Triage a SHORT list of people for North Carolina (NC) court cases.
Built for the "here is a list of names, which ones have cases?" question — a CSV of
applicants, tenants, or bond clients. **This server cannot accept file uploads:** read
the file yourself and pass the names as an array.
Returns COUNTS AND FACETS PER NAME, not case detail — `matched`, `case_count`,
`counties`, `case_types`, `case_numbers` (first few), `portal_truncated`. That keeps a
5-name response readable. Once you know which names are interesting, call
`search_cases_by_party` (full rows) or `lookup_court_case` (one case) on those.
LIMITS, and why they are low: each name runs a LIVE portal search, and the upstream
session token is shared by every user of this service — a wide fan-out risks blocking
it for everyone. Max 5 names per call, 3 at a time. Split a longer list across calls.
SLOW BY NATURE: measured ~60s for 3 names and ~2 minutes for 5. Tell the user you're
checking and roughly how long it takes; don't retry on a slow response, and don't
treat the wait as an error. If your client's timeout is tight, send fewer names.
PARTIAL RESULTS ARE NORMAL: one name failing (portal hiccup, timeout) does not fail
the batch — that entry comes back with an `error` and the rest still return. Report
which names were checked and which weren't; never present a failed name as "no cases
found", because those mean completely different things.
`portal_truncated: true` on a name means the portal hit its statewide 200-case cap, so
that person's count is a LOWER BOUND — narrow with `county`, `case_status`, or a filed
date range and re-run that name.
Dates: ISO `YYYY-MM-DD` or `MM/DD/YYYY` — both accepted. `file_date_*` bounds when
the case was FILED, not when a hearing is scheduled.
Matching is exact on last + first name (no soundex here — it broadens results and
would make a screening list noisier). A common name will match multiple different
people; `case_count` is "cases matching this name", NOT "cases belonging to one
person". There is no DOB or identity confirmation in this tool — do not treat a hit as
identifying a specific individual.
Read-only. NC only. Public records. Informational, not legal advice.