California Court Records

There is a common notion in the minds of many people that accessing public records from the legal system repositories is a time-consuming process. The fact is, this is partly true and partly wrong. It all depends on how you are accessing the courthouse records.

For example, if you are using the Internet to access the information you want – either from the state record website of California or from any of the private websites, then you can access the records very quickly.

If, on the other hand, you want to physically visit the clerk at the courthouse and ask for the record, then this entails some delays as you will have to wait in line. There is also a waiting period if you are accessing your record over the telephone because your record will be mailed and you will have to await its arrival.

Finding and Accessing Court Records in California

Before you even begin to try and access these court records, you should know that there are various types of courts in the state, and because of this, the records maintained are different as well. So, you will have to apply to the specific court depending on what kind of information you want. Of course the case on which you want the information must also have taken place in that court in the state.

There are quite a few guidelines that you will need to follow that will it make it much easier to find your court records in the State of California. When you are trying to learn about the criminal past of someone, you may also contact the state's Attorney General. The Fingerprinting Submissions website at http://www.ag.ca.gov/fingerprints can help you in this. The technology for Live Scan allows you to submit fingerprints digitally and receive background check reports in just 72 hours.

You should also know that with cases of fraud increasing by leaps and bounds, it has now become apparent you should be checking the background of a person completely, and not just his or her criminal background. If you are concerned about your safety, which is necessary when you have children or when you are in business with or want to hire someone, then this complete background check is vital.

Or, perhaps you are suspicious of a neighbor who is around your family all the time. Perhaps you are considering joining a company about which you do not have a lot of information. It might be useful to do some checking to find out whether the company has been party to a lawsuit, and if yes, the charges brought against the company.

By checking the background completely, you can access much more data in addition to the criminal records. You can learn as much about a company or a person as possible, and this lets you make an informed decision.

California court records contain significant amounts of information. In fact, employers are carrying out checks all the time when they want to be sure that the person about to be hired does not have a criminal record. After all, there is so much confidential information at the office and corporate competition that they have the right to be sure before they make a final hiring decision. Such background checks are also known as ‘fingerprint clearances’ and in some places they are also referred to as ‘criminal history court record clearances.'

You must send your request for court records in California or for accessing to an Ombudsman for Public Records. It is preferred to send your request in a written format, but this is not mandatory.

How can you gain permission to view these California court records? The answer is rather simple. All you need to specify is the name and/or the surname (ideally, both) of the person whose records you wish to review. Of course the nature of the public record under consideration also needs to be mentioned as well.

Steps to Finding the Proper California Court Records

Broadly speaking, there are three parts in the process of finding relevant public records from the California courts. These are the identification process, the steps related to locating the record(s), and retrieving the latter for reference usage.

According to the rulings of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, all the public records related to the people residing in California have to be kept by the courts so the public can access them. In addition, most of the court records from the California legal system can be found in the National Archives.

The authorities are legally obliged not only to maintain the records, but also to share the information with you. There are certain exceptional cases in which the information will not be shared with you, but this is not usual. You will just have to provide information about why you need to access the California court records, and your relation to the person about whom you want the information.

Here are the types of information you can find in court records from California:

•    The age and sex of the person
•    Current and past phone numbers and addresses 
•    Marriage records 
•    Divorce records
•    Default and lien records
•    Arrest, police, criminal and court case records 
•    Military records 
•    Property and business records