Tennessee Court Records: How to Search, What's Public, and How to Seal Them (2026)

Tennessee does not run a single website where you can search every court case in the state. What exists instead is a patchwork: an appellate-only state tool, and a set of county systems that vary widely in what they cover and what they charge. This guide walks through what is actually searchable, county by county, and where Tennessee's own tools stop short.

Information last verified on 2026-08-10. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Tennessee Has No Statewide Trial Court Search Tool

The Administrative Office of the Courts publishes Public Case History (PCH) as its official online case-lookup tool, and its scope is narrower than the name might suggest. PCH identifies itself on-page as an "Appellate Case Search," and its sample case numbers follow an appellate citation format, both of which confirm that PCH covers appeals-level cases only. Tennessee's appellate courts are the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, and the Court of Criminal Appeals, though PCH's own page does not itemize which of these a given result belongs to. If you are looking for a trial-court record, a General Sessions case, a Circuit Court filing, or a criminal case at the county level, PCH will not have it. There is no statewide substitute.

That gap is why Tennessee court records access is, in practice, a county-by-county exercise. Two of the state's largest counties have built their own tools; most others have not.

Davidson County (Nashville): CaseSearch and CaseLink

The Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk's office describes its free CaseSearch tool plainly: it "is a platform designed for searching filed case information based on parties' names." Through CaseSearch, the public can access details related to cases in "General Sessions - Civil Court, Circuit Court, and Probate Court, with the exclusion of images," meaning you get docket and party information but not the underlying filed documents.

For fuller, 24/7 access to those same case types, Davidson County also offers CaseLink, a subscription service priced at $25.00 per month. CaseLink is the paid upgrade for anyone who needs regular or ongoing access rather than an occasional lookup.

Shelby County (Memphis): CourtConnect

Shelby County runs a separate system, CourtConnect, for Circuit Court records. The Shelby County Circuit Court Clerk's office confirms the tool's existence and purpose on its official site, though the search portal itself sits on a subdomain that is not always reachable directly. If you cannot get the search tool to load, contact the Circuit Court Clerk's office for Shelby County directly rather than assuming the records do not exist online.

Every Other County: Contact the Clerk Directly

Outside Davidson and Shelby counties, Tennessee generally has no dedicated online case-search tool at the county level. For a case filed anywhere else in the state, or for a trial-level criminal record in general, the reliable path is contacting the clerk of the court where the case was filed, by phone or in person, with the party's full name and, where possible, a case number or date of birth. Some clerks maintain limited public terminals for in-person lookups; availability varies by county and was not itemized here, so confirm directly with the clerk's office you are contacting.

Sealing Your Record: Expungement in Tennessee

Tennessee's expungement law sits in Tennessee Code Annotated Title 40, Chapter 32. Tennessee's own courts have signaled that this chapter was being reorganized around 2025, which means a specific subsection cited in an older source may no longer match the current numbering. Rather than guess at a renumbered section, confirm the current citation and eligibility details with the clerk of the convicting court or a Tennessee attorney. For a full walkthrough of who qualifies and how the process works, see the Tennessee expungement laws guide.

Certified Copies and Courthouse Access

Because Tennessee's court clerks operate at the county level, certified-copy fees and whether a courthouse offers in-person terminal access both vary by county. Contact the clerk of the court where the case was filed to confirm current fees and options before making a trip or a request.

Using Tennessee Court Records the Right Way

These tools are built for checking your own case or verifying information about a matter you are personally involved in, not for compiling background information on someone else. If a court record is being used to screen a job applicant or tenant, that use falls under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act rather than any of the portals described here. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c, records of criminal convictions are exempt from the standard seven-year reporting limit and can be reported indefinitely unless Tennessee has expunged them. Given how fragmented Tennessee's county systems are, treat a blank search result with caution. It may mean there is no record, or it may mean you searched the wrong county's system.

Related Resources

Court Records by State covers the full 50-state picture. See also How to Look Up Court Records, Are Court Records Public?, Tennessee Expungement Laws, Tennessee Background Check Laws, Tennessee Warrant Search, and Tennessee Public Records Laws.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about how Tennessee's court record tools are organized. It is not legal advice. County systems, fees, and statute numbering change; verify current details with the relevant court clerk or a Tennessee attorney before relying on anything here for a specific situation.

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Last updated: 2026-08-10. Portal facts and fees reflect their published status as of August 2026.