Start Here: Who Holds What in California
Three systems, three sets of rules. Pick the right one first.
California does not have one public records office. The state runs a handful of statewide databases, each county runs its own recorder, clerk, assessor and sheriff, and each of the 58 Superior Courts keeps its own case files. A birth certificate, a deed, a criminal case and a business filing for the same person will sit in four different buildings run by four different agencies.
The state level covers business entities (Secretary of State), the criminal history repository (Department of Justice), state prison inmates (CDCR), professional licenses (Department of Consumer Affairs and the independent boards), unclaimed property (State Controller), the sex offender registry (Megan's Law) and state vital records (Department of Public Health).
The county level covers records tied to land and life events: deeds, liens and mortgages at the County Recorder, assessed values at the Assessor, marriage licenses and fictitious business names at the County Clerk, and local birth and death certificates at the county health department or recorder. County jail and booking information comes from the responsible local detention agency, commonly the Sheriff. Alameda's Clerk-Recorder and Riverside's Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder illustrate how several functions can sit within one office.
The court level covers civil, criminal, family, probate, small claims and traffic cases. There is no single public statewide search of all Superior Court case files. Each court provides its own access arrangements, and the rules on what you can see online differ by case type and court. The California judiciary's access guide explains the difference between inspecting a public file at the courthouse and viewing it remotely.
Ask where the event happened, not where the person lives now. A deed is filed in the county where the land sits, a divorce in the county where it was filed, a birth in the county where the hospital was. Start there.
The California Public Records Act in 2026
Ten days for a determination, copies at the permitted cost. Use the current statute numbers.
The California Public Records Act gives anyone the right to inspect and copy disclosable records held by state and local agencies. It was recodified effective January 1, 2023 and now lives in Government Code sections 7920.000 and following. Older guidance may still cite the former section 6250 series. The state's Government Code reference identifies the current CPRA provisions. Use Government Code 7920.000 et seq. when identifying the current act.
The Attorney General's public-records guidelines explain that a request need not be in writing, although a written description makes the record and scope clearer. You generally do not have to explain why you want an ordinary public record. The agency has 10 calendar days to determine whether a request for copies seeks disclosable records, with up to 14 additional days in unusual circumstances, such as gathering a large volume or consulting another agency. That deadline is for the determination, not for delivery; the agency should give an estimated availability date when immediate production is not possible.
Copying is generally charged at the direct cost of duplication, or a fee specifically established by statute. The Attorney General's guidelines distinguish reproduction costs from the staff time used to search for and review records. Electronic records can be inexpensive to supply, but special rules can apply to data compilation, extraction or programming. Ask for the legal basis and an estimate before accepting a charge. A standard agency-copy request and a court-certified record do not necessarily use the same fee schedule.
The exemptions depend on the record and the applicable law. Certain personnel records, investigative files, drafts, confidential legal advice and litigation-related material can be withheld. An exemption does not automatically make every document about the same subject confidential. Ask the agency to identify its basis for withholding and to release reasonably separable public portions. Arrest information has its own disclosure provisions, discussed below.
Most larger agencies provide a request portal or department-specific instructions. Los Angeles County's request page, San Diego County's portal, Sacramento County's portal and Contra Costa County's request instructions identify their respective routes. The portal thread becomes a useful record of what you requested and how the agency responded. Check the named department rather than assuming a county portal includes an independent court or a city within that county.
Court case files are not obtained through an ordinary CPRA request. Courts follow judicial access rules, while vital records and criminal history have their own statutory procedures. The judiciary's public-records page also separates case files from judicial administrative records. If an agency denies a CPRA request, ask for the exemption and reconsideration. Judicial enforcement is available by a petition to the Superior Court under Government Code section 7923.100.
Court Records: 58 Courts, 58 Lookups
California has 58 Superior Courts. Search fees, document access and historical coverage depend on the court.
California's trial courts are the Superior Courts, one per county, and they hold the case files for civil, criminal, family, probate, juvenile, small claims and traffic matters. The appellate courts and the Supreme Court publish their own dockets separately. Because each Superior Court is administered locally, the online tools differ. Some counties post full registers of actions and document images. Others post only a case index with party names, filing dates and hearing dates.
The Los Angeles Superior Court describes itself as the nation's largest trial court and operates 36 courthouses. Its case-name search uses a separate online fee schedule: a guest name search is $4.75, charged even when no matching record is returned. Registered-user pricing differs. A search fee is also different from the price of a document image or certified copy, so check the service you are buying before submitting repeated name variations.
The official San Diego access page, Orange County case access, Santa Clara case information and Contra Costa records page explain their own systems. Fresno's public portal, San Bernardino's case-information page and San Francisco's case-information page provide additional county routes.
What you can see is governed by the California Rules of Court governing electronic access and confidentiality laws. Civil, probate and many criminal records are public, but public courthouse access does not necessarily mean unrestricted internet access. Juvenile dependency and delinquency files are generally confidential. Family law records can require a courthouse visit even when a case index is available online. Sealed records and particular confidential documents remain restricted; a protective order does not automatically seal every other record in a case.
Ordinary clerk-made copies are generally 50 cents a page under Government Code section 70627. A separate $40 certification charge applies to many civil records, with different statutory charges or exceptions for some documents. The Merced court's records instructions explain the ordinary copy, certification and staff-search charges. Effective January 1, 2026, AB 1524 permits members of the public to use their own equipment to copy accessible electronic court records at the courthouse without a copying charge, subject to protections for court records and systems.
Federal cases filed in California are not in a Superior Court system. They use PACER, whose ordinary electronic access rate is ten cents a page, with a quarterly waiver when total charges are $30 or less and other limits described in its pricing rules. The appropriate federal clerk supplies certified copies. A federal case search and a county Superior Court search cover different jurisdictions.
Central Coast and northern searches have their own entry points: Santa Barbara case information, Ventura case inquiry, Monterey case search and Sonoma's case portal. Read the court's coverage notes before interpreting a missing historical case. The California court records directory helps identify the appropriate court, including counties beyond these examples.
A name search in the wrong county returns nothing and tells you nothing about a case filed elsewhere. Start with the county connected to the dispute, offense or filing, then use the clerk's archive instructions if the event predates the online index. California's separate Superior Court systems make the place of filing a central part of the search.
Criminal History: What the DOJ Holds and Who Can See It
The state rap sheet is not a public name-search database. Your own DOJ review costs $25 plus applicable fingerprinting charges.
The California Department of Justice keeps the state criminal history repository, the file people call a rap sheet. It compiles reported arrest and disposition information. Access is restricted to the subject, criminal justice agencies and other recipients authorized by law. There is no public name search of the DOJ repository. A commercial website offering a California search is not thereby providing unrestricted access to the DOJ file.
To see your own record, California residents submit Live Scan fingerprints using form BCIA 8016RR, marked Record Review. The DOJ processing fee is $25, and the fingerprint operator may add a separate fee. A waiver is available for qualifying applicants who cannot afford the DOJ portion. People outside California use a manual fingerprint card with form BCIA 8705. The Record Review instructions provide the forms, mailing details and Record Review Unit number, (916) 227-3849.
If the record is wrong, use the Claim of Alleged Inaccuracy or Incompleteness, form BCIA 8706, supplied with a Record Review response containing criminal information. Include the record and available evidence supporting the correction. DOJ's instructions distinguish this challenge process from requesting a public court copy. A court disposition can help explain a missing or incorrect outcome in the repository.
Employment screening has additional rules. The California Civil Rights Department's Fair Chance Act guidance explains that covered employers with five or more employees generally may not ask about conviction history before a conditional job offer. After an offer, the law requires a defined consideration and notice process. Public availability of a court entry does not by itself establish that an employer may use it for every hiring decision.
California also grants automatic record relief. DOJ's automatic record-relief report explains relief under Penal Code sections 851.93 and 1203.425 for qualifying arrests and convictions. Relief limits disclosure, but it is not the removal of every record from every database. The California Courts arrest-sealing guide says an arrest may already have received automatic relief and explains the separate court procedure when needed. Eligibility depends on the record; an arrest without a conviction should not be described as automatically disappearing on one universal deadline.
For publicly accessible case information, the source is the court, not a public DOJ rap-sheet search. The California criminal records directory leads to the relevant county sources, while the wants and warrants directory separates another record type.
Arrest Records, Jail Bookings and Inmate Searches
Each local detention agency supplies its own custody information; CDCR supplies the state-prison search.
California distinguishes specified public arrest information from the underlying investigative file. The CPRA's law enforcement provisions address identifying and booking details, charges and custody information, subject to applicable exceptions. A public booking entry does not make the entire police report or every associated recording public. For the actual report, use the arresting agency's records process and identify the incident, rather than treating the jail search as a complete account of the investigation.
Local routes include the Los Angeles County Inmate Reception Center information, Orange County Sheriff's inmate-information page, Riverside County inmate information and San Bernardino County Inmate Locator. The Alameda inmate locator, Kern inmate search and Fresno Sheriff's search information cover their own custody systems. Coverage and update timing differ. A missing current entry does not establish that an arrest never occurred or that the person has no court case.
Once charges are filed, follow the case through the appropriate Superior Court to find its disposition. Booking allegations are not convictions, and the arresting agency, jail and court can show different stages of the same event. The Santa Barbara Sheriff's jail information and Sonoma Sheriff's reports and statistics page illustrate the distinction between custody services and published local reports. San Francisco also publishes a jail-bookings dataset, which is different from asking a detention office to confirm custody now.
State prison inmates are searchable through California Incarcerated Records and Information Search, CIRIS. The state's service description lists name, CDCR number, age, current location, commitment counties, admission date and Board of Parole Hearings dates and outcomes. CIRIS replaced the former Inmate Locator in 2023, as documented in CDCR's launch announcement. For help locating a person, use CDCR's contact instructions. Federal prisoners are searched separately through the Bureau of Prisons locator.
A California county jail and a CDCR prison are separate systems even when they concern the same person at different times. Use the commitment county shown in CIRIS as a lead to the sentencing court. The lookup supplies custody information rather than a certified judgment.
Birth, Death, Marriage and Divorce Records
State fees rose by $2 on January 1, 2026. Counties remain an important ordering route, and divorce judgments come from the court.
The California Department of Public Health, Vital Records, maintains state birth, death and public marriage records. The recorder or health department in the county of the event provides local services. Both routes issue certified records within their coverage, but not every record is available from both offices; confidential marriages require the appropriate county process. CDPH's current processing page lists an average of four to six weeks for certified-copy requests and seven to nine weeks for amendments, and says county ordering can often be faster.
Assembly Bill 64 increased certified vital-record fees effective January 1, 2026. The state fee schedule lists $31 for a birth certificate, $26 for a death certificate and $19 for a marriage certificate. The state's 2026 fee notice, published by Fresno County, documents the $2 increase. Local birth fees can differ: Los Angeles County charges $34 for an authorized certified birth copy, with an additional handling charge for its online vendor service. Fetal death, divorce certificates and amendments have their own charges.
California issues authorized and informational certified copies of qualifying public vital records. An authorized copy establishes identity and requires eligibility under the relevant record rules. An informational copy is marked as not valid to establish identity. For a mailed authorized birth request, the CDPH birth application requires a notarized sworn statement when applicable. Do not assume that the eligibility rules for a birth, a death and a confidential marriage are identical, or that an informational copy will satisfy an identity requirement.
Divorce works differently. CDPH holds only a Certificate of Record for dissolutions filed between 1962 and June 1984, and that certificate proves a case existed without being the decree. The actual divorce judgment is a court record held by the Superior Court where the case was filed, and you order it from that court's clerk.
CDPH's July 2026 ordering notice says the state office only processes applications received by mail and no longer accepts applications submitted electronically through third-party vendors. A vendor may mail an application to CDPH or send it electronically to a participating county. State mail orders go to CDPH Vital Records, MS 5103, P.O. Box 997410, Sacramento, CA 95899-7410. The customer-service number on its application is (916) 445-2684. Use the current form for the record requested.
If CDPH cannot locate a record, it retains the fee as a search fee and issues a Certificate of No Public Record. Double-check the event county, date and spelling before ordering. The California vital records directory identifies county routes; a negative search at one office should be interpreted in light of that office's coverage.
County instructions include Orange County vital records, San Bernardino birth, death and marriage certificates, San Diego certificates and Sonoma vital records. Fresno's Recorder and Alameda's Clerk-Recorder also supply their own ordering routes. Read the county's instructions before sending a state form and fee to a local office; processing methods and local charges can differ.
Recent death records in Los Angeles may involve the county Public Health Vital Records Office, while Sacramento Public Health's birth-certificate page describes its own service. San Francisco's Office of Vital Records, Santa Barbara's record-ordering service and Riverside's public and official records page provide additional local routes. Use the office covering the place and record year, rather than the county where the requester lives.
Property, Deeds and Assessor Records
The Assessor answers the assessment question; the Recorder holds the instruments; the tax collector handles payment records.
California property research commonly involves three offices. The County Assessor values land and buildings for tax purposes and maintains parcel maps, assessed values, building characteristics and exemption status. The County Recorder records the documents themselves, deeds, deeds of trust, reconveyances, liens, easements and notices of default, indexed by the names of the parties and the date recorded. Property tax bills and payment status sit with a third office, the Treasurer and Tax Collector. Fresno's assessed-value lookup and Fresno's Recorder are separate routes even though both concern the same land.
Assessor portals differ in searchable fields and what they display. Start with a parcel number when possible. Los Angeles property search, Orange County property information and parcel maps, Riverside property search and Sacramento parcel data provide local entry points. Under Proposition 13, a change in ownership can trigger reassessment, but exclusions and partial interests matter. The Board of Equalization's change-in-ownership guidance explains why a deed transfer does not always mean the entire property's assessment resets in the same way.
Recorder indexes are the more uneven layer. Sacramento's Clerk-Recorder, San Bernardino's Recorder-Clerk, San Francisco's Assessor-Recorder and Sonoma's records search explain their respective services. Los Angeles County does not provide internet access to its real-estate records or indexes and directs researchers to its in-person viewing arrangements. An online index, a document image and a certified copy are different services; check the recorder's current instructions for each.
Most ordinary recorded deeds and liens are public, but not every document or personal field in a recorder's custody has unrestricted access. Military discharge records and other protected materials follow different rules. The California property records and recorded documents directories distinguish assessment information from recorded instruments. A tax-owner field is useful for locating a parcel, but the deed and later instruments answer the recorded-title question.
For additional assessment routes, use Contra Costa maps and property information, San Bernardino property research, San Diego property information, Santa Barbara parcel details or Sonoma parcel information. Compare the assessor's parcel number with the legal description in the instrument. A county parcel map helps identify the land; it is not itself the recorded deed or a boundary survey.
Alameda's real-property recording information, Kern's official document search and Santa Barbara's recorder search provide other local routes. San Diego County Archives supports historical research and links to the county's official-records search. Follow the date coverage stated by the county before concluding that an older conveyance is absent. Historical indexes, available images and newly recorded documents may cover different periods within the same service.
Business Filings, Fictitious Names and Professional Licenses
Corporations and LLCs are searched through the Secretary of State. Fictitious business names are filed locally, and licenses belong to the issuing regulator.
Corporations, limited liability companies and limited partnerships registered with the Secretary of State can be searched through bizfile Online. Search by entity name or number for status, addresses and available filing history. Many filed documents can be viewed without charge, while certificates and certified copies are separate products. The Secretary of State also maintains UCC financing-statement services, which concern secured transactions and should not be confused with an entity's formation record.
A fictitious business name, often called a DBA, is a county filing rather than a statewide entity search. The Secretary of State's business FAQs direct these questions to the appropriate county clerk. Local routes include Fresno County Clerk, Kern County Clerk, San Diego Recorder/County Clerk and Sonoma Clerk-Recorder. Search the actual name used on the statement; a trade name on a storefront may differ from the legal name shown in bizfile.
Professional licenses are checked with the regulator that issued them. The Department of Consumer Affairs license search covers participating boards and bureaus and links to additional verification services. Check the credential type, status and public disciplinary information for the particular holder.
Attorneys are verified through the State Bar of California, real estate licensees through the Department of Real Estate, insurance licensees through the Department of Insurance and educators through the Commission on Teacher Credentialing. The California licenses directory helps identify the relevant authority.
Sex Offender Registry
Megan's Law is a public search, but it does not display every California registrant.
California's public registry is the Megan's Law website run by the Department of Justice. You can search by name, by address or ZIP code, by city or county, or by map. Public listings include a photo, physical description and offense information, and many include a home address. The site is free and does not require an account.
It is not a complete list. The registry's disclosure explanation distinguishes full-address, ZIP-Code-only and other posting categories. Some registrants are not displayed, so an empty geographic search is not proof that nobody is registered nearby. The public site also explains the restrictions on misuse of registry information. Use the official entry as it appears at the time of the search rather than relying on an old copied listing.
For searches beyond California, the National Sex Offender Public Website connects participating public registries, including states, territories and Indian Country. Its coverage still depends on what the contributing jurisdiction is authorized to publish. A California registry result does not replace a court record when the question concerns the underlying conviction or judgment.
Unclaimed Property Held by the State
Searching and claiming through the Controller are free, with no general deadline once ordinary unclaimed property reaches the state.
California's unclaimed property program covers inactive financial assets such as bank accounts, uncashed checks, insurance benefits and safe-deposit-box contents. The Controller's explanation describes a general three-year inactivity period, with the applicable period depending on the property type. Real estate is not included. A June 2026 announcement put the amount safeguarded by the office at approximately $15 billion.
Searching and claiming are free through ClaimIt.ca.gov. Search by name and the available location information, then follow the instructions for the property found. The Controller's processing guidance allows up to 180 days from receipt of a complete claim package for review and a decision. Some cash-only owner claims may be processed in 30 to 60 days, while more complex claims require additional review.
Heirs and representatives can follow the portal's instructions for documenting their entitlement to a deceased owner's property. The Controller's unclaimed property line is (800) 992-4647. No paid finder is required to claim directly, and a deadline in a notice to contact the original holder is different from the state's general no-deadline policy after transfer.
Driving Records and Voter Registration
California driving and voter files have restricted personal information and specific request procedures.
Driver and vehicle records are handled by the Department of Motor Vehicles, with restrictions on personal information and different routes for different requesters. You can order your own driving record online for $2, or request it by mail for $5. The online product is for viewing and printing; DMV directs people needing a certified mailed copy to form INF 1125. Follow the appropriate request process for someone else's record rather than assuming every personal field is publicly available.
Voter registration information is held by county election offices and the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State's voter-file request instructions explain authorized purposes and excluded personal information under Elections Code section 2194 and related rules. This is not an unrestricted people-search database. Voters can check their own registration through My Voter Status, while public state campaign-finance filings take a separate route through CAL-ACCESS. The voter records directory links the relevant election sources.
How to Write a Records Request That Gets Answered
Name the record, not just the topic. For a California county contract, identify the vendor, department and date range. For a police event, identify the incident number, date and location if known. A request for everything about a subject can require more searching and consultation, but an agency must rely on the statutory grounds when extending the determination period.
Send it to the office that holds it. Fresno County's public-records page, Alameda's Auditor-Controller/Clerk-Recorder request page and Sonoma's Clerk-Recorder-Assessor instructions cover the offices they identify. The San Francisco Police request page concerns police records, while Santa Barbara Police's portal belongs to a city agency rather than every office in Santa Barbara County. A familiar place name does not establish the custodian.
Ask for an existing electronic version when that is useful, and request an estimate for any charge. Keep the scope clear enough for the California agency to locate the records without guessing which years or departments you mean. A CPRA request for an agency contract is different from a recorder order for a certified deed or a court request for a divorce judgment.
Cite the statute once. A short statement that the request is made under the California Public Records Act, Government Code 7920.000 et seq., is enough to identify the law. Ask for the determination and estimated production date, and for the legal basis of any withholding. Long legal preambles do not identify a missing case number, parcel number or contract date.
Keep the portal thread. Kern County, Orange County, Riverside County and the City of Santa Clara provide online request routes. Save the submitted wording, acknowledgment, extension, estimate and final response. If the scope changes, confirm the revised description in the same thread so that the agency's later response can be matched to the request actually being processed.
California Record Guides
California arrest records follows the separate police, booking and court records associated with an arrest.
California background checks explains the distinction between your own DOJ review and an authorized applicant screening.
California birth certificates helps identify the right copy and supporting paperwork before ordering.
California business search explains how to use entity filings to investigate a registered business.
California death records covers the state and local routes for obtaining the certificate needed for a particular purpose.
California inmate search separates CDCR prison information from county jail custody services.
California people search brings together public-record routes while keeping restricted repositories separate.
California public records law takes a closer look at CPRA determinations, production and cost questions.
California sex offender registry explains public posting categories and the limits of a geographic search.
California unclaimed property covers the steps between finding a possible match and documenting a claim.
What the FBI counted in California in 2024
The FBI Crime Data Explorer counts offenses reported by local agencies, not convictions and not calls. For 2024 it recorded 185,734 violent offenses and 759,803 property offenses across 58 counties in California, from 515 agencies that reported a full twelve months. Against the same count for 2023 that is down 7 percent in violent offenses and down 14 percent in property offenses, though the number of agencies reporting changes from year to year, which moves the totals on its own.
The count follows population, so the largest counties carry most of it. These reported the most violent offenses in 2024:
- Los Angeles County, 56,367 violent and 199,673 property offenses from 88 reporting agencies.
- Alameda County, 12,818 violent and 68,517 property offenses from 15 reporting agencies.
- San Diego County, 12,036 violent and 43,256 property offenses from 19 reporting agencies.
- San Bernardino County, 10,959 violent and 39,496 property offenses from 25 reporting agencies.
- Orange County, 9,858 violent and 53,378 property offenses from 35 reporting agencies.
- Sacramento County, 8,222 violent and 30,362 property offenses from 8 reporting agencies.
A county total is the sum of what its agencies sent in, so a county whose agencies reported fewer months looks quieter than it is. Each county page on this site carries its own figures and names the offices that hold the underlying reports.
California Records by County
The county is where much of California's court, land and local custody research starts. Each county guide on this site identifies local offices and search routes. Choose the county connected to the event or property, then distinguish the county government from its Superior Court and the cities inside it.
Southern California searches can begin with Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Diego County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County and Imperial County. A county jail search, a city police request and a Superior Court case lookup can all be necessary for different records arising from the same event.
Along the Central Coast, use Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, San Luis Obispo County, Monterey County, San Benito County and Santa Cruz County. For the Bay Area and nearby North Bay, the routes are San Francisco County, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Marin County, Solano County, Napa County and Sonoma County. Land records belong in the county where the parcel is located, even if its owner lives elsewhere.
Central Valley searches include Sacramento County, San Joaquin County, Stanislaus County, Merced County, Madera County, Fresno County, Kings County, Tulare County and Kern County. Further north in the valley, use Yolo County, Sutter County, Yuba County, Colusa County, Glenn County, Butte County, Tehama County and Shasta County. A court archive and a recorder's index can have different starting years, so check coverage separately.
The foothill and mountain counties include Placer County, El Dorado County, Amador County, Calaveras County, Tuolumne County, Mariposa County, Nevada County, Sierra County, Plumas County, Alpine County, Mono County and Inyo County. Northern and coastal routes include Lake County, Mendocino County, Humboldt County, Del Norte County, Trinity County, Siskiyou County, Lassen County and Modoc County. These complete the 58-county directory; the responsible local office remains the source for its current records and services.
What Changed in California Records in 2025 and 2026
Vital-record fees increased by $2 on January 1, 2026 under AB 64, taking the state fees to $31 for a birth certificate, $26 for a death certificate and $19 for a marriage certificate. The state fee notice also says the birth-certificate charge is scheduled to decrease by $2 in 2027 when the cord-blood program fee ends. Use the fee for the year in which the office processes the applicable request.
The July 1, 2026 change to CDPH ordering matters when choosing between the state and a county. CDPH now processes applications received by mail rather than accepting electronic submissions from online vendors. Counties can still have their own online ordering arrangements, so the state change should not be described as ending all online vital-record ordering in California.
AB 64 also introduced amendments adding diacritical marks to existing birth, marriage and death records beginning July 1, 2026. CDPH's guidance distinguishes an amendment from registration of an original certificate and explains that the amendment becomes an additional part of the record. Use that procedure when the requested correction concerns an accent or other authorized mark in a name.
The judiciary's 2026 law summary explains AB 1524's changes to courthouse access and copying of public electronic records. That does not turn every courthouse-accessible document into a remotely downloadable file. Online availability still depends on the record type and the governing access rules.
CIRIS is the current prison-search service, but its launch was in 2023, not 2025 or 2026. Likewise, California's automatic record-relief program predates this year. For a current search, use the live service and current eligibility guidance rather than treating either program as a newly created 2026 database.
Los Angeles County's wildfire recovery page continues to offer no-cost replacement vital and property records for eligible residents directly affected by fires. For vital records, call (800) 201-8999, option 1; for property records, use option 3 or RRCCFireAssistance@rrcc.lacounty.gov. Follow the county's affidavit and office-location instructions for the requested record.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there one website where I can search all California public records?
No. California records are split between state agencies, 58 counties and 58 Superior Courts. Statewide services include bizfile, Megan's Law, CIRIS and the Controller's unclaimed property search. Local court files, deeds and jail information require the relevant local source. Vital records can have state and county ordering routes.
How long does a California agency have to answer a public records request?
Generally, 10 calendar days for a determination on a request for copies, with up to 14 additional days in unusual circumstances. That is the determination deadline, not a guarantee of completed production. The agency should provide an estimated availability date when records cannot be supplied immediately.
Can I look up someone's criminal record in California?
Not through a public DOJ rap-sheet search. The state repository is restricted. Public criminal case information may be available through the appropriate Superior Court, while local custody tools answer a different question. Sealed or otherwise confidential records remain restricted.
How much is a California birth certificate in 2026?
The state fee is $31 per certified copy after the January 1, 2026 increase under AB 64. Local fees can differ; Los Angeles County lists $34. State death certificates cost $26 and marriage certificates $19. Check the issuing office's ordering and eligibility requirements.
Are arrest records public in California?
Specified arrest and booking information is subject to public disclosure, with exceptions. That does not make the entire investigative file or DOJ rap sheet public. Eligible arrests may receive automatic relief or court-ordered sealing, but there is no universal promise that every arrest disappears after one to three years.
Where do I get a California divorce record?
From the Superior Court where the divorce took place when you need the actual judgment. CDPH holds only a Certificate of Record for divorces from 1962 through June 1984, which identifies the filing but is not the divorce decree.