Somerset County Criminal Court Records

Somerset County criminal court records are held at the Circuit Court at 30512 Prince William Street in Princess Anne, where Clerk Charles T. Horner maintains felony case files, serious misdemeanor records, and District Court appeals for this Lower Eastern Shore county. The free statewide online case search tool covers most records and is available any time without charge. This page covers the online portal, in-person and mail requests, copy fees, the District Court location, and the Sheriff's records process.

Somerset County Circuit Court Clerk

Charles T. Horner serves as Clerk of the Circuit Court for Somerset County. He can be reached directly at (410) 845-4848 or by email at charles.horner@mdcourts.gov. Chief Deputy Penny B. Custis is at (410) 845-4845. The Criminal Department Supervisor is Melinda L. Sterling, reachable at melinda.sterling@mdcourts.gov. The main courthouse phone is (410) 845-4840. A toll-free number at 1-800-341-2206 is also available for those calling from outside the local area.

The Criminal Department has its own direct line at (410) 845-4850. Staff can confirm whether a case exists, provide the case number, and let you know which documents are on file and how much copies will cost. Mail requests go to P.O. Box 99, Princess Anne, MD 21853, Attn: Criminal Department. If you send an email inquiry to Clerk Horner at charles.horner@mdcourts.gov, include the defendant's name and approximate case date to help staff locate the file quickly.

Somerset County is one of the smaller courts in Maryland by volume, but it keeps records going back many years. Land records here date to 1665, and the court has maintained criminal records continuously since well before modern computerized systems. Some older cases may need extra time to pull from storage, so call ahead if you are looking for something from more than a decade ago.

How to Search Somerset County Criminal Records

The free Maryland Judiciary Case Search at casesearch.courts.state.md.us is the best place to start. It covers Circuit Court cases from 1998 and District Court cases from 1989. You can search by defendant name, case number, or date range, and the portal is available 24 hours a day at no cost. The case search screenshot below shows the Maryland Judiciary portal, which covers Somerset County criminal court records as part of the statewide database.

Using the online portal before you contact the clerk's office saves time. If you can find the case number in the database, include it in your written request so staff do not have to search by name.

In-person requests go to 30512 Prince William Street in Princess Anne during business hours. Bring the defendant's name or case number and a valid photo ID. Staff at the Criminal Department will pull the file and calculate the copy cost. Payment is accepted in cash, check or money order, or credit card. For large or complex requests, call the Criminal Department at (410) 845-4850 ahead of your visit to confirm the file is available and get an estimate of the total cost.

Mail requests go to: Attn: Criminal Department, P.O. Box 99, Princess Anne MD 21853. Your letter should include the defendant's name and date of birth if available, the case number if you found it in the online portal, a list of the specific documents you need, a self-addressed stamped envelope, and a check or money order payable to Clerk of the Circuit Court for Somerset County. Include a callback phone number so staff can reach you if there are questions or if additional payment is needed before the copies are sent out.

What Criminal Court Records Contain

Somerset County Circuit Court criminal files cover felony prosecutions, serious misdemeanor cases, and District Court appeals. Each case file is a complete record of the proceedings from initial filing through final disposition. A typical file includes the charging document or grand jury indictment, bond records setting pretrial release conditions, motions and pleadings from both the defense and the State's Attorney, court orders signed by the judge, the sentencing order and final judgment, and warrant information if applicable. Cases that went to trial may have transcripts available if they were ordered at the time, though those are separate documents that require a specific request.

Somerset County also operates an Adult Recovery Court and a Truancy Reduction Program, both of which generate case records held at the Circuit Court. These specialized dockets serve different populations than standard criminal cases but are maintained at the same clerk's office and accessed through the same request process.

• Felony charges, indictments, and grand jury materials
• Bond documents and pretrial release conditions
• Motions and pleadings from both parties
• Sentencing orders and final judgments
• Warrants issued or recalled during the case
• Adult Recovery Court docket entries
• Docket entries showing every step from filing to close

Records that are not open to the public include sealed cases, which require a signed court order, and juvenile proceedings, which are confidential under state law. If you search the online portal and cannot find a case you expected to see, it may have been expunged, sealed, or it may involve a juvenile matter that never entered the public record.

Copy Fees and Payment

Standard copies at the Somerset County Circuit Court are $0.50 per page. Certified copies cost $5.00 plus $0.50 per page for the underlying document. Exemplified copies, used when records must be authenticated for use in another jurisdiction, cost $10.00 plus $0.50 per page. Note that land records carry an additional $40 surcharge, though that applies to property filings rather than criminal case records. Payment is accepted in cash, check or money order, or credit card at the counter.

For mail requests, use a check or money order made payable to the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Somerset County. If you are unsure how many pages a file contains, call (410) 845-4850 before you send payment so staff can give you an accurate estimate. Do not send cash through the mail.

Somerset County District Court

The District Court in Somerset County is at 12155 Elm Street, Suite C, in Princess Anne, MD 21853. The main number is (410) 845-4700 and there is a toll-free line at 1-800-939-7306. The court is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is close to the Circuit Court building on the same side of town.

District Court handles misdemeanor charges, traffic violations, minor criminal matters, and civil cases under $30,000. Records from 1989 forward are searchable in the free Maryland Judiciary Case Search portal at no cost. When a defendant in a District Court case demanded a jury trial or appealed a conviction, the case transferred to the Circuit Court at 30512 Prince William Street, where a new case file was opened under Clerk Horner's office. If you are looking for a case and cannot find it at the District Court level in the online portal, check the Circuit Court records under the same defendant name. Cases move between court levels depending on how charges were handled, so searching both databases gives you the most complete picture.

Somerset County Sheriff's Office

The Somerset County Sheriff's Office is at 7920 Crisfield Highway in Westover, MD 21871. The main phone is (410) 651-9225. The department email for records and public inquiries is rhoward@somersetmd.us. The Sheriff's website is at www.somersetsheriff.com. The Somerset County Detention Center is a separate facility at 30474 Revells Neck Road, Westover MD 21871, reachable at (410) 651-9223.

To request sheriff records, submit a Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) request to the department. Your request should include the date of the incident, the location, the names of people involved, and a clear description of what records you are looking for. The department has 30 days to respond to a written MPIA request. Records that may be available include incident reports, arrest records, and warrant information. Records tied to active investigations or involving juveniles may be withheld or redacted.

Sheriff records are separate from the criminal case files maintained by the Circuit Court Clerk at 30512 Prince William Street. An arrest report from the Sheriff does not include the court case record, and a court file does not include the original incident report. If you need both, submit requests to both offices separately. The two local police departments, Princess Anne PD at (410) 651-1822 and Crisfield PD at (410) 968-1323, handle their own incident reports separately from the Sheriff's Office as well.

Communities in Somerset County

Somerset County does not have any cities that meet the population threshold for a dedicated records page on this site. The Circuit Court in Princess Anne handles criminal court records for all communities throughout the county, including Crisfield, Deal Island, and other unincorporated areas. All residents and requesters in the county use the same office at 30512 Prince William Street.

Nearby Counties

Somerset County borders two other Maryland counties on the Lower Eastern Shore, each with its own Circuit Court and criminal records process.