Citing Case Harvester
A reproducible citation records what you asked, where the answer came from, and the date that describes the evidence behind the claim. Case Harvester is a research database, not the official court record.
Preserve the query
The app stores your current filters and sorting in the ?q= query parameter. Copy the complete browser URL after arranging the result set. Reopening the URL reproduces that query against the database as it stands on the day it is opened, so the records and the count can change. When a figure must stay fixed, export the matching rows as a CSV if your account includes exports, and keep the file with your notes. The file holds what the search returned when the file was made, which can be earlier than the day you download it.
Choose the date that matches the claim
| Claim | Date to cite |
|---|---|
| A claim about one case | recordsAsOf, returned with the case and shown on the case page in the app as Records as of. It is when that case was last read successfully from Case Search. A null value, or a case page with no Records as of date, means no read date is recorded. Say the read date is unknown rather than treating the record as current. |
| A methods statement about the database used for a query | latestRecordRefresh, returned by the metadata endpoint and shown in the app as Latest case refresh under an aggregate table once it has been run. It is the most recent successful case refresh anywhere in the database. That timestamp comes from a single case, so do not cite it as the date every case was current through. |
| The browser view that selected the records | The full URL containing ?q=, plus the date you accessed it. If you kept an exported file, also give the date it was made. A file that downloaded straight away was made then. For a file the app emailed you about, use the date shown beside it on the Exports page. |
Suggested form
Case Harvester, "Maryland court case data," filtered result or case URL, accessed [date], with the applicable recordsAsOf or latestRecordRefresh timestamp.
For a count from a filtered table, name the table and every filter, give the count and the date you ran it, and say what one row represents. Many tables hold several rows per case, such as one row for each charge or each bail decision, so a row count is not a count of cases or people.
Describe collection limits and redacted fields alongside the citation, and say whether your figures include shielded cases and removed charges. See the methodology for the claims those dates can and cannot support. When you publish a share of charge outcomes, state the gap in what Case Search still publishes.
Last updated: October 5, 2026