HOW TO RETRIEVE FILES OR RECORDS THAT HAVE BEEN SENT TO NARA
The Southern District of Ohio ships civil and criminal files to the National Archive and Records Administration (NARA) records center that have been closed for 3 or more years.
NARA will transfer permanent cases to the archive records center after 20 years. Non-permanent cases are destroyed and the permanent cases are converted to microfiche.
The website for NARA is www.archives.gov.
If you are looking for a case that was closed less than 20 years you will need to provide them with the accession number, location number and the box number(s). You can submit your request in one of the following ways:
| Via email : | Chicago.Archives@nara.gov - Attn: Records Center |
| By Phone : | 1-773-948-9001, ask for the records center. |
| By Website: | www.archives.gov. |
| By Mail: |
National Archive and Records Administration Attn: Records Center 7358 S. Pulsaki Rd. Chicago, IL 60629 |
As a general rule, if the case has been closed for more than 20 years you will need to submit at least the minimum information listed below. The more information you submit the easier it will be for the records center to locate the case. The accession number, location number and the box number(s) are not needed as they do not store the archived records using that information.
Case name, case number, party names and year the case was filed.
You can submit their request in one of the following ways:
| Via email: | Chicago.Archives@nara.gov- Attn: Archives Center |
| By Phone: | 1-773-948-9001, ask for the archives center |
| By Website: | www.archives.gov |
| By Mail: |
National Archive and Records Administration Attn: Archives Center 7358 S. Pulsaki Rd. Chicago, IL 60629 |
National Archives Order Civil Cases Instructions
National Archives Order Criminal Cases Instructions
National Archives Order Requesting Military Records
The following archived information is available at the Chicago NARA center.
Columbus Listings:
Civil Docket Books – 1913 – 1964
Criminal Docket Books 1894 – 1964
Petitions for citizenship 1917 – 1964
Military Petitions for Naturalization – 1894 – 1919
Equity Journal – 1925 – 1938
Bar Admission Book 1880 -1955
Declaration of Intention – 1894 – 1964
Dayton Listings:
Civil Docket Books – 1938 – 1956
Criminal Docket Books 1917 – 1969
Petitions for citizenship 1916 – 1951
Military Petitions for Naturalization – 1918 – 1919
Equity Journal – 1915 – 1938
Law Journal – 1915 – 1941
Declaration of Intention – 1916 – 1951
Cincinnati Listings:
http://www.archives.gov/chicago/finding-aids/courts/us-courts-cincinnati.html