California Court Records

California Court Record Lookup

In 2001, California’s municipal and superior courts were consolidated, creating a unified, standardized state judiciary. Most California court records are public documents. By performing a California court records search individuals can access to public documents important many purposes such as collecting funds awarded in a judgment, restoring driving privileges after a DUI, confirming terms of probation, enforcing a court-ordered eviction, and establishing California child custody.

California Trial Court Records

There are 58 superior courts in California, distributed by population density and geography, mentioned California courthouses handle criminal and civil matters. Specialized divisions within these CA courts handle domestic issues, family law, juvenile cases, probate, and small claims. Use court case lookup to find California criminal records, civil cases, traffic violations and more.

Searching court records offline must be done at the local court level, a statewide search is not available, while California court records online can be viewed by performing California court record lookup. In addition, some California CA court records, such as traffic, small claims or misdemeanor case records are not available. Juvenile cases and some others involving sensitive information about minor victims, such as domestic violence, may be redacted or restricted for privacy concerns.

California Superior Courts

Individual superior courts offer their own online California court case lookup, including San Diego, San Francisco court records, and Orange County.

The Los Angeles Superior Court alone has over 425 elected judges presiding over 2.5 million cases per year, including more than 4,000 jury trials. Many of the state superior courts include integrated appellate divisions.

Statewide, these courtrooms handle more than six million cases per year, including more than 200,000 felony cases, 800,000 misdemeanors, and 200,000 civil cases valued at more than $25,000.

California Appellate Courts

Above superior courts are the state's six appellate districts and 105 judges. Each appellate court is responsible for reviewing decisions of superior courts within its geographical jurisdiction. In a recent year, the appellate courts received over 22,000 requests for hearings. These courthouses also receive appeals from several labor boards with state jurisdiction including workers compensation and public employment issues.

California Supreme Court

With jurisdiction over decisions made by the state appeals courts, the Supreme Court is the final authority on matters of state law in California. Seven justices preside over cases at this level in San Francisco and alternative locations in major cities. It also sets standards for judicial conduct and advises legislators on the interpretation of state law. In the fiscal year 2015 there were 19 death sentence appeals which contributed to the court's 85 written decisions for the year. In total, the court received about 7,900 filings and disposed of 7,700 cases.

State Appellate Courts

The state’s appellate courts are distributed in six districts and are comprised of more than 100 judges. The cases heard in appeals courts are generally contested decisions from superior courts.

The state supreme court is the last resort for appeals of lower court decisions. It also presides over the state bar, consults on the constitutionality of state laws, and may exercise its authority on writs to ensure cases comply with applicable laws.

Federal courts of CA

There are four divisions of federal courts in California that hear cases involving violations of federal laws, bankruptcy cases, and cases that cross state lines. Records for federal cases may be searched online.