Appellate opinions
API table: appellate_opinions
Reported opinions of the Supreme Court and Appellate Court of Maryland, 1995-present
Definitions have been recorded for some columns and not others. A column with no definition below has not been documented yet.
A field with a fixed, closed set of values lists that set below. A field with documented codes lists its known values, and shows a meaning for the ones that have been described. Other value lists are not published here. Licensed clients can read them through GET /metadata.
Case Number
API field: case_number
Linked Case Search case number when a reliable match exists.
- Served type
String- Nullability
- May be null
- Query capabilities
-
- selectable
- filter:
equals - filter:
set
Populated on 24.2% of served rows (2,420 of 9,985), measured October 15, 2026 at 02:35 UTC
Court
API field: court
Publishing court: coa for the Supreme Court of Maryland or cosa for the Appellate Court of Maryland.
- Served type
String- Nullability
- Always present on a served row
- Query capabilities
-
- selectable
- filter:
equals - filter:
set - aggregate group
Populated on 100% of served rows (9,985 of 9,985), measured October 15, 2026 at 02:35 UTC
Closed value set
coa(Supreme Court of Maryland)cosa(Appellate Court of Maryland)
Published Docket Number
API field: docket_raw
Docket identifier exactly as published with the opinion.
- Served type
String- Nullability
- Always present on a served row
- Query capabilities
-
- selectable
Populated on 100% of served rows (9,985 of 9,985), measured October 15, 2026 at 02:35 UTC
Docket Series
API field: docket_series
Normalized docket-series suffix. The leading letters name the kind of matter: a and s are appeals (regular docket), ag an attorney grievance, pc a petition, m a miscellaneous matter, and jd a judicial disability. Trailing letters mark the opinion's procedural posture -- a reconsideration, a remand, an order, or one of several opinions on one docket -- and do not always leave the kind unchanged, so a suffix whose kind is not established is served without a display label rather than with a guessed one. Listed values are common examples rather than a closed domain.
- Served type
String- Nullability
- Always present on a served row
- Query capabilities
-
- selectable
- filter:
equals - filter:
set - aggregate group
Populated on 100% of served rows (9,985 of 9,985), measured October 15, 2026 at 02:35 UTC
Known values
The data can carry values this list does not name.
s(Appeal)a(Appeal)ag(Attorney grievance)pc(Petition)m(Miscellaneous)jd(Judicial disability)
Term Year
API field: term_year
Court term year assigned to the opinion.
- Served type
Integer- Nullability
- Always present on a served row
- Query capabilities
-
- selectable
- filter:
equals - filter:
set - filter:
greaterThan - filter:
greaterThanOrEqual - filter:
lessThan - filter:
lessThanOrEqual - filter:
inRange
Populated on 100% of served rows (9,985 of 9,985), measured October 15, 2026 at 02:35 UTC
Filed Date
API field: filed_date
Date the court filed the opinion.
- Served type
Date- Nullability
- Always present on a served row
- Query capabilities
-
- selectable
- sortable
- filter:
equals - filter:
set - filter:
greaterThan - filter:
greaterThanOrEqual - filter:
lessThan - filter:
lessThanOrEqual - filter:
inRange - date bucket
Populated on 100% of served rows (9,985 of 9,985), measured October 15, 2026 at 02:35 UTC
Citation
API field: citation
Reporter citation, when one is published.
- Served type
String- Nullability
- May be null
- Query capabilities
-
- selectable
Populated on 97.9% of served rows (9,771 of 9,985), measured October 15, 2026 at 02:35 UTC
Case Caption
API field: parties_caption
Case caption published by the court with the opinion.
- Served type
String- Nullability
- Always present on a served row
- Query capabilities
-
- selectable
- filter:
contains - filter:
startsWith - filter:
endsWith
Populated on 100% of served rows (9,985 of 9,985), measured October 15, 2026 at 02:35 UTC
Authoring Judge
API field: authoring_judge
Judge credited by the court as authoring the opinion.
- Served type
String- Nullability
- May be null
- Query capabilities
-
- selectable
- filter:
equals - filter:
set
Populated on 100% of served rows (9,985 of 9,985), measured October 15, 2026 at 02:35 UTC
Opinion PDF
API field: pdf_url
Court-published opinion PDF URL.
- Served type
String- Nullability
- Always present on a served row
- Query capabilities
-
- selectable
Populated on 100% of served rows (9,985 of 9,985), measured October 15, 2026 at 02:35 UTC
Opinion Row ID
API field: id
Internal opinion row identifier.
- Served type
Integer- Nullability
- Always present on a served row
- Query capabilities
-
- selectable
- filter:
equals - filter:
set - filter:
greaterThan - filter:
greaterThanOrEqual - filter:
lessThan - filter:
lessThanOrEqual - filter:
inRange
Populated on 100% of served rows (9,985 of 9,985), measured October 15, 2026 at 02:35 UTC
Generated from the current served catalog.