A docket for a case usually notes all of the proceedings filed by any party or by the court in a case. The list of all of the proceedings is referred to as a docket sheet. These proceedings may include, for example, the filing of a complaint or motion or an order by the judge. Documents are often associated with these proceedings, but sometimes documents may not be available online, either for privacy reasons or because they simply haave not been made available online by the court.
Docket number
Once the case is filed, the court assigns the proceeding a number, called a docket number. While exact docket number practices may vary from court to court, the docket number usually contains some identifying information about the court, the year the case was filed, and whether the case is civil or criminal. For example, Docket No. 1:20-cr-00613 shows that the case originally began in 2020 (the number 20), is a criminal law case (the "cr" indicates criminal, while "cv" indicates civil"), and it was the 613th case filed in that court for that year. Sometimes, there will be initials following the numbers, which usually indicate the judge the case was assigned to.
Federal Dockets: PACER/Bloomberg Law
Most federal courts add their dockets to what is called PACER ("Public Access to Court Electronic Records"). Bloomberg Law pulls all of the dockets from PACER, and makes them easier to find and search. As a law student, you have access to Bloomberg Law, so there is no reason for you to use PACER as a law student. If you need help setting up a Bloomberg Law account, email lawref@colorado.edu. To see more information on using Bloomberg Law dockets, watch the video below.
State Dockets:
There is no single platform similar to Bloomberg Law for state dockets. However, there are many state dockets available on Trellis. Trellis covers 45 state trial court dockets.
The law library subscribes to some databases with historical federal dockets coverage. Gale's Landmark Records of the U.S. Courts of Appeals contains docket materials from signfiicant historical U.S. Courts of Appeals cases from 1891-1980, while ProQuest's Supreme Court Insights contains docket materials from 1899 to the present.
Of course, if you are having trouble navigating these databases or finding docket materials don't hestitate to ask a librarian!
Trellis is a good resource for searching state court trial dockets, including Colorado (Trellis currently covers all the district courts for Colorado, but does not have other courts like county or water courts). Trellis covers 45 states. Docket pages are searchable from 2005-2025. Documents are searchable if they are attached to the docket. At the minimum,complaints/petitions should be searchable for the past few years for all 45 states.
Read about searching in Trellis here and watch Trellis search video tutorials here.
The Colorado Supreme Court Library manages the state's remote public access terminal (RPAT). The database has very limited search functionality, but you can search by party name or docket number. Because Trellis has state trial court dockets, you would probably only use RPAT to find filings for Colorado Court of Appeals and Supreme Court cases. You can request an RPAT account by emailing the state Supreme Court library at library@judicial.state.co.us. You will need to submit a form for the initial account, and you will need to resubmit/reactivate the account every 90 days.