Would this work for you?

SELECT ll_docket, ll_appearancedate, ll_judgecode FROM table1
UNION ALL
SELECT sc_docket, sc_appearancedate, sc_judgecode FROM table2
UNION ALL
...

>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 !