Santa Barbara County Criminal Records: Court Files, Background Checks and Clean Slate

Criminal Cases in the Superior Court

Criminal cases are heard by the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, at three courthouses: the Figueroa Division, 118 East Figueroa Street, Santa Barbara, (805) 568-3959, for the south county; the Miller Division, 312-M East Cook Street, Santa Maria, (805) 614-6590, for the Santa Maria area; and the Lompoc Division, 115 Civic Center Plaza, (805) 737-7789. Felonies and misdemeanors are handled at all three; the court's jurisdiction covers misdemeanors, preliminary felony hearings and felony trials. Phones are answered from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Court files are presumed open unless a law makes them confidential or a judge seals them. The court's Court Records page says an online criminal index is not available; a name search is done on the public access terminals in the lobbies of the Figueroa, Miller and Lompoc courthouses, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., or by a written copy request. If you have the case number, the court's Public Portal shows the register of actions.

How Many Criminal Cases and How They End

The Judicial Council's 2026 Court Statistics Report gives the Santa Barbara County Superior Court's caseload for the year ending June 30, 2025. The court took 2,568 new felony cases, up from 2,294 the year before, 5,013 misdemeanors that were not traffic cases, up from 4,688, and 2,717 traffic misdemeanors. It disposed of 2,240 felony cases in the year:

• 1,176 ended in a felony conviction and 527 in a misdemeanor conviction.
• 416 ended in an acquittal or a dismissal.
• 1,674 were settled by a guilty plea before trial; 35 went to a jury and 3 to a judge.

Of the 4,485 misdemeanor cases disposed of, 1,737 ended in a guilty plea, 16 in a jury trial and 10 in a court trial. The court's 69 jury trials in the year were 35 felony, 27 misdemeanor and 7 civil.

Copies of a Criminal Court File

Requests go on the court's Copy Request Form, which asks for the full name, date of birth, any other names, the years to search and the case number if known, to the records office for the half of the county where the case was filed: South County Records at the Figueroa Division, 118 East Figueroa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, (805) 882-4778, southcountyrecords@sbcourts.org, for Santa Barbara, Goleta and Carpinteria; North County Records at the Miller Division, 312-E East Cook Street, Santa Maria, CA 93454, (805) 614-6414, northcountyrecords@sbcourts.org, for Santa Maria, Lompoc, Guadalupe and the Santa Ynez Valley. Both are open weekdays 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., answer phones 9 a.m. to noon, and take up to 14 business days.

• Copies: 50 cents a page; $1 a page faxed.
• Certified copies: $40 per document plus the copy fee; certified copies are mailed or picked up, not emailed.
• A search taking more than 10 minutes: $15.
• Invoice fee: $1; card payments carry a 2.9 percent plus 60 cent surcharge. Checks go to the Clerk of the Court with "not to exceed $175" on the memo line.

Government agencies may fax requests for criminal case records; nobody else may. The form's criminal section lists what most people need: the complaint, the minute orders, the plea waiver and the probation order, which together show the disposition.

Local Criminal History From the Sheriff and the Police

• The Sheriff's Records Bureau issues a local criminal history for $25, a clearance letter for $37 and a booking photo for $25, only to the person the record is about or with that person's written permission and photo identification, on its Request Copy of a Report page; the bureau is at 4434 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, (805) 681-4180, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• The Santa Barbara Police Department gives a person their own criminal history by mail: the form on its police report page, a copy of a government ID and a check to the City of Santa Barbara, $10 for the search and $25 more if records are found.
• The Lompoc Police Department gives a person their own local criminal history under Penal Code section 13300 for $20, with photo identification; see the Lompoc guide.
• The UCSB Police Department issues clearance letters free of charge, stating whether the applicant has an arrest record in its own jurisdiction only, picked up by the applicant with photo ID, on its Records Unit page.

Each letter covers that agency's own arrests only; how a case ended comes from the court.

Your California Criminal History and Where to Be Fingerprinted

The record kept by the California Department of Justice is released to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes, never to the public. To see your own, ask for a Record Review: Live Scan fingerprints on form BCIA 8016RR and a $25 state fee, described on the Department's Record Review page. It cannot be used for immigration or visa purposes. The District Attorney's questions page sends anyone asking for their criminal history to the Department of Justice.

Live Scan fingerprinting in the county, with the rolling fee on top of the state and FBI fees:

• The Sheriff's Santa Maria Station, 812-A West Foster Road, (805) 934-6150, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed noon to 1 p.m., offers Live Scan and records services.
• The Santa Barbara Police Department, 215 East Figueroa Street: call (805) 897-2355 first to confirm availability; bring the printed form, a government ID and payment.
• The Santa Maria Police Department takes Live Scan and fingerprint card appointments on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, (805) 928-3781, extension 2590; a fingerprint card is $50.
• The Lompoc Police Department, by appointment on weekdays, rolling fee $40.
• Private sites on the Attorney General's Live Scan location list include Live Scan Santa Barbara, 1300 Santa Barbara Street, Suite A, (805) 525-6800, rolling fee $30; CopyRight Printing Systems, 5708 Hollister Avenue, Goleta, (805) 685-2277; the UPS Store at 1072 Casitas Pass Road, Carpinteria, (805) 566-9921, rolling fee $65; and Skunk Bear Laserworks, 900 McMurray Road, Buellton, (800) 765-4493. Applicants must show a valid, unexpired photo ID.

Clean Slate: Records the State Clears on Its Own

Since July 1, 2022, the Department of Justice has reviewed its criminal history database every month and marked the arrests and convictions that qualify for automatic relief under Penal Code sections 851.93 and 1203.425, going back to records from January 1, 1973. Nobody files anything. Arrests that never led to charges, dismissed cases, most misdemeanor convictions after probation or sentence is done, and, since October 1, 2024, many felony convictions, get a notation of relief; the Department then stops reporting them to employers and licensing agencies that run fingerprint checks, and tells the court, which limits public access to the case. The record is not deleted and police still see it. The rules and the laws behind them are on the Department's Automatic Record Relief page, and the Department publishes each county's totals on OpenJustice.

To find out whether your own record has been cleared, order the Record Review above; the Department does not notify people. Automatic relief is a notation, not a dismissal; the Department says a person who wants a dismissal, a sealing or a reduction still files a petition with the court. In Santa Barbara County the District Attorney, the Probation Department and the Public Defender have held Clean Slate clinics to help residents file, in 2024 and again in the spring of 2026.

Asking the Court to Dismiss or Seal a Record

Dismissing a conviction

A conviction can be dismissed under Penal Code section 1203.4 by filing form CR-180 with the court that heard the case; the judge signs form CR-181. You must have no new case pending and be off probation and parole. If you finished probation, the court must grant it; if you were never on probation, you wait one year from the conviction; if you violated probation, the judge decides. A felony that could have been charged as a misdemeanor can be reduced first under section 17(b). A felony with a county jail sentence can be dismissed one year after the sentence ends if it included mandatory supervision, otherwise two years; a felony with a state prison sentence can be dismissed two years after it ends, for convictions that did not require sex offender registration. The courts' guides, Record cleaning: Misdemeanors and Record cleaning: Felony convictions and Proposition 47, walk through each path, and the court's own Self-Help page lists expungement among its topics.

Sealing an arrest

An arrest that never led to a conviction, because no charges were filed, the case was dismissed, diversion was completed or the person was acquitted, can be sealed under Penal Code section 851.91 with form CR-409; the judge's order is form CR-410. Diversion arrests have their own sections, 851.87, 851.90 and 1001.9. A sealed arrest still has to be disclosed when applying for public office, a peace officer job or a state license. The courts' guide is Record cleaning: Arrest with no conviction.

Proposition 47

A felony conviction for simple drug possession under Health and Safety Code sections 11350, 11357(a) or 11377, or for theft of $950 or less, from before November 2014, can be reduced to a misdemeanor under Penal Code section 1170.18. The deadline to apply was removed on October 8, 2023. There is no statewide form; the request goes to the court where the conviction happened.

Certificate of rehabilitation

A person with a felony conviction who has completed the required period of rehabilitation after release can petition the Superior Court for a certificate of rehabilitation under Penal Code section 4852.13, which is also a recommendation for a governor's pardon.

Diversion: Cases That End Without a Conviction

The District Attorney's Diversion Programs page lists the ways a case in this county can end without a conviction. Before charges are filed: the Neighborhood Restorative Justice Program for low-level misdemeanors, and the Misdemeanor Diversion Program, a 90-day class with a $250 fee, or $450 at its second level, after which the charge is never filed. Before a plea: the Theft Awareness Program for first-time minor theft, 90 days and a $300 fee, with the case dismissed; mental health diversion under Penal Code 1001.36 for felonies and misdemeanors; military diversion under Penal Code 1001.80 for veterans and service members whose misdemeanor came from service-related trauma or substance abuse; and pre-plea substance abuse treatment, at least six to nine months for a misdemeanor and twelve for a first felony, with the charges dismissed on completion. After a plea: the Mental Health Treatment Court, 12 to 18 months on supervised probation, and the Veterans Treatment Court, which can end with dismissal under Penal Code 1203.4. Credo 47, run with the Public Defender and Behavioral Wellness, diverts people with serious mental illness, homelessness or substance use disorders, sometimes before any arrest.

The Fair Chance Act: What an Employer May Ask

Since January 1, 2018, California employers with five or more employees may not ask about conviction history, on an application or in an interview, before making a conditional job offer. After the offer they may run a background check, but may not consider an arrest that did not end in a conviction, a completed diversion, or a conviction that was dismissed, sealed or expunged. To withdraw the offer because of a conviction they must do an individualized assessment, give the applicant written notice and a copy of the report, and allow at least five business days to respond. A complaint goes to the Civil Rights Department within three years, at (800) 884-1684; the rules are on the Civil Rights Department's Fair Chance Act page.

The District Attorney and the Public Defender

District Attorney John T. Savrnoch, elected in June 2022 and in office since January 2, 2023, runs six offices in three cities, listed on the office's contact page: Santa Barbara, 1112 Santa Barbara Street, (805) 568-2300; Santa Maria, 312-D East Cook Street, (805) 346-7540, with a juvenile office at 4285 California Boulevard, (805) 934-6975; and Lompoc, 115 East Civic Center Plaza, (805) 737-7760. The offices are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed from noon to 1 p.m. Crime victims reach the Victim-Witness Assistance Program at (805) 568-2400 in Santa Barbara, (805) 346-7529 in Santa Maria and (805) 737-7910 in Lompoc; legal residency is not required.

The Public Defender, Tracy Macuga, represents people who cannot afford a lawyer, and the District Attorney's page names the Public Defender, a private defense attorney or the court clerk as the place to start an expungement. Registered sex offenders are listed on the state's Megan's Law website.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are criminal records public in Santa Barbara County?

Court files of criminal cases are, unless sealed, made confidential by law, or granted automatic relief by the state. The state's criminal history is not public; you can get only your own.

Can I search Santa Barbara County criminal cases online?

Not by name. The court has no online criminal name index; use the public terminals at the Figueroa, Miller or Lompoc courthouse, send the court's Copy Request Form, or look up a known case number on the court's Public Portal.

How do I get a conviction dismissed in Santa Barbara County?

File form CR-180 with the court that heard the case, once you are off probation with no new case pending. If you completed probation, the court must grant it.

Is my old arrest already sealed?

Possibly. Since July 2022 the state marks qualifying arrests and convictions for relief every month. Order your own Record Review from the Department of Justice to see the notation.

How much are court copies in Santa Barbara County?

50 cents a page; a certified copy adds $40 per document; a search over 10 minutes is $15.

Where can I get Live Scan fingerprints in Santa Barbara County?

At the Sheriff's Santa Maria Station, the Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and Lompoc police departments by appointment, or a private site such as Live Scan Santa Barbara at 1300 Santa Barbara Street, rolling fee $30.