Kent County, DE Courts and Public Records

Kent County is Delaware's least populous county, with 181,851 residents in the 2020 Census, and Dover is the county seat. Most state court business for the county runs through the Kent County Courthouse at 414 Federal Street in Dover, which houses the Superior Court, Court of Common Pleas, Court of Chancery, Justice of the Peace Court 16, the Prothonotary, and the Law Library. Family Court has its own courthouse on South Governors Avenue in Dover, and Justice of the Peace Courts 6 and 7 are in Harrington and Dover.

Public records for Kent County cases are available through the statewide online tools listed on this page, such as Civil Case Search and Legal Notices, and through in-person requests at each court. Family Court files cannot be viewed electronically, so those records require an appointment at the Family Court records department.

Have the full name, the case number if you know it, and approximate dates ready before you search. Each court keeps its own records, so know which court holds your case.

Kent County courts reported 1,895 Superior Court filings in fiscal year 2025, which runs from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. Total filings rose 5.5% from 1,796 in fiscal year 2024, with the Court of Common Pleas and Family Court also growing and the Justice of the Peace civil docket rising the fastest.

Superior Court criminal filings rose from 639 to 733, while civil filings were nearly flat (1,157 to 1,162). In the Court of Common Pleas, filings climbed 16.0% while dispositions fell 6.0%, so filings outpaced dispositions that year.

Kent County Superior Court filings have moved up and down over five fiscal years, ending FY 2025 about 9.7% above FY 2021. Dispositions ran ahead of filings in three of the five years, and trailed them in FY 2021 and FY 2025.

Total filings rose 9.7% between FY 2021 and FY 2025, from 1,727 to 1,895. The sharpest drop came in FY 2021, when filings fell 22.0% from 2,213 in FY 2020, and the sharpest one-year decline since then was the 8.7% drop in FY 2024. Statewide Superior Court filings rose 21.4% over the same five years, so Kent County grew more slowly than the state as a whole.

Superior Court civil filings in Kent County are mostly complaints and miscellaneous matters, while Justice of the Peace civil filings are dominated by complaints. Family Court civil filings are led by expungements and protection-from-abuse petitions.

Justice of the Peace criminal and traffic defendants in Kent County are concentrated in Court 7 in Dover, which handled 18,267 of the 23,276 defendants, while Court 6 in Harrington handled 3,597 and Court 8 in Smyrna handled 1,412.

Kent County accounted for 12.2% of the 15,530 Superior Court filings statewide in FY 2025, while holding about 18.4% of the state's 2020 Census population of 989,948. Its Superior Court caseload per resident is lower than the state average, and its Superior Court docket is more criminal-heavy than the state's.

Kent County's share of statewide activity is well above its 18.4% population share in the Court of Common Pleas (26.9% of 101,082 filings), Family Court (21.5% of 45,140 filings), and Justice of the Peace civil docket (32.5% of 41,902 filings). Per-resident figures use 2020 Census populations of 181,851 for Kent County and 989,948 for Delaware.

These figures combine offenses reported to the FBI by the 17 agencies in Kent County that submitted a full 12 months of data in both 2024 and 2025. Reported offenses across the seven categories below fell 5.1%, from 4,342 in 2024 to 4,122 in 2025, while the state total fell 8.7%.

Kent County's 2025 violent crime rate of about 377.2 per 100K is about 0.5% below the statewide rate of about 379.1, while its property crime rate of about 1,889.5 per 100K is about 11.9% above the statewide rate of about 1,688.5. Covered agencies include the Dover, Camden, Clayton, Felton, Cheswold, Harrington, Wyoming, and Viola police departments, State Police: Kent County, State Capitol Police, Delaware State University, and several state agencies. Frederica and Kenton police departments, the Attorney General's Kent County office, and the Smyrna and Milford departments (which also serve other counties) are excluded because their reporting was incomplete or shared.

Kent County court locations are mostly in Dover, with one Justice of the Peace court in Harrington. Check your notice, citation, or case number for the assigned court before you go. Delaware State Courts are closed Tuesday, November 3, 2026 for Election Day, but Justice of the Peace Court 7 will remain open 24 hours. Justice of the Peace Court 8 in Smyrna is not listed because the Delaware Courts site both lists its regular hours and says its business may be handled at Court 7, so confirm its status before going.

Kent County cases are divided among the Superior Court, Court of Common Pleas, Family Court, Court of Chancery, and Justice of the Peace Courts, so the right court depends on the charge, the amount in dispute, and the type of case. Federal cases are filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington.

Most Kent County court records are open to the public, but some are restricted by law or court order. Civil case information is searchable online, while Family Court files are not available electronically and must be reviewed at the Family Court records department by appointment.

Public records. Civil case information from the Superior Court and Court of Common Pleas is searchable through Civil Case Search, and the Prothonotary and court offices handle requests for documents in person.

Restricted or limited records. Family Court files cannot be accessed electronically, and juvenile and sealed matters are restricted by law. Ask the court before requesting a file you are not sure is public.

Requests. Bring the case number, party names, and approximate dates. Staff can explain which records are open.

Use the official Delaware Courts online tools to search Kent County cases by case type, and call or visit the court that holds the case for documents that are not online.

1. Identify the case type and court, such as Superior Court (felony and civil), Court of Common Pleas (misdemeanor and civil), Family Court (divorce, custody, child support, and protection from abuse), or a Justice of the Peace Court (traffic, criminal, or civil).
2. Open Civil Case Search for civil case information by name, business name, or case type, available 24 hours a day.
3. For Family Court, open the Family Court page to check the Legal Notices search, then call 302-672-1000 for case information.
4. Record the case number and the court's phone number from the results.
5. For documents that are not online, contact the court by phone or visit the Prothonotary in Room 140 at the Kent County Courthouse.

Kent County fines and citations are paid through the court that issued them. Online payment is available for many fines, and traffic tickets have their own payment page.

1. ePayment for Fines (online or by phone): Use the ePayment for Fines page, or call to pay by phone 24 hours a day without a case number, through the automated payment system.
2. Pay Traffic Ticket: Use the Pay Traffic Ticket page for citations issued in Delaware.
3. In person at Justice of the Peace Court 16 (Dover): Visit Room 173 at 414 Federal Street between 8:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. Cash and credit cards are not accepted after 3:30 p.m.
4. In person at Justice of the Peace Court 6 (Harrington) or 7 (Dover): Cash is not accepted at Court 6 after 3:30 p.m. Court 7 is open seven days a week from 6:00 a.m. to midnight.
5. By email: The Justice of the Peace courts in Kent County do not accept credit card payments sent by email.

Confirm the amount and the payment method with the court before you go, since payment rules differ by court.