Here is a brief description of the key fields in my 5 tables

table1
ll_docket
ll_appearancedate
ll_judgecode

table2
sc_docket
sc_appearancedate
sc_judgecode

table3
cv_docket
cv_appearancedate
cv_judgecode

table4
cr_docket
cr_appearancedate
cr_judgecode

table5
mv_docket
mv_appearancedate
mv_judgecode

and the where clause would be a an appreance date range and a judgecode but the user could leave the judge code blank therefore requesting all judge codes within the date range.

Thanks Again !