Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 23, 2026.
Kern County, California, has about 923,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Its court cases are filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Kern, and the file of each case, kept by the Superior Court clerk, is the public record of it. This guide says which court hears what, where to look a case up and who keeps the files.
This guide covers the courts, the records page, criminal cases, kinds of files, directory links, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Kern County public records, Kern County arrest records, Kern County warrants, Kern County inmate search, Kern County criminal records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
The Courts That Hear Cases from Kern County
Court cases from Kern County are filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Kern, which hears every civil, criminal, family, probate, traffic and juvenile case.
Divorces go to the Superior Court's family law division, and the file stays with the Superior Court clerk.
The Superior Court clerk keeps the files, and a copy of anything in a file comes from that office, under the court's own rules rather than the California Public Records Act.
Looking Up a Case from Kern County
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at kern.courts.ca.gov/self-help/court-records (page title: Court Records | Superior Court of California | County of Kern), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
California has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
The California court page SearchSystems verified is at courts.ca.gov/policy-administration/public-records/who-where-how-vi....
What Reaches the Court from Kern County
Together, the ten agencies in Kern County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 18,122 arrests to the FBI that year; the District Attorney decides which of those arrests become cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Kern.
The District Attorney's page SearchSystems verified is at kerncounty.com/government/departments/district-attorney/about/our-o... (page title: What We Do | Kern County, CA), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Kinds of Court Files
The court file is one record with several readers: a criminal case from the arrest to the sentence, a divorce from the petition to the judgment, a traffic ticket from the citation to the conviction the court reports to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, and an eviction or a lien on land.
The other Kern County guides take the kinds of file one at a time: Kern County criminal records, Kern County divorce records, Kern County traffic tickets, Kern County DUI and Kern County property records.
More Official Court Pages for Kern County
The SearchSystems directory, online since 1997, lists the official pages for Kern County and California. These court pages from its Kern County listing were opened again on October 2, 2026 and each one still answers:
- Case Information Search (kern.courts.ca.gov)
- Judicial Records Request (kern.courts.ca.gov)
Cities in Kern County
Wherever in the county a case arises, it is filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Kern.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Kern County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own court records guide opens there:
- Bakersfield (417,468)
- Delano (53,198)
- Ridgecrest (28,373)
- Wasco (27,409)
- Shafter (22,754)
- McFarland (14,365)
- Tehachapi (11,114)
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I look up a court case in Kern County?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at kern.courts.ca.gov/self-help/court-records.
Which court hears felonies in Kern County?
The Superior Court of California, County of Kern, which hears every civil, criminal, family, probate, traffic and juvenile case.
Who keeps the court records in Kern County?
The Superior Court clerk. Copies come from that office under the court's own rules.
Is there a statewide court case search in California?
No. Each court's records are looked up through that court.
Is this the official Kern County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.