simultaneously updated as cases are decided on
- It is transparent
- The case search offers ways to safeguard sensitive information from public inspection through expunging or sealing
- Efficiency
- Faster that going to the court clerks to ask for information related to a case
- Case search gives access of old cases in a quick and easy way
- It’s cheap. You only need a laptop and internet connection since accessing the website is free of charge.
The Downside
The downside to the Maryland case search is that it is not always perfectly accurate. It is for this reason that the site lists a disclaimer about the imperfect nature of the scope of the information, the historical information and the timeliness and reliability of the information.
In other cases, there are usual spelling mistakes when the data is inputted into the system which can give different results that what was intended.
Fortunately, these limitations have not hindered the effectiveness and efficiency of the Maryland case search
Accessing the Maryland case search
The Maryland case search can be accessed from the website.
Maryland is the only state that has been able to effectively create a system where the public can access judicial records. The judicial system has become more efficient and transparent. It is important for all other state judicial systems to adapt a search system as the Maryland Case Search. The Maryland case search is a tool at your disposal for you to get information and make more informed choices. There is still more work to be done in further developing the Maryland case search website and to get rid of all vulnerabilities. The good news is that so far so good. The Maryland case search is headed in the right direction.
