Search Delaware Public Records - Free Government Databases
Free links to official Delaware state and county government records — courts, criminal histories, vital records, property, voter, business, and licenses across all 3 counties.
How to Search Delaware Public Records
Delaware's court, criminal, vital, property, voter, and licensing records are maintained across state agencies and the 3 counties listed below. Use the tabs to filter by record type, or jump directly to any source.
Courts: The Delaware Supreme Court sits at the top of the system; trial-court business is handled by the Superior Court, Court of Common Pleas, Family Court, Justice of the Peace Court. Most courts publish dockets and case lookups online.
Criminal history: Official background checks run through the Delaware State Police (DSP) - State Bureau of Identification; the Delaware criminal records page covers the current fee and request process.
Vital records: Birth, death, marriage, and divorce certificates are issued by the Delaware Division of Public Health and may also be available locally.
Property & recorded documents: Maintained at the county level by the Assessor, Recorder, or Clerk's office.
Business filings: the Delaware Division of Corporations operates the official business-entity search.
Population
1,051,917
Households
402,038
Median Income
$81,361
Median Home Value
$352,000
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2024 Population Estimates Program; 2022 ACS 5-year)
Delaware Public Records at a Glance
Delaware has three counties, and for most searches you will not need them. Courts run on a statewide system — CourtConnect covers the major trial courts, detailed on the Delaware court records page. The State Bureau of Identification within the State Police issues official criminal history reports, generally to the person of record and authorized employers rather than the public at large. Birth and death certificates come from the Division of Public Health. The counties matter for land: each Recorder of Deeds office maintains its own index, and New Castle County's reaches back to colonial-era records. Business filings are a special case here — Delaware's Division of Corporations registers more than a million entities, most with no other tie to the state.
Official Databases
57
County Pages
3
Record Categories
8
Directory Since
1997
Figures reflect sources indexed in this directory and the latest official reports. Content reviewed July 30, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Delaware Guides
Step-by-step pages for the searches people actually run:
Opinions and orders from all Delaware courts — Supreme, Chancery, Superior, and the rest — searchable by court, judge, or date. Chancery opinions here drive much of American corporate law.
Search U.S. District Court of Delaware Federal bankruptcy court records by case number, party name, filing date, or last update. Note: PACER charges $0.10/page; the first $30 per quarter is free.
Search U.S. District Court of Delaware Federal civil & criminal court records by case number, party name, filing date, or last update. Note: PACER charges $0.10/page; the first $30 per quarter is free.
Custody status for people held in Delaware facilities, with optional alerts when an offender is moved or released. Run by the state through the national VINE network.
Provided by the Sussex County Sheriff Department. Browse by name and photo for most wanted criminals & view information including physical description, age, and charges.
Document search for the New Castle County Recorder of Deeds — deeds, mortgages, and liens for Delaware's most populous county, with images for recent decades.
Delaware keeps public records at three levels: federal (FBI, federal courts via PACER), state (court of last resort, state police, department of health, secretary of state), and county-level (sheriffs, clerks, recorders, assessors). Each county maintains its own court, criminal-justice, property, and vital-records offices linked from the county pages below.
Where do I start a Delaware court-case search?▼
For statewide trial-court information, start at the Delaware Judiciary: courts.delaware.gov. Delaware federal cases are searched through PACER. For local case dockets, see the Court Records tab and the county page for your area.
How do I get an official Delaware background check?▼
Delaware's official statewide criminal-history check is run by the Delaware State Police (DSP) - State Bureau of Identification at dsp.delaware.gov. Most state-level checks require fingerprints and a fee. A nationwide FBI Identity History Summary is available separately.
Where do I obtain Delaware birth, death, or marriage certificates?▼
Certified Delaware vital records are issued by the Official Delaware Vital Records at dhss.delaware.gov. Recent local events (births, deaths, marriages) can often also be requested from the county clerk or local registrar where the event was filed.
What does it cost to access Delaware public records?▼
Most online record indexes in Delaware are free to search; fees apply for certified copies, fingerprint background checks, full document images at the recorder, and statewide bulk data. Each agency publishes its current fee schedule — for example the Delaware Judiciary (courts), the Official Delaware Vital Records (vital records), the Official Delaware Voter Records (elections), and the Official Delaware Professional & Occupational Licenses (licenses).
