Find California Court Records

This page helps users handle Court Records tasks in California, including appellate case lookups, superior court record requests, electronic access limits, and official-copy routing.

For statewide appellate matters, the California Appellate Courts Case Information System is the main public case information tool for Supreme Court and Court of Appeal cases. For superior court records, the correct path is usually the clerk’s office at the court where the case was filed.

California Appellate Court Case Information

Use the California Appellate Courts Case Information System for case information from the California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal. The system routes identified cases to a case summary screen.

Search California appellate case information

Case information is updated once an hour throughout the business day. The same system may also provide access to copies of published and unpublished opinions tied to appellate cases.

Tip: If you need case records beyond the information available online, visit or call the specific Supreme Court or Court of Appeal office that has the case.

Superior court records in California counties

California has 58 superior courts, one in each county. Each superior court keeps its own case records and judicial administrative records.

For divorce decrees, name change records, wills, probate records, traffic records, criminal case records, judgments, complaints, or filings, contact the clerk’s office at the superior court where the case was filed. The Judicial Council’s PAJAR team does not provide copies of superior court records.

Find the correct California superior court

Electronic court case record access

California courts may keep official case records in paper or electronic format. Electronic case records can be viewed on an electronic device, but not every case record is available electronically.

The public may view most court case records, unless a record is confidential by law or sealed by court order. Some case types and some filings are not open to the public, including juvenile dependency and juvenile delinquency case records.

Remote access depends on the case type and the person requesting access. Members of the public may be limited to registers of action, calendars, and case indexes for sensitive case types such as divorce, child custody, civil harassment, and criminal cases. Other records in those cases may require courthouse access.

Review California electronic case record access rules

Published and unpublished opinions

Opinions of the California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal are public records. California Supreme Court opinions establish precedent that California appellate and superior courts must follow.

Published opinions are citable opinions ordered published in the Official Reports. Unpublished opinions generally may not be cited or relied on in other cases, but posted opinions are still public records.

Find California appellate opinions

Judicial administrative records

Judicial administrative records are records about judicial branch business, such as budget reports, contracts, audit reports, reports to the Judicial Council, and reports to the Legislature.

Use the PAJAR request process for Judicial Council administrative records and for Supreme Court or Court of Appeal administrative records. Do not use that process for court case records, birth or death certificates, name change records, adoption records, wills, trust records, marriage or divorce records, conservatorship records, or probate records.

To request administrative records, complete the Request for Judicial Administrative Records form, save it to your computer, and send it to PAJAR@jud.ca.gov. Requests may also be mailed to the Judicial Council of California, Attention: PAJAR, Legal Services, 455 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, California 94102-3688.

California court records contact

Use this contact for Judicial Council administrative records or Supreme Court and Court of Appeal administrative records. For case records, contact the court where the case was filed.

• Public Access to Judicial Administrative Records (PAJAR), Public Access Unit, Legal Services, Judicial Council of California, 455 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, California 94102-3688
  Email: PAJAR@jud.ca.gov
  Phone: (415) 865-7796
  Office hours: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday to Friday, excluding holidays
  For hearing or speech assistance, dial 711 to connect with a communications assistant.