New York State Courts: New York's state court system is one of the most complex in the nation. New York's trial courts include location-based courts such as New York Town and Village Justice Courts, New York City Courts, and Criminal and Civil Courts in the city of New York. There are also limited jurisdiction courts including Surrogate's Court (which handles probate/estate matters,) and Family Court. New York's District Courts and Courts of Claims hear a variety of civil cases. New York small claims cases are also heard in District Court. The next level of the New York court system includes the Supreme Court and County Courts, and above these are the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court and the state's highest court is the New York Court of Appeals. The New York State Unified Court System provides several online databases through their ECourts website, where you can look up information regarding various New York court cases. These can be found at http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/webcivil/ecourtsMain. If you're trying to view someone's criminal record in New York, you can search for that here. You can also find information regarding New York court documents in Family, Housing, and some other civil cases.