Nevada Judiciary

The Nevada Supreme Court has taken a major step in increasing public access by opening the electronic files of its case to the public.

 All Supreme Court case documents, with rare exceptions, can now be accessed through the court’s website, announced Tracie Lindeman, Clerk of the Court.  Nevada is one of only a few appellate courts nationally to offer such access to case records at no cost.

 The process to open a public portal represents the latest milestone in a series of projects undertaken by the Supreme Court in order to achieve greater efficiencies in case processing and improve access to public documents.  In 2008, the Supreme Court began developing and installing its new case management system.  The public portal was part of that project from the beginning. 

 Prior to the development of the new case management system, the court had implemented a system to allow attorneys to file cases electronically rather than in hard copy.  Those cases could be viewed and shared by parties to the cases.  But an expansion of the case management system now allows the public to view the case files. 

 “Suddenly all cases are public,” Ms. Lindeman said.  “All a viewer needs is an Internet connection to the website with a computer that has the ability to read a PDF file.”

 “This is an example of the Nevada Supreme Court’s continued commitment to openness, transparency, and public access,” said Chief Justice Michael Douglas.  “During recent years, the Nevada Judiciary has become a national leader in the use of technology to open the doors of justice to those who need and use the services of our legal system.”

“Our justices are all proud of this accomplishment,” Chief Justice Douglas said.  “We are one of the very few appellate courts in the country that provides this access to the court’s files.”

 Ms. Lindeman said court files have always been public records available to anyone, but those who wanted to view them had to go to the clerk’s office at the Supreme Court in Carson City or make a request by telephone or email.

 “The opening of the public portal is a huge innovative step forward,” Ms. Lindeman said.  “This is a visionary thing the Supreme Court justices have done.”

 On the right side of the home page of the Supreme Court website (www.nevadajudiciary.us) is a box labeled “Supreme Court Cases” with a subheading of “Case Search.”  After clicking on the “Case Search” link, a viewer can access a file by typing in the name of a party or the case number.