Court Records & Legal Research - LegalHarvest

What LegalHarvest Does

LegalHarvest is a multi-source U.S. court records and legal research API packaged as an Apify Actor. It searches public court records, case law, dockets, statutes, legislation, regulations, corporate filings, and federal spending sources from one normalized input and returns structured JSON that is ready for Apify datasets, API workflows, AI agents, and MCP-style tool use.

Use it when you want one lightweight actor for court records search and legal research discovery instead of wiring together separate calls to CourtListener, GovInfo, Congress.gov, Federal Register, eCFR, SEC EDGAR, USAspending, Open States, U.S. Code lookups, Oregon Revised Statutes lookups, and the new search-backed multi-state statute lookup layer.

Update

April 20, 2026: LegalHarvest now ships 50-state exact-citation coverage for public-records and other high-value state statute lookups. Oregon ORS remains the direct official adapter, and the state_statutes layer now resolves official or state-backed paths for queries such as Ala. Code 36-12-40, Alaska Statutes 40.25.110, Ark. Code 25-19-105, A.R.S. 39-121, California Penal Code 187, C.R.S. 24-72-203, Conn. Gen. Stat. 1-210, 29 Del. C. 10003, Florida Statutes 119.07, O.C.G.A. 50-18-71, HRS 92F-11, Idaho Code 74-102, 5 ILCS 140/3, I.C. 5-14-3-3, Iowa Code 22.2, K.S.A. 45-218, KRS 61.872, La. R.S. 44:31, Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 section 408-A, Md. Code, General Provisions 4-201, MGL c.66 section 10, MCL 15.231, Minn. Stat. 13.03, Miss. Code 25-61-5, MCA 2-6-1003, Neb. Rev. Stat. 84-712, NDCC 44-04-18, NMSA 14-2-8, NRS 239.010, NJSA 47:1A-1, NY Pub Off Law 87, RSA 91-A:4, 51 O.S. 24A.5, R.I. Gen. Laws 38-2-3, RSMo 610.023, NCGS 132-1, ORC 2903.02, 65 Pa. C.S. 701, RCW 42.56.070, SDCL 1-27-1, S.C. Code 30-4-30, TCA 10-7-503, Texas Penal Code 19.02, Utah Code 63G-2-201, Virginia Code 2.2-3704, 1 VSA 316, Wis. Stat. 19.35, W. Va. Code 29B-1-3, and Wyo. Stat. 16-4-202. Exact citation routing now covers all 49 non-Oregon states through official or state-backed paths when a public source exists, while the broader search-backed public code layer remains available for fuzzier non-citation state statute discovery.

State coverage note: Oregon Revised Statutes remains the direct official state-statute adapter. LegalHarvest now also includes exact-citation adapters for all 49 non-Oregon states through official or state-backed sources, including official code pages where available, targeted Connecticut FOIA and Maryland public-records paths, targeted Indiana APRA guidance, a New Hampshire Right-to-Know adapter with Justia mirror fallback when the official site blocks automated access, Alabama Legislature public-records guidance, the Arkansas Attorney General FOIA handbook, Hawaii Legislature HRS pages, the Mississippi Ethics Commission act text, the New Mexico DOJ IPRA guide, and Tennessee Comptroller TPRA guidance. State bill searches are available through Open States when a jurisdiction is supplied and Open States quota is available.

LegalHarvest is best for fast public-record discovery, citation lookups, compliance research, legislative monitoring, investigative research, and RAG/AI data collection. It is not legal advice, a citator, PACER access, Google Scholar access, or a paid proprietary legal database. Always verify important results against the linked official source.

Features

• Search across court records, case law, dockets, federal legislation, federal statutes, Oregon state statutes, search-backed multi-state statutes, regulations, corporate filings, and federal spending from a single input.
• Auto-route exact citations such as ORS 192.431, 42 U.S.C. 1983, 45 CFR 164.512, and 119 HR 1 to the most relevant official source.
• Run batch jobs by combining one primary query with optional batch_queries, producing one dataset stream with per-query batch_index tagging and a batch-aware RUN_SUMMARY.
• Generate optional dossier outputs that turn retained results into a structured JSON investigation packet plus a readable Markdown briefing in the default key-value store.
• Preserve richer CourtListener research metadata such as docket numbers, judges, cited-by counts, and outbound citation counts when the source provides them.
• Emit dossier billing status into RUN_SUMMARY.charge_events, including whether the custom legalharvest-dossier event was configured and charged.
• Return normalized records with common fields like title, citation, source, jurisdiction, date, status, URL, matched terms, and optional raw payloads.
• Keep compute costs low by using HTTP-based source adapters rather than headless browsers.
• Produce Apify dataset rows and a RUN_SUMMARY key-value-store record for monitoring and automation.
• Work well with Apify API, scheduled runs, webhooks, dataset exports, and AI-agent/MCP workflows.
• Preserve CourtListener privacy signals when a result is flagged as blocked from public search-engine indexing.

Public Sources Covered

Source	Coverage	Key required?
CourtListener	Case law and docket discovery	No, token recommended for higher volume
GovInfo	U.S. Reports and official federal documents	Optional API_DATA_GOV_KEY recommended
Congress.gov	Federal bills and bill summaries	Optional API_DATA_GOV_KEY recommended
Federal Register	Rules, proposed rules, notices, and executive materials	No
eCFR	Code of Federal Regulations citation lookups	No
U.S. Code	U.S. Code citation lookups	No
Oregon Revised Statutes	Oregon state statute lookups from the official legislature source	No
Alabama Legislature resource manual	Alabama public-records guidance citing exact sections such as Ala. Code 36-12-40 and Ala. Code 41-13-1	No
Alaska Legislature	Official Alaska public-records PDF lookup for exact citations such as AS 40.25.110	No
Arkansas Attorney General FOIA handbook	Arkansas FOIA handbook lookup for exact citations such as Ark. Code 25-19-105	No
Arizona State Legislature	Official Arizona statute lookup for exact citations such as A.R.S. 39-121	No
California Legislative Information	Official California statute lookup for exact California code citations such as California Penal Code 187	No
Colorado General Assembly	Official Colorado Open Records Act PDF lookup for exact citations such as C.R.S. 24-72-203	No
Connecticut General Assembly	Official Connecticut FOIA chapter lookup for exact citations such as Conn. Gen. Stat. 1-210	No
Delaware Code Online	Official Delaware Code lookup for exact citations such as 29 Del. C. 10003	No
Florida Statutes	Official Florida statute lookup for exact Florida citations such as Florida Statutes 119.07	No
Georgia Office of the Attorney General	Official Georgia Open Records Act PDF lookup for exact citations such as O.C.G.A. 50-18-71	No
Hawaii State Legislature	Official Hawaii Revised Statutes lookup for exact citations such as HRS 92F-11	No
Idaho Legislature	Official Idaho Code lookup for exact citations such as Idaho Code 74-102	No
Illinois General Assembly	Official Illinois Compiled Statutes lookup for exact citations such as 5 ILCS 140/3	No
Indiana public records guidance	Official Indiana APRA guidance lookup for key public-records citations such as Ind. Code 5-14-3-1 and I.C. 5-14-3-3	No
Iowa Legislature	Official Iowa Code public-records PDF lookup for exact citations such as Iowa Code 22.2	No
Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes	Official Kansas Open Records Act lookup for exact citations such as K.S.A. 45-218	No
Kentucky General Assembly	Official Kentucky Open Records Act PDF lookup for exact citations such as KRS 61.872	No
Louisiana State Legislature	Official Louisiana Revised Statutes lookup for exact citations such as La. R.S. 44:31	No
Maine Legislature	Official Maine statute lookup for exact Maine citations such as Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 section 408-A	No
Maryland General Assembly	Official Maryland public-records lookup for exact citations such as Md. Code, General Provisions 4-201	No
Massachusetts General Court	Official Massachusetts General Laws lookup for exact citations such as MGL c.66 section 10	No
Michigan Legislature	Official Michigan Compiled Laws lookup for exact citations such as MCL 15.231	No
Minnesota Revisor of Statutes	Official Minnesota statute lookup for exact citations such as Minn. Stat. 13.03	No
Mississippi Ethics Commission	Mississippi Public Records Act lookup for exact citations such as Miss. Code 25-61-5	No
Montana Code Annotated	Official Montana public-records lookup for exact citations such as MCA 2-6-1003	No
Missouri Revisor of Statutes	Official Missouri Revised Statutes lookup for exact citations such as RSMo 610.023	No
Nebraska Legislature	Official Nebraska statute lookup for exact citations such as Neb. Rev. Stat. 84-712	No
Nevada Legislature	Official Nevada public-records lookup for exact citations such as NRS 239.010	No
New Hampshire General Court	New Hampshire Right-to-Know lookup for exact citations such as RSA 91-A:4, with direct Justia mirror fallback when the official host blocks automated access	No
New Mexico Department of Justice IPRA guide	New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act lookup for exact citations such as NMSA 14-2-8	No
New Jersey Government Records Council	Official New Jersey OPRA lookup for exact citations such as NJSA 47:1A-1	No
New York State Senate	Official New York Public Officers Law lookup for exact citations such as NY Pub Off Law 87	No
North Carolina General Assembly	Official North Carolina statute lookup for exact citations such as NCGS 132-1	No
North Dakota Legislative Branch	Official North Dakota Century Code chapter PDF lookup for exact citations such as NDCC 44-04-18	No
Ohio Laws	Official Ohio Revised Code lookup for exact citations such as ORC 2903.02	No
Oklahoma State Senate	Official Oklahoma Open Records Act PDF lookup for exact citations such as 51 O.S. 24A.5	No
Pennsylvania General Assembly	Official Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes lookup for exact citations such as 65 Pa. C.S. 701	No
Rhode Island General Assembly	Official Rhode Island General Laws lookup for exact citations such as R.I. Gen. Laws 38-2-3	No
South Dakota Legislature	Official South Dakota Codified Laws lookup for exact citations such as SDCL 1-27-1	No
South Carolina Legislature	Official South Carolina Code lookup for exact citations such as S.C. Code 30-4-30	No
Tennessee Comptroller OORC guidance	Tennessee Public Records Act guidance for exact citations such as TCA 10-7-503	No
Texas Constitution and Statutes	Official Texas statute lookup for exact Texas code citations such as Texas Penal Code 19.02	No
Utah Legislature	Official Utah statute lookup for exact citations such as Utah Code 63G-2-201	No
Vermont General Assembly	Official Vermont statute lookup for exact citations such as 1 VSA 316	No
Virginia Law	Official Virginia statute lookup for exact citations such as Virginia Code 2.2-3704	No
Washington Legislature	Official Revised Code of Washington lookup for exact citations such as RCW 42.56.070	No
West Virginia Legislature	Official West Virginia statute lookup for exact citations such as W. Va. Code 29B-1-3	No
Wisconsin Legislature	Official Wisconsin Statutes lookup for exact citations such as Wis. Stat. 19.35	No
Wyoming Legislature	Official Wyoming public-records article lookup for exact citations such as Wyo. Stat. 16-4-202	No
Public state-code search layer	Search-backed non-Oregon state statute lookup across indexed public code hosts such as Justia and FindLaw; best on citation-style queries	No
Open States	State bill search across Open States jurisdictions, especially with a jurisdiction filter	Yes, OPENSTATES_API_KEY or openstates_api_key
SEC EDGAR	Public company filings	No, but a descriptive User-Agent is used
USAspending.gov	Federal recipient spending search	No

Input

The main input is a search query plus an optional search mode. Leave sources empty unless you want to force a specific source adapter. For batch work, keep the first query in query and place any extra lookups in batch_queries. LegalHarvest executes batch queries sequentially on purpose so shared public-source quotas are less likely to spike. Set generate_dossier to true when you want a reusable JSON and Markdown investigation packet in addition to the normal dataset.

For state statutes, Oregon ORS remains the direct official adapter. All 49 non-Oregon states now also have exact-citation routing through official or state-backed paths, including targeted Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Tennessee public-records coverage, targeted Connecticut FOIA, Maryland public-records, and Indiana APRA paths, and a New Hampshire Right-to-Know adapter with a Justia mirror fallback if the official site blocks automated access. Other non-Oregon state statute searches still use the state_statutes source for broader search-backed discovery, which works best when the query includes a state plus a code, chapter, or section citation. Shorthand state-code queries such as Ala. Code 36-12-40, Alaska Statutes 40.25.110, Ark. Code 25-19-105, A.R.S. 39-121, C.R.S. 24-72-203, Conn. Gen. Stat. 1-210, 29 Del. C. 10003, O.C.G.A. 50-18-71, HRS 92F-11, Idaho Code 74-102, 5 ILCS 140/3, I.C. 5-14-3-3, Iowa Code 22.2, K.S.A. 45-218, KRS 61.872, La. R.S. 44:31, Md. Code, General Provisions 4-201, MGL c.66 section 10, MCL 15.231, Minn. Stat. 13.03, Miss. Code 25-61-5, MCA 2-6-1003, Neb. Rev. Stat. 84-712, NDCC 44-04-18, NMSA 14-2-8, NRS 239.010, NJSA 47:1A-1, NY Pub Off Law 87, RSA 91-A:4, 51 O.S. 24A.5, R.I. Gen. Laws 38-2-3, RSMo 610.023, ORC 2903.02, 65 Pa. C.S. 701, RCW 42.56.070, NCGS 132-1, SDCL 1-27-1, S.C. Code 30-4-30, TCA 10-7-503, Utah Code 63G-2-201, VACode 2.2-3704, 1 VSA 316, Wis. Stat. 19.35, W. Va. Code 29B-1-3, and Wyo. Stat. 16-4-202 now auto-route as well. Use Open States for state bill and legislative searches with jurisdictions.

{
  "query": "Brown v. Board of Education",
  "search_mode": "case_law",
  "generate_dossier": true,
  "max_results": 5
}

Batch example:

{
  "query": "ORS 192.431",
  "batch_queries": ["42 U.S.C. 1983", "HRS 92F-11", "NY Pub Off Law 87"],
  "search_mode": "statutes",
  "generate_dossier": true,
  "max_results": 5
}

Useful examples:

{
  "query": "ORS 192.431",
  "search_mode": "statutes",
  "max_results": 5
}

{
  "query": "NY Pub Off Law 87",
  "search_mode": "statutes",
  "max_results": 5
}

{
  "query": "C.R.S. 24-72-203",
  "search_mode": "statutes",
  "max_results": 5
}

{
  "query": "K.S.A. 45-218",
  "search_mode": "statutes",
  "max_results": 5
}

{
  "query": "Iowa Code 22.2",
  "search_mode": "statutes",
  "max_results": 5
}

{
  "query": "NDCC 44-04-18",
  "search_mode": "statutes",
  "max_results": 5
}

{
  "query": "SDCL 1-27-1",
  "search_mode": "statutes",
  "max_results": 5
}

{
  "query": "Wyo. Stat. 16-4-202",
  "search_mode": "statutes",
  "max_results": 5
}

{
  "query": "45 CFR 164.512",
  "search_mode": "regulations",
  "max_results": 5
}

{
  "query": "119 HR 1",
  "search_mode": "legislation",
  "max_results": 5
}

{
  "query": "HB 2001",
  "search_mode": "legislation",
  "jurisdictions": ["or"],
  "sources": ["openstates"],
  "max_results": 5
}

{
  "query": "Apple",
  "search_mode": "corporate",
  "max_results": 5
}

{
  "query": "Lockheed Martin",
  "search_mode": "spending",
  "max_results": 5
}

Output

LegalHarvest writes normalized records to the default dataset. A typical result looks like this:

{
  "result_type": "case_law",
  "source": "govinfo",
  "title": "Brown v. Board of Education",
  "summary": "Official U.S. Reports record for the case.",
  "citation": "347 U.S. 483",
  "court_or_body": "Supreme Court of the United States",
  "jurisdiction": "US",
  "date": "1954-05-17",
  "status": "available",
  "url": "https://www.govinfo.gov/",
  "source_id": "example-source-id",
  "query": "Brown v. Board of Education",
  "matched_terms": ["Brown", "Board", "Education"],
  "raw": null
}

The actor also stores a RUN_SUMMARY record in the default key-value store with the query, selected mode, requested sources, per-source messages, total result count, final status message, and any dossier billing metadata.

When batch_queries are used, dataset rows also include batch_index, and RUN_SUMMARY includes batch_mode, batch_query_count, batch_queries, and per-query batch_runs.

When generate_dossier is enabled, LegalHarvest also writes:

• DOSSIER_JSON: a structured investigation packet with executive summary, result-type and source breakdowns, top highlights, per-query sections, and recommended next steps.
• DOSSIER_REPORT: a Markdown briefing built from the same retained results for human review, MCP workflows, or downstream AI ingestion.
• RUN_SUMMARY.charge_events: when pay-per-event pricing is active, the dossier section records whether the custom legalharvest-dossier charge event was configured, charged, or skipped because of pricing limits.

How To Run LegalHarvest

In Apify Console, open the actor, choose a search mode, enter a query, and click Start. Use the dataset tab for results and the key-value-store tab for RUN_SUMMARY.

From the Apify CLI:

npx apify-cli call valor-investigations/legalharvest --input '{"query":"Brown v. Board of Education","search_mode":"case_law","max_results":5}'

Batch CLI example:

npx apify-cli call valor-investigations/legalharvest --input '{"query":"ORS 192.431","batch_queries":["42 U.S.C. 1983","HRS 92F-11"],"search_mode":"statutes","max_results":5}'

Dossier CLI example:

npx apify-cli call valor-investigations/legalharvest --input '{"query":"Oregon public records law","search_mode":"all","generate_dossier":true,"max_results":10}'

For API and AI-agent workflows, use the actor's Apify API endpoint or expose it through Apify's MCP integrations. The normalized input schema is designed so agents can choose a search mode, pass a legal citation or keyword query, and read structured dataset rows back as tool results.

Configuration

LegalHarvest supports bring-your-own-key inputs for quota-sensitive sources. Users can provide api_data_gov_key, courtlistener_api_token, or openstates_api_key as secret Actor inputs for a single run. If those fields are blank, the actor falls back to owner-managed environment secrets when available.

OPENSTATES_API_KEY is required only for Open States state-bill searches in self-hosted or developer deployments. The hosted Store actor can use the actor owner's configured secret, but high-volume Store users should provide their own openstates_api_key or use a higher-capacity data plan.

API_DATA_GOV_KEY is optional but recommended for developer deployments that need higher Congress.gov and GovInfo throughput because shared demo-key access can be rate-limited. Store it as an Apify secret and map it to the actor environment variable with the same name, or pass api_data_gov_key in the Actor input.

COURTLISTENER_API_TOKEN is optional but recommended for higher-volume CourtListener use. Store it as an Apify secret and map it to the actor environment variable with the same name, or pass courtlistener_api_token in the Actor input.

LEGALHARVEST_USER_AGENT is optional for local development. On Apify, the actor uses a descriptive default user agent and source-specific safe formatting.

Store And Quota Notes

For public Apify Store use, the recommended production setup is to configure owner-managed Apify secret environment variables for API_DATA_GOV_KEY, COURTLISTENER_API_TOKEN, and OPENSTATES_API_KEY, while still allowing high-volume users to bring their own per-run keys. This keeps trial runs simple, reduces shared quota pressure, and gives enterprise users a clean path to use their own source-provider agreements.

If you want to monetize dossier generation separately under Apify pay-per-event pricing, add a custom pricing event named legalharvest-dossier in the Actor pricing UI. LegalHarvest now reports the resulting billing status in RUN_SUMMARY.charge_events, so you can confirm whether dossier runs were actually chargeable and billed.

Open States is the tightest default quota surface in this actor, so state-legislation searches should encourage users to supply openstates_api_key when they expect sustained usage. Oregon plus all 49 non-Oregon states now have official or targeted exact-citation statute paths, with New Hampshire still using a Justia mirror fallback when the official Right-to-Know host blocks automated access and broader non-citation state statute discovery still flowing through the search-backed state_statutes foundation. CourtListener REST API is the best match for this actor's current architecture. Bulk data, database replication, and webhooks are better handled as separate advanced pipelines, not as the default Store actor path.

Limitations And Responsible Use

LegalHarvest uses public sources and official/open endpoints where available. It does not bypass paywalls, CAPTCHAs, PACER fees, Google Scholar restrictions, proprietary databases, or access controls.

Results are discovery-oriented. Always verify important legal conclusions against the official source, current law, and qualified counsel. The actor does not determine whether a case is still good law and does not provide legal advice.

Users are responsible for using exported data lawfully, including privacy, court-record, data-brokerage, export-control, and platform terms that may apply to their use case. When CourtListener marks a result as blocked from public search-engine indexing, LegalHarvest preserves that signal in the normalized status field so users can handle it with extra care.

LegalHarvest is not affiliated with or endorsed by CourtListener, Free Law Project, GovInfo, Congress.gov, Federal Register, eCFR, SEC EDGAR, USAspending.gov, Open States, the Oregon Legislature, or any other source provider.

Good Fits

• Public legal research discovery
• Investigative journalism and public-record triage
• Compliance and due-diligence source collection
• Legislative and regulatory monitoring
• AI/RAG enrichment from public legal and government sources
• Apify schedules, webhooks, dataset exports, and MCP-style agent workflows