Are Court Transcripts Public Record: Access, Availability & Online Removal

What Are Court Transcripts?

Court transcripts are verbatim written records of spoken proceedings - testimony, arguments, rulings, and exchanges - prepared by certified court reporters. They are distinct from other court records: dockets list what happened, transcripts record exactly what was said. Key types include: For more information, visit the US Courts.

• Trial transcripts: The complete record of testimony and arguments at trial
• Deposition transcripts: Out-of-court sworn testimony (often sealed in civil cases)
• Hearing transcripts: Records of pretrial, sentencing, and motion hearings
• Grand jury transcripts: Almost always sealed and not publicly available

Are Court Transcripts Public Record?

Yes, with important exceptions. In federal and most state courts, transcripts of open court proceedings are public record - but they are not automatically posted online. To obtain a transcript, you typically must: For more information, visit the PACER.

• Request it through the court clerk or court reporter
• Pay a per-page fee (typically $0.90 to $3.65 per page for federal transcripts, varying by state)
• Wait for the transcript to be prepared (from days to weeks depending on the case)

Exceptions - transcripts that are not public:

• Grand jury proceedings (sealed by law)
• In-camera (private) hearings where the judge cleared the courtroom
• Sealed proceedings in whole or in part
• Deposition transcripts in civil cases (often designated confidential)
• Juvenile proceedings and family court matters (typically sealed)

How Do Court Transcripts End Up Online?

Court transcripts rarely appear online automatically. They typically reach the internet through: Learn more about court record removal on our blog.

• News organizations: High-profile criminal and civil cases - especially celebrity, political, or corporate cases - often result in journalists obtaining and publishing transcripts
• Parties publishing them: Litigants or their attorneys sometimes publish transcripts to support public narratives
• PACER/CourtListener: In federal cases, transcripts may be uploaded to the court's PACER docket and subsequently indexed by CourtListener
• Court websites: Some courts post transcripts of particularly significant proceedings

Removing Court Transcripts from the Internet

If a court transcript appears online, removal options depend on the source. For transcripts on news websites, standard copyright and publication law generally protects the site's right to publish publicly available court records - direct removal is an advanced category that needs deeper analysis and may still be possible through publisher outreach. For transcripts on PACER/CourtListener, a sealing order is required before a de-indexing request will be honored. For data broker sites that have included transcript excerpts, standard opt-out processes may help. Google de-indexing can be requested for pages displaying sealed or expunged records. Learn more about background check reports on our blog.