Read before you request
Before you ask anyone to pull a record, it helps to know what's in it, what's public, and what isn't. This is a plain-language map, not a case review.
Public record — retrievable
Every filing in the case, in order, with dates. The index everything else is organized against.
The charging document — what the government alleged and under which statutes.
The court's final order: the sentence imposed, the conditions, and the statutory basis.
If the case resolved by plea, the written agreement and the change-of-plea hearing transcript when ordered.
The record of what was argued and said at sentencing — often the single most useful document for post-conviction work.
If the case was appealed: the notice, the parties' briefs, and the circuit's opinion or order, where one exists.
The Presentence Investigation Report (PSR) is the most common example. It's prepared by U.S. Probation for the sentencing judge and is not publicly filed on the docket — access is generally limited to the parties, their counsel, and the court. A record-retrieval service that promises to pull a sealed PSR from PACER is promising something PACER access does not provide.
Grand jury materials, certain sealed motions, and some exhibits can also be restricted depending on the case. If a case is largely sealed, that's worth knowing before paying for retrieval, not after.
A § 2255 motion, a § 2241 petition, and a compassionate release motion are all built out of this same material, read together — the charging document next to the plea agreement next to the sentencing transcript. Missing one piece is how a motion gets built on an assumption instead of a fact.
This page describes what generally exists in a federal case file. It isn't a review of your case, and it isn't legal advice — for that, see a free case review.
Next step
We retrieve what's publicly filed, index it, and tell you plainly if the case is one where sealing limits what's available — before taking payment, not after.
See Docket & Record Retrieval — $149