Find Shelby County Court Records Without Searching the Wrong Memphis Court
Shelby County does not use one public database for every court case. Circuit, Chancery, Criminal, General Sessions, Probate and Juvenile records are maintained through different clerk offices and online systems.
The practical way to search is to identify the case type first, open the correct official Shelby County system, locate the case by party name or case number where supported, and then use the clerk or file room when you need documents, certification or an older file.
Choose the Shelby County Court That Actually Holds the Record
A correct name entered into the wrong Shelby County database can still return no results. Start by identifying whether the matter is a higher-level civil case, equity or tax matter, felony prosecution, General Sessions case, probate proceeding, juvenile matter or Tennessee appellate case.
| Court or office | Common record types | Best starting route |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit Court | Civil lawsuits, auto accidents, contracts, personal injury, wrongful death, some divorces, name changes, workers’ compensation and appeals from lower courts. | Circuit Court Case Search ↗ |
| Chancery Court | Divorces filed in Chancery, declaratory judgments, tax-sale cases, arbitration enforcement, mandamus, replevin and other Chancery matters. | Chancery Case Information ↗ |
| General Sessions Civil | Lower-level civil matters, including many civil claims, evictions and related General Sessions cases. | General Sessions Civil Search ↗ |
| General Sessions Criminal | Misdemeanors, felony preliminary hearings, traffic and environmental cases. | General Sessions Court Clerk ↗ |
| Criminal Court | Indicted criminal cases handled through Shelby County Criminal Court. | Criminal Court Clerk ↗ |
| Probate Court | Wills, estates, conservatorships, guardianships, name changes, birth-certificate corrections and judicial hospitalization matters. | Probate Court ↗ |
| Juvenile Court | Juvenile cases and related records maintained by Juvenile Court Central Records. | Contact Juvenile Court when you are legally entitled to access the record. |
| Tennessee appellate courts | Tennessee Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and Court of Criminal Appeals cases. | Tennessee Public Case History ↗ |
How to Search Shelby County TN Court Records by Name
A party-name search is most useful for discovering the case number. Once you identify the correct case, save the full case or docket number because it is the more reliable identifier for documents, clerk requests, court dates and certified copies.
- Identify the type of case. Decide whether you are looking for a Circuit civil case, Chancery matter, General Sessions civil or criminal case, indicted Criminal Court case, Probate proceeding, juvenile record or state appeal.
- Open the matching official Shelby County system. Do not search only one court portal and assume it covers the entire county. Each clerk controls a different group of records.
- Start with the most reliable name. Enter the legal first and last name, or the business name for an organization. Avoid uncertain dates or extra filters on the first attempt.
- Use supported name-search options. Circuit CourtConnect supports exact, partial-last-name and phonetic search methods. Similar CourtConnect-style systems may also provide person, business or case-type searches.
- Review every plausible case. Compare filing date, court, case type, party role, attorneys, case activity and outcome. A matching name alone does not prove that the file belongs to the person you intended to find.
- Save the complete case or docket number. Use that identifier for later docket review, document retrieval, clerk contact, copy ordering or court-date verification.
- Move to the clerk when online access stops. Contact the record-holding clerk if the file is older, confidential, not scanned, absent from the portal or needed as an official certified copy.
Shelby County Circuit Court Records
Shelby County Circuit Court is a general-jurisdiction civil court with nine divisions. Its official site lists matters including appeals from lower courts, auto-accident cases, contracts, condemnation, divorce, medical malpractice, minor settlements, name changes, personal injury, restoration of citizenship, workers’ compensation and wrongful death.
Circuit CourtConnect
The public Case Search routes to Shelby County’s Circuit CourtConnect system. The search help supports person-name, business-name and case-type searching as well as direct case-information lookups.
Circuit Court Clerk
140 Adams Avenue, Room 324, Memphis, TN 38103
Phone: 901-222-3800
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Useful Circuit CourtConnect search controls
The court’s search help includes two useful options when an exact surname produces too many or too few results.
- Partial last name: allows the search to begin with only part of a surname and return names that continue from that text.
- Phonetic search: can return differently spelled names that sound similar.
- Case ID: use the specific case identifier when you already know it instead of continuing broad name searches.
Shelby County Chancery Court Records
Chancery Court maintains a separate public case-information system. The official search supports searches by person name, business name or case type, a judgment search against a person or business, and direct case-information/activity display.
Chancery CourtConnect
Use this system for Chancery matters rather than assuming the Circuit database also covers Chancery filings.
Chancery Court Clerk’s Office
140 Adams Avenue, Room 308, Memphis, TN 38103
Main phone: 901-222-3900
The current phone menu directs callers to Option 2 for research and copies of records.
Chancery Court’s current site lists matters including declaratory judgments, delinquent tax sales, divorces, enforcement of arbitration awards, habeas corpus, mandamus, public nuisances, removal of public officers, replevin, usury and workers’ compensation.
General Sessions Civil and Criminal Records
Shelby County General Sessions Court has separate Civil and Criminal divisions. The clerk’s official site states that the office maintains the records and funds for both divisions.
General Sessions Civil
The official public inquiry system supports person-name, business-name and case-type searches, judgment searches, and direct case-information/activity display.
General Sessions Criminal
This division handles misdemeanors, preliminary hearings on felonies, traffic matters and environmental cases. Start with the General Sessions Court Clerk’s criminal resources and court-date tools.
Where the divisions are located
Civil: 140 Adams Avenue, Room 106, Memphis, TN 38103 — 901-222-3400.
Criminal: 201 Poplar Avenue, Suite LL-81, Memphis, TN 38103 — 901-222-3500.
The current General Sessions website lists office hours of 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday for the main Civil and Criminal divisions.
Shelby County Criminal Court Records and the CJS Route
Criminal Court records are separate from Circuit civil records. The Criminal Court Clerk’s office is located at the Walter L. Bailey Jr. Criminal Justice Center and provides case-status and record-request assistance.
Criminal Court Clerk
201 Poplar Avenue, Suite 3034, Memphis, TN 38103
Main phone: 901-222-3200
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Case status and record requests
The current Criminal Court FAQ lists 901-222-3376 for Criminal Court case-status information and Criminal Court case-record requests.
The Criminal Court’s current instructions say that when a user does not know the required criminal case identifiers, the Shelby County CJS portal can be used to search for case information. Registration and sign-in may be required before accessing case-search functions.
Shelby County Probate Court Records
Probate is one of the most useful Shelby County systems for date-specific search guidance. The official Probate Court FAQ says its online database reaches back to 1970, but users must choose between two case-information systems depending on when the file closed.
| Probate file | Official search route | Important detail |
|---|---|---|
| Closed before September 30, 2013 | Older Probate Case Information | Use the older Case Information search for these files. |
| Open or closed on/after October 1, 2013 | Case Information II / newer Probate search | Use the newer database for current and later files. |
| Need scanned documents | View Documents | You need the docket number first. |
How the Probate document search works
- Search by name in the correct Probate Case Information database if you do not know the docket number.
- Copy the docket number from the matching case.
- Open the Probate Court’s View Documents tool.
- Enter the docket number in the required eight-character format, adding leading zeroes when needed.
The court gives examples such as entering A-1111 as A0001111 and PR-1111 as PR001111.
Probate Court is located at 140 Adams Avenue, Room 124, Memphis, TN 38103. The clerk’s office lists Monday-Friday hours of 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and the main number 901-222-3750.
Shelby County Juvenile Court Records Are Not an Ordinary Public Name Search
The Shelby County Juvenile Court Clerk’s Central Records Department maintains Juvenile Court filings and dockets. However, Shelby County’s current FAQ states that juvenile cases and records are confidential and are available only to people directly involved in the case.
Central Records is located at 616 Adams Avenue, Room 161, Memphis. The department handles court dockets and legal records and assists authorized court users and members of the public where access is legally permitted.
Search Tennessee Appeals Separately
If a Shelby County case was appealed, the appeal receives its own appellate record. Tennessee Public Case History searches Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and Court of Criminal Appeals matters statewide.
The official system supports searches by:
- appellate case number;
- case style;
- party name; or
- business or organization name.
The appellate case page can identify the originating Shelby County trial court and trial-court number. Use that information to return to the correct local clerk when you need the original trial file rather than only the appellate docket.
Copies, Certified Records and Shelby County File Rooms
Finding a case online does not automatically give you the document you need. Identify the exact judgment, order, decree, complaint or other filing before requesting copies from the clerk.
| Request | Verified local information | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit / Chancery plain copy | $0.50 per page | Provide the case number and exact document when possible. |
| Circuit / Chancery certified copy | $5.00 plus $0.50 per page | Use this when the recipient specifically requires clerk certification. |
| Probate printed copy | $0.50 per page | Contact Probate Court for the exact document and any certification requirement. |
| Other Shelby County courts | Fees can differ | Confirm the current fee directly with the clerk holding the file. |
Circuit and Chancery shared file room
Shelby County directs Circuit and Chancery civil-record and divorce-copy users to the courthouse file room at 140 Adams Avenue, Room B48. Circuit’s file-room phone is 901-222-3808; Chancery’s main number is 901-222-3900.
Older Shelby County Court Records and Archives
Older cases may not appear in the current electronic systems. Shelby County Archives preserves permanent historical county records and specifically identifies Chancery Court, Circuit Court and Criminal Court records among its holdings.
The County Archives facility is listed at 980A Nixon Drive, Memphis, TN 38134. Start with the current court clerk before going to Archives so you can confirm whether the file has actually been transferred.
Older divorce files
Shelby County’s current divorce-copy instructions state that divorces from before 1999 must be retrieved from Archives before the clerk can provide the final copy cost. Archives itself cannot issue a certified divorce copy, so certification still needs to come through the appropriate court clerk.
- Search Circuit and Chancery online if the case may fall within available electronic coverage.
- Contact the appropriate court file room when no online result appears.
- Provide names and an approximate year so staff can determine where the file is stored.
- If the file has been transferred, follow the clerk’s Archives instructions.
- Return to the clerk when a certified copy is required.
Which Shelby County Court Records Are Public?
Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 34 states that the public has a right to inspect court public records unless an applicable statute, court rule, protective order, sealing order or other legal exception restricts access.
Rule 34 recognizes case records, administrative records and judicial records, but it also identifies categories that are not open to the public. These include records expressly protected by Tennessee law, records sealed or protected by court order, unpublished judicial drafts and certain internal judicial materials.
Ordinary case information
Many civil and criminal case indexes, docket entries, judgments and filed documents can be public when no legal restriction applies.
Not everything is public
Juvenile files, sealed records, expunged matters and documents protected by statute, rule or court order may be unavailable or available only to authorized people.
No Shelby County Court Record Appears? Check These Problems in Order
Wrong court
A Circuit search will not necessarily find a Chancery, General Sessions, Probate or Criminal Court case.
Name indexed differently
Try the legal surname without an uncertain middle name, then test former names, initials, alternate spellings or supported phonetic search.
Older file
The record may predate current electronic coverage and require the file room or Shelby County Archives.
Restricted file
A juvenile, sealed, expunged or otherwise confidential record may not be publicly searchable.
Appeal searched locally
Tennessee appellate cases use Public Case History rather than a Shelby County trial-court portal.
Federal case
A federal civil, criminal, bankruptcy or appellate matter belongs in the federal PACER system, not a Shelby County state-court database.
Recovery checklist
- Confirm whether the case is civil, criminal, probate, juvenile or appellate.
- Confirm Circuit versus Chancery for civil and divorce matters.
- Try the official name-search system with fewer filters.
- Use partial or phonetic search only where the system supports it.
- Search a business name when the party is an organization.
- Use the full case number when any paperwork provides it.
- Check General Sessions separately from Circuit and Criminal Court.
- For Probate, use the database that matches the case’s date range.
- Check Tennessee Public Case History for an appeal.
- Contact the clerk or file room for older, offline or copy-only records.
Shelby County Court Clerk Contact Quick Reference
| Office | Address | Phone | Useful purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Circuit Court Clerk | 140 Adams Ave., Room 324, Memphis, TN 38103 | 901-222-3800 | Circuit civil cases; file room 901-222-3808 |
| Chancery Court Clerk & Master | 140 Adams Ave., Room 308, Memphis, TN 38103 | 901-222-3900 | Chancery cases, civil records and Chancery divorce files |
| Criminal Court Clerk | 201 Poplar Ave., Suite 3034, Memphis, TN 38103 | 901-222-3200 | Indicted Criminal Court cases; records/status 901-222-3376 |
| General Sessions Civil | 140 Adams Ave., Room 106, Memphis, TN 38103 | 901-222-3400 | General Sessions civil cases and case inquiries |
| General Sessions Criminal | 201 Poplar Ave., Suite LL-81, Memphis, TN 38103 | 901-222-3500 | Misdemeanor, preliminary-hearing, traffic and related cases |
| Probate Court Clerk | 140 Adams Ave., Room 124, Memphis, TN 38103 | 901-222-3750 | Probate case search, estates, wills and related records |
| Juvenile Central Records | 616 Adams Ave., Room 161, Memphis, TN | 901-222-0554 | Restricted Juvenile Court records for authorized access |
Frequently Asked Questions About Shelby County TN Court Records
Is there one Shelby County court records search for every case?
No. Shelby County uses separate systems and clerk offices for Circuit, Chancery, Criminal, General Sessions, Probate and Juvenile matters. Tennessee appellate cases use the statewide Public Case History system.
Can I search Shelby County Circuit Court records by name?
Yes. Shelby County Circuit CourtConnect provides public case-search functions. Its search help includes person-name searches and supports options such as partial-last-name and phonetic searching.
Where do I search Shelby County Chancery Court cases?
Use the separate Shelby County Chancery Court Case Information system. It supports searches by person name, business name or case type and can display case information and activities.
How do I search General Sessions civil cases?
Use the General Sessions Civil public inquiry system. It supports person-name, business-name and case-type searching as well as direct case-information lookups.
How do I find a Shelby County criminal court case?
Start with the Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk or General Sessions Criminal division depending on the case level. Criminal Court’s current guidance directs users who do not know their criminal case identifiers to the Shelby County CJS case-information route, where registration or sign-in may be required.
How far back does Shelby County Probate Court’s online search go?
The Probate Court FAQ says the online database goes back to 1970. Use the older Case Information search for files closed before September 30, 2013 and the newer search for open files or cases closed on or after October 1, 2013.
Can I view Shelby County Probate documents online?
Many scanned Probate documents can be viewed after you identify the docket number and enter it in the required format. Sealed documents are not available, and the court states that wills must be ordered separately rather than viewed through the website.
How much are Shelby County Circuit or Chancery court-record copies?
The county’s current civil-record copy page lists non-certified copies at $0.50 per page and certified copies at $5 plus $0.50 per page. Confirm the current total with the clerk before ordering because another court or special request can use different fees.
Where can I find older Shelby County court records?
Start with the current court clerk. Older Circuit, Chancery and Criminal Court records may be held by Shelby County Archives. Divorces before 1999 may require Archives retrieval before the clerk can provide a final copy cost.
Are Shelby County juvenile court records public?
Shelby County’s Juvenile Court FAQ states that juvenile cases and records are confidential and available only to those directly involved in the case. Contact Juvenile Court when you have a lawful basis for access.
Where do I search a Shelby County case that was appealed?
Use Tennessee Public Case History for Tennessee Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and Court of Criminal Appeals matters. The appellate record may show the Shelby County trial court and original trial-court number.
Does no online result mean there is no Shelby County case?
No. The wrong court may have been searched, the name may be indexed differently, the case may predate online coverage, the file may be archived, or public access may be restricted. Confirm the record-holding court with the appropriate clerk before concluding that no case exists.
Official Sources Used for This Shelby County Court Records Guide
The record-holding court or clerk controls current case-search coverage, copy procedures, access restrictions, office information and fees. The primary official resources reviewed for this page include:
- Shelby County Circuit Court
- Circuit Court Case Search
- Circuit CourtConnect Search Help
- Shelby County Chancery Court
- Chancery Case Information
- Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk
- General Sessions Civil Case Inquiry
- Shelby County Criminal Court
- Shelby County Probate Court
- Probate Document Search Instructions
- Juvenile Court Central Records
- Circuit / Chancery Copies of Public Records
- Shelby County Register of Deeds / Archives
- Tennessee Public Case History
- Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 34
Court portals, clerk contacts, office procedures, copy fees and online coverage can change. Follow the current instruction from the court or clerk holding the file when it differs from this guide.