Reviewed and updated October 4, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. Every office link on this page was opened and checked against the office's own website at review time.
Shafter is a city in Kern County, California, with about 23,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Its public records are split between the city and the county. The city keeps council records and its own licenses and permits; court cases, jail bookings, deeds and vital records are county or state records. This guide names the Shafter offices SearchSystems verified, links to each one's own website and gives the phone number and address where the office publishes them. SearchSystems verified 2 city office pages for Shafter, every one opened and checked.
In this guide: City or county, City Hall, Records requests, Other cities and Questions.
City or county record: where Shafter records are kept
- Kept by the City of Shafter: council and board meeting records, ordinances and the city's own licenses and permits.
- Kept by Kern County or the state: court cases, jail bookings, deeds and property values and birth and death certificates. These are not city records; they are in the Kern County public records guide under court records, jail lookups, property records and vital records.
Shafter City Hall: departments, licenses and permits
Business licenses, building permits, code enforcement cases and the city's other records are kept by the department that issued them. The city's own website below lists its departments and how to reach them.
- Website: shafterca.gov/27/City-Departments (page title: City Departments | Shafter CA)
- Phone: 661-746-5001
- Address: 336 Pacific Ave. Shafter, CA 93263
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
Public records requests to Shafter
California public records law applies to the city government of Shafter. The city runs one records request page for its departments; it is the page below, verified by SearchSystems. A request that names a date, an address, or a report or case number is the easiest to answer.
- Website: shafterca.gov/347/Public-Records (page title: Public Records Act | Shafter CA)
- Phone: (661)746-8500
- Address: 1655 Chester Avenue, Bakersfield, CA 93301
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
A record the request page does not cover is asked for from the office that holds it: the department that issued a permit or license for its records.
Other cities and towns in Kern County
SearchSystems has a guide like this one for these other cities and towns in Kern County. The Kern County public records guide covers the records the county keeps for all of them.
Shafter Arrest Records
The Shafter arrest records guide covers the agency that reports Shafter's arrests to the FBI and the 998 arrests it reported for 2025. It also says where a person arrested in Shafter is held, how to find out about an arrest and how to get a copy of the report.
Shafter Records Guides
SearchSystems has eight more guides to Shafter, each written from the city's own offices and figures: Shafter warrants (who issues and serves them, where a person arrested on one is held, how to check for one), Shafter inmate search (the custody page of the Kern County Sheriff's Office, the jail numbers and who books people), Shafter criminal records (the court file, the California criminal history and the local arrest records), Shafter court records (which court hears what, the case search and who keeps the files), Shafter traffic tickets (which court takes the ticket, who writes them and the driving record), Shafter DUI (the DUI law, the arrest, the court case and the license case), Shafter divorce records (which court holds the file and how a certified copy is had) and Shafter property records (deeds, assessed values, permits and evictions).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the official Shafter website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records directory, online since 1997. It links to the official Shafter offices listed above, and the city's own website is shafterca.gov; SearchSystems does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.
Where do I find court records or jail bookings for Shafter?
Shafter cases are heard by the courts that serve Kern County, and people arrested in Shafter are usually booked into the county jail. Both are covered in the Kern County public records guide on SearchSystems.
How do I request a public record from Shafter?
Through the city's records request page at shafterca.gov/347/Public-Records, phone (661)746-8500. A record it does not cover is requested from the office that holds it: the department that issued a permit or license for its records.