FINDING CALIFORNIA COURT CASES

To find copies of court documents, or judge’s decisions, researchers should understand the structure of California’s court system. There are three types of courts in California: trial courts, appellate courts and the Supreme Court.

Trial courts: These are courts at the county or city level, usually called superior or municipal courts. These cases are not published. To obtain case information, you must contact the court clerk for the particular court in which the case was filed. For the Sacramento County Superior Court, some case information is available on the Internet and on microfiche:

Sacramento County Superior Court Case Index: http://www.sacccourt.com/indexes
It is here that the following indexes are available:

• Civil Case Index: 1937 - current
• Criminal Case Index: Felony/Misdemeanor Cases: 1962 - current
• Family Law Case Index: 1937 - current
• Probate Case Index: 1948 – current
• Small Claims Case Index 1983 – current (South Sacramento Court: 2001- current)

Appellate courts: These are intermediate level state appellate courts. When a person files an appeal in his or her case from the county level, the case goes to an appellate court within their geographic region. For example, cases appealed in the Sacramento area generally go to the Third Appellate District Court. The opinions in these cases are published in the California Appellate Reports --- available at the Sacramento County Public Law Library and the California State Law Library.
They are also available online through the California Judicial Council (back to 1850):
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions

California Supreme Court: This is the highest level state appellate court, also known as the court of last resort in California. When appeals fail at the intermediate level, they sometimes move on to the California Supreme Court. California Supreme Court opinions are published in the California Reports --- available at the Sacramento County Public Law Library and the California State Law Library.  They are also available online through the California Judicial Council (back to 1850):
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/

For further information on California’s legal process, see:
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/reference/guide.htm

The State Law Library and the County Public Law Library have large collections for legal research. For in-depth research and reference assistance you should visit these libraries: