Court of record

A court of record is a trial court or appellate court in which a record of its proceedings is captured and preserved for the possibility of appeal. Such courts maintain official documentation through clerks or reporters who transcribe oral proceedings, and they typically require attorney representation and carry the power to impose penalties such as fines or imprisonment. This distinguishes them from courts not of record, such as small claims courts, traffic courts, and many administrative tribunals, where proceedings are not formally recorded and judges rely on personal notes and memory rather than a preserved transcript. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/