National Archives and Records Administration (FRC)
https://www.archives.gov/research/court-records/archives.html
The National Archives and Records Administration operates a system of Federal Records Centers (FRCs) for the economical storage of and services on noncurrent records for federal agencies, pending their deposit in the National Archives of the United States or other disposition authorized by law. Noncurrent records are defined as records that are no longer required in the conduct of current agency business. This government-wide program is authorized by 44 USC §§2907 and 3103. NARA has three divisions: Presidential Libraries, the Archives, and Record Centers.
The FRC handles modern, temporary records from government agencies. Their primary job is storing and providing reference to records for government agencies. The FRC holds records but does not own them. The records are still the property of the agency that sent them. The FRC – Boston provides services to federal agencies and U.S. Courts in the New England region. The New England region consists of the following states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The Clerk's Office generally send case files to the Federal Records Center (FRC) in Waltham, MA, after they have been closed for at least two years.
To determine if a file is at the FRC or still in one of the Clerk's Offices in the District of Connecticut, access PACER or CM/ECF to query the case file location, otherwise contact the Clerk’s Office for this information. If the file is at the FRC, the following screen will appear:
| Case Number | Volume | Case Title | FRC Shipment Code | FRC Accession Number | Box Number | FRC Location | Date Shipped | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3:00-cv-00001-AVC | CS1 | Christian, et al v. Jeppesen Sanderson, et al | 021-03-0061 | 021-03-0061 | 122 | D76998 | 03/29/2005 | D76998-7000 D77000 D77001 D77001-002 D77002-003 D77003 D77004 D77005-006 D77006-008 D77008-009 D77009 D77009-010 D77010 D77010-011 D77012 D77012-013 D77013-015 D77016 D77016-017 D77018 D77018-019 D77019 D77020 D77020-021 |
If it has been determined that the file has been transferred to the Archives, the file can no longer be recalled and the requestor must deal directly with the Archives. Archives can be contacted at 781 663-0144 or boston.archives@nara.gov.
If the file is still in our office, the following screen will appear:
| Case Number | Volume | Case Title | Current Location | Checked Out | Hold Request |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3:09-cv-00001-SRU | CS1 | Petion et al v. Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corp et al | New Haven: default open area | 01/07/2009 15:04:34 |
Please note that files are kept at the seat of court where the presiding judge holds Court, even though the information on this page reflects that this file is in the New Haven office. Since the judge is SRU (Judge Underhill), the file is in the Bridgeport office. Click on the appropriate name listed in our Judges' Info section above or here:
Requesting documents directly from the FRC
To request documents from a file that has been shipped to the FRC, directly from the FRC, click on the link below and follow the instructions on the FRC website. The docket sheet and entire case file of civil and criminal cases can be requested. Preselected criminal documents (judgment, commitment or probation/commitment order or sentence, and indictment) can also be requested. The FRC can be contacted at 781 663-0158 or waltham.reference@nara.gov. *Please note you will first need to query the case file location in PACER or CM/ECF or contact the Clerk’s Office to obtain FRC case data information.
Requesting documents from the Clerk’s Office
To view a case file that has been shipped to the FRC, the file will need to be recalled and sent to a Clerk's Office in Connecticut. There is a $70.00 retrieval fee for the first box and a $43.00 fee for each additional box. To have a file sent to the Clerk's Office, mail or fax a request to the Clerk's Office requesting that the file be retrieved from the FRC along with the fee payable to Clerk, U. S. District Court. Upon receipt of the fee, the file will be ordered and the Clerk's Office will contact you when the file arrives at our office.
As an alternative having boxes of records shipped from the FRC to the Court, a service offered by NARA, known as "SmartScan", allows members of the public to request same-day electronic delivery of a limited number of scanned judiciary pages (100 page maximum). These requests must be made through the Clerk's Office. To have a document scanned to a Clerk's Office, mail or fax a request to the Clerk's Office requesting that the document be SmartScanned from the FRC. There is a SmartScan fee of $11.00, a fee to pull and re-file records of $9.90 and an additional FRC per page fee of $0.65. The Clerk’s Office will contact you with the final total for your request. Upon receipt of the fee, the document will be sent to you. SmartScan eliminates shipping costs, reduces clerk's office staff time required to receive, duplicate, and distribute relevant documents, and is ideal for small or urgent requests.
Requesting an Apostille for a document located at National Archives
In order to apostille your documents, you will need to request a certified copy from National Archives. Once certified, you will mail the certified document to the Washington DC apostille office to obtain the apostille. Please contact National Archives at (866) 406-2379 or boston.archives@nara.gov.
For additional information see https://www.apostilleservices.com/national-archives/.