Court Records & Case Lookup in California
Plain-language legal information · Citations checked against primary sources · Sources linked below
Legal information, not legal advice. This is general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney–client relationship. Laws vary by state and change over time. For advice about your specific situation, consult a licensed attorney.
Find your own case at the official source
The one reliable way to look up a court case is to go to the official court that handled it and search by case number or party name. There is no single national database of everyone's cases — access is fragmented by state and often by county — so the practical path is to identify the right court, open its official portal, and read your own record there. Courthouse public terminals are free, and clerks can help you locate a file.
For your own case you have the strongest access: many systems let a party view or get one free copy of filings in their own matter, and judicial opinions are generally free to read. This guide helps you find the right official portal and understand what you see — it does not look records up for you, and it is not a way to check on anyone else.
Public vs. sealed: what's actually accessible
Most court records are presumptively public, but large categories are not: juvenile cases, sealed or expunged records, and certain confidential filings are removed from public access, and some systems (like Florida's statewide CCIS) are restricted to government use entirely. When a record is sealed or expunged, it should no longer appear in public results — and a service that keeps showing it can be violating the law.
Access also varies by how a state built its system. Some states have a statewide public case search; others are county-by-county, and a few counties have no online search at all. Knowing whether your state is unified or fragmented tells you where to look — the per-state portal directory below maps it out.
How to read a docket
A docket is the court's running list of everything filed in a case. The header shows the case number, the court, the parties (plaintiff/petitioner vs. defendant/respondent), and the case type. Each numbered docket entry is a filing or event — a complaint, a motion, an order, a hearing, a judgment — usually with a date and sometimes a short code. The final entries typically show the disposition (how the case ended).
Reading a docket is about following the sequence: what was filed, what the court ordered, and where the case stands now. Codes and abbreviations vary by court; the clerk's office can explain what a specific entry means. Understanding the disposition matters most — for example, a dismissal, an acquittal, or a completed sentence changes what the record shows and what relief may be available.
How to request records from the clerk
The clerk of court is the official custodian of case records. To get copies you generally contact the clerk for the court that handled the case (by county and court level), identify the case by number or party name, and request either plain or certified copies. Certified copies (used for official purposes) usually cost a per-page fee, and turnaround varies by office.
If a record should be sealed or removed and still appears, the clerk's office and the court that entered the sealing order are the places to raise it. Keeping your own copies — the docket, key orders, and any sealing/expungement order — is useful whenever you need to prove how a case ended.
Sealing, expungement & what Clean Slate means for you
Sealing hides a record from public view; expungement more fully clears it — and which is available depends heavily on your state and the offense. A growing number of states have 'Clean Slate' laws that seal eligible records automatically after a waiting period, so you may not need to file anything: New York, California, Illinois, and Pennsylvania have automatic-relief systems, while Texas, Florida, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, and Ohio remain largely petition-based. Your state's specific pathway and citation are on this page's state view.
A few important limits: automatic sealing is often staged, so a record may lawfully show less over time; sealing generally does not restore firearm rights; and eligibility excludes certain serious offenses. Because the process, eligibility, and backlog vary widely, an expungement clinic or legal-aid office is the right place to confirm what you qualify for and to help you file.
Federal cases: PACER, CourtListener & RECAP
Federal court records live in PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records). PACER charges about $0.10 per page, capped at $3.00 (30 pages) per document, and waives fees for any quarter in which you accrue $30 or less (a threshold expected to rise to $40 in early 2027). Judicial opinions are free, and a party generally gets one free copy of filings in their own case; viewing at a courthouse terminal is free.
For free access to federal opinions and many dockets, CourtListener / the RECAP Archive (Free Law Project) is a well-known nonprofit source covering the large majority of published federal case law. These are the realistic official and nonprofit routes for federal cases.
Official court portals by state (launch states)
Texas: re:SearchTX (Tyler/OCA) — public tier back to Nov. 1, 2018, uneven county coverage; Harris/Dallas/Bexar/Tarrant also run their own portals. California: no statewide search — use your county superior court's portal (58 counties). Florida: 67 county clerk sites (the statewide CCIS is government-only). New York: NY Unified Court System eCourts (WebCriminal/WebCivil, NYSCEF). Georgia: PeachCourt / county Odyssey portals.
Arizona: Public Access to Court Case Information (azcourts.gov) — statewide but not all courts; juvenile/sealed excluded. North Carolina: eCourts Portal (Odyssey) — statewide across all 100 counties since Oct. 2025. Illinois: county circuit clerks + Judici.com (Cook County criminal is not online); re:SearchIL for appellate/Supreme. Pennsylvania: UJS Web Portal (ujsportal.pacourts.us), all 67 counties. Ohio: county clerk of courts (no unified statewide public portal).
What we don't do — and free help
To keep you safe and stay on the right side of the law, Street Legal AI does not host a searchable database of named individuals, does not run third-party or 'background check' lookups, and is not a screening tool — using court records to screen someone for a job, an apartment, or credit is regulated by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, and that is not what this is. We help you find, read, and clear your own case, and we point you to official sources.
Free help is widely available: public defenders and court self-help centers (criminal and general), legal-aid organizations, expungement / record-sealing clinics (including for Clean Slate and cannabis convictions), and the clerk of court's office for records requests and docket questions.
California: the numbers that matter
Record sealing — automatic relief
Most convictions sealed ~4 yrs after case completion (does NOT restore firearm rights)
California automatically grants relief for most convictions — generally sealing state felony convictions about 4 years after case completion (serious, violent, and sex-registrant offenses excluded), with the DOJ reviewing records monthly. Sealing does NOT restore firearm rights. California has no unified statewide public case search — each of 58 superior courts runs its own portal — so you look up your own case at your county's court site.
Sources
This guide references California's statutes and rules of court, plus public legal-aid resources. Specific statute figures for California are verified against primary sources, with the statute cite and check date shown on each figure. Always confirm current law with your state's official website or a licensed attorney.
Go deeper with the attorney-ready Court Records & Sealing Guide pack.
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