Legal and land terms · card D

Docket

A docket is the court's list of cases and the short entries recording each step in them; in the 1800s it was a large book kept by the clerk.

The clerk entered each case on the docket and noted filings, hearings, continuances and the outcome, usually in a line or two. Some courts also used the word for the calendar of cases waiting to be heard.

Dockets are a fast way to find a case: they give the parties and dates, and point you to the minutes, order books or loose case papers that hold the full story.

As seen in a recordCircuit court docket, 1800s
No. 214. Jno. Hart vs. Wm. Bell. Debt. Continued. Judgment for plff. $63.40
How to cite this page

Daily Ancestor. "Docket." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/legal-land/docket. Last checked 2026-10-12.

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