Dockets Search allows PRC website users to search through the Dockets database and find records of filed documents. The Search Criteria page provides a form for entering or selecting values to help users find specific documents.

After the search criteria have been submitted, the system returns all records matching all criteria. The records are listed in the Search Results page. From the Search Results, you can open the Document Details of a selected document.

• Search Criteria
• Search Results
• Full Text Search

Search Criteria

To find records of documents filed for docketed cases or for undocketed matters, use the Dockets Search criteria. Use as many criteria as necessary to find the specific records desired.

1. In the Search Criteria form, select a Search Type from the dropdown list. The search criteria will change, depending on the search type selected. No change will occur if the default search type, Documents, is used.
2. Enter or select values for other search criteria to narrow the search. The more criteria used, the more precise the search will be. Suggestions for searching by specific words or phrases, refer to Full Text Search
3. Click the Search button to start the search. The system will display a list of documents in a Search Results page.

Search Results

Search Results will be displayed in a table format, listing the documents in order by date (most recent first). The list may be sorted by Date or by Docket Number.

From the Search Results table, you can view a document, open a Document Details page to view record details, or select documents to print or download.

View a Document

In the Check column of the Search Results table, click the file format extension (e.g., PDF). The system will open a new window to display the physical document.

View Document Details

To view details of the record of an individual document, click the document Title. The system will open the Document Details page of the selected document.

The Document Details page will display information about the filed document in table format. From the Details page, you can open a view of the physical document by clicking its file name in the eFiles field.

Full Text Searching Help

Boolean Searching

A boolean search request consists of a group of words or phrases linked by connectors.

If you use more than one connector, you should use parentheses to indicate precisely what you want to search for. For example, apple and pear or orange juice could mean (apple and pear) or orange, or it could mean apple and (pear or orange).

AND Connector

Use the AND connector in a search request to connect two expressions, both of which must be found in any document retrieved. For example:

• apple pie and poached pear would retrieve any document that contained both phrases.

• (apple or banana) and (pear w/5 grape) would retrieve any document that (1) contained either apple OR banana, AND (2) contained pear within 5 words of grape.

OR Connector

Use the OR connector in a search request to connect two expressions, at least one of which must be found in any document retrieved. For example, apple pie or poached pear would retrieve any document that contained apple pie, poached pear, or both.

Proximity Searching W/number

Use the W/number connector in a search request to specify that one word or phrase must occur within a certain number of words of the other. For example, apple w/5 pear would retrieve any document that contained apple within 5 words of pear. The following are examples of search requests using W/number:

• (apple or pear) w/5 banana

• (apple w/5 banana) w/10 pear

• (apple and banana) w/10 pear

Some types of complex expressions using the W/number connector will produce ambiguous results and should not be used. The following are examples of ambiguous search requests:

• (apple and banana) w/10 (pear and grape)

• (apple w/10 banana) w/10 (pear and grape)

In general, at least one of the two expressions connected by W/number must be a single word or phrase or a group of words and phrases connected by OR. Example:

• (apple and banana) w/10 (pear or grape)

• (apple and banana) w/10 orange tree

This system uses two built in search words to mark the beginning and end of a file: xfirstword and xlastword. The terms are useful if you want to limit a search to the beginning or end of a file. For example, apple w/10 xlastword would search for apple within 10 words of the end of a document.

NOT and NOT W/number

Use NOT in front of any search expression to reverse its meaning. This allows you to exclude documents from a search. Example:

apple sauce and not pear

NOT standing alone can be the start of a search request. For example, not pear would retrieve all documents that did not contain pear.

If NOT is not the first connector in a request, you need to use either AND or OR with NOT:

• apple or not pear

• not (apple w/5 pear)

The NOT W/ ("not within") operator allows you to search for a word or phrase not in association with another word or phrase. Example:

apple not w/20 pear

Wildcards and Special Searches

Wildcards (* and ?)

A search word can contain the wildcard characters * and ?. A ? in a word matches any single character, and a * matches any number of characters. The wildcard characters can be in any position in a word. For example:

• appl* would match apple, application, etc.

• *cipl* would match principle, participle, etc.

• appl? would match apply and apple but not apples.

• ap*ed would match applied, approved, etc.

Use of the * wildcard character near the beginning of a word will slow searches.

Synonym Searching (&)

Synonym searching finds synonyms of a word in a search request. For example, a search for fast would also find quick. You can enable synonym searching for all words in a request or you can enable synonym searching selectively by adding the & character after certain words in a request. Example: fast& w/5 search.

Numeric Range Searching (~~)

A numeric range search is a search for any numbers that fall within a range. To add a numeric range component to a search request, enter the upper and lower bounds of the search separated by ~~ like this:

• apple w/5 12~~17

This request would find any document containing apple within 5 words of a number between 12 and 17.

Numeric range searches only work with positive integers. A numeric range search includes the upper and lower bounds (so 12 and 17 would be retrieved in the above example).

For purposes of numeric range searching, decimal points and commas are treated as spaces and minus signs are ignored. For example, -123,456.78 would be interpreted as: 123 456 78 (three numbers).

Ignored Noise Words, Phrases, and Punctuation

Noise Words

Common words such as if and the are ignored in searches.

Phrases

You do not need to use any special punctuation or commands to search for a phrase. Simply enter the phrase the way it ordinarily appears. You can use a phrase anywhere in a search request. Example:

• apple w/5 fruit salad

If a phrase contains a noise word, this system will skip over the noise word when searching for it. For example, a search for statue of liberty would retrieve any document containing the word statue, any intervening word, and the word liberty.

Punctuation

Punctuation inside of a search word is treated as a space. Thus, can't would be treated as a phrase consisting of two words: can and t. 1843(c)(8)(ii) would become 1843 c 8 ii (four words).