Dockets, filings, and court records
Docket Number
A docket number is the unique identifier a court assigns to a case, such as 1:23-cv-04517, and it is the fastest way to find that case again.
Federal docket numbers are built from four parts. The digit before the colon is the division or office of the district that took the filing. The next two digits are the filing year. The letters are the case type: cv for civil, cr for criminal, bk for bankruptcy, md for multidistrict litigation, mc for miscellaneous. The last block is a running number within that year.
Letters tacked on the end, like 1:23-cv-04517-JMF-SDA, are the initials of the district judge and the magistrate judge assigned to the case. They are helpful context but are not part of the number when you search for it.
The number is also how you cite the case forever, in later filings, in news coverage, and in any research tool. If you have it, use it rather than a party name: it is exact, it never returns the wrong Rodriguez, and on PACER it costs less because it generates a shorter result set.
How it appears on a docket
The caption block at the top of every filing repeats the number: Case 1:23-cv-04517-JMF Document 42 Filed 11/08/2025 Page 1 of 19.
Related terms
- Docket — A docket is the court's official numbered list of everything that has been filed or has happened in a case, in date order.
- Case Caption — The caption is the block at the top of every filing that names the court, the parties, and the case number.
More on dockets, filings, and court records
See this term in a real case
Search federal court records and read the filings where docket number actually shows up. New to federal dockets? Start with how to find a federal case.