Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Erie County, New York, has about 951,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Its court cases are filed in the Erie County Supreme and County Courts and the city, town and village courts, and the file of each case, kept by the County Clerk, is the public record of it. This guide says which court hears what, where to look a case up and who keeps the files.
This guide covers the courts, the records page, criminal cases, kinds of files, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Erie County public records, Erie County arrest records, Erie County warrants, Erie County inmate search, Erie County criminal records, New York arrest records and New York inmate search.
The Courts That Hear Cases from Erie County
Court cases from Erie County are filed in the Erie County Supreme and County Courts, which hear divorces and major civil cases in the Supreme Court, felonies in the County Court.
The city, town and village courts take misdemeanors, traffic cases and small claims.
Divorces go to the Supreme Court, and the file stays with the County Clerk.
The County Clerk keeps the files, and a copy of anything in a file comes from that office, under the court's own rules rather than the Freedom of Information Law.
Looking Up a Case from Erie County
For Erie County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at www4.erie.gov/clerk/court-recordsfiling (page title: Court Records/Filing | Erie County Clerk Michael P. Kearns), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Statewide, eCourts is the Unified Court System's free online case search (WebCivil, WebCrims and WebFamily).
The New York court page SearchSystems verified is at iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/CaseSearch.
What Reaches the Court from Erie County
Together, the 19 agencies in Erie County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 17,041 arrests to the FBI that year; the District Attorney decides which of those arrests become cases in the Erie County Supreme and County Courts or the city, town and village courts.
The District Attorney's page SearchSystems verified is at www4.erie.gov/da (page title: Erie County District Attorney's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Kinds of Court Files
Criminal cases, divorces, traffic tickets and evictions all end up as files of these courts, and the file is what the public sees of each.
The other Erie County guides take the kinds of file one at a time: Erie County criminal records, Erie County divorce records, Erie County traffic tickets, Erie County DUI and Erie County property records.
Cities in Erie County
Wherever in the county a case arises, it is filed in the Erie County Supreme and County Courts or the city, town and village courts.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Erie County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own court records guide opens there:
- Buffalo (276,617)
- Lackawanna (19,629)
- Tonawanda (14,984)
- Kenmore (14,936)
- Depew (14,910)
- Lancaster (10,094)
- Hamburg (9,835)
- East Aurora (5,986)
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I look up a court case in Erie County?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at www4.erie.gov/clerk/court-recordsfiling. Statewide, eCourts is the Unified Court System's free online case search (WebCivil, WebCrims and WebFamily).
Which court hears felonies in Erie County?
The Erie County Supreme and County Courts, which hear divorces and major civil cases in the Supreme Court, felonies in the County Court. The city, town and village courts take misdemeanors, traffic cases and small claims.
Who keeps the court records in Erie County?
The County Clerk. Copies come from that office under the court's own rules.
Is there a statewide court case search in New York?
Yes: eCourts, the Unified Court System's free online case search (WebCivil, WebCrims and WebFamily).
Is this the official Erie County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.