Copies of a File or Status of a Case

Status of a Case

Information about pending or recently concluded civil cases excluding family law, probate, small claims, traffic, appeals, juvenile traffic, unlawful detainer cases under $25,000, and juvenile cases, can be obtained by calling the Civil Division at 916-874-5522, by sending a letter including appropriate fees to the Civil Correspondence Clerk, by hiring a private agency to retrieve information, or by going to the Civil Records Unit in the Gordon D. Schaber Sacramento County Courthouse. The Civil Unit is open Monday through Friday (except holidays) from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and is located at 720 9th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814-1380. Civil staff can assist in answering many types of questions about the status of documents, upcoming scheduled hearings and events, and when certain documents are due to be filed according to Case Management Program guidelines. Civil staff are not permitted to give legal advise, or tell you how proceed in your case pursuant to Government Code section 68082.

Viewing or Copying Court Files

To obtain copies or certified copies of a civil file or document, you may hire a private agency to assist you, go to the Civil Records Unit in the Gordon D. Schaber Sacramento County Courthouse, or write a letter including appropriate fees to the Civil Correspondence Clerk.

The Civil Records Unit retains case files on-site for approximately 3 years. All other files are kept at an off-site retention facility and take 3 to 5 business days to be delivered to the main courthouse. If you plan to retrieve a file yourself, it is strongly suggested that you call the Civil Records Unit at 916-874-7186 to find out if the file is in the building.

Copy machines are available in the Records Unit and cost $0.25 per copy. Copy cards cost $1.00 and can be purchased at the dispensers located in Room 101. The dispensers accept only $1.00 bills.

The copy cards come pre-loaded with $0.50, but customers can reload them for $0.25 per copy at the copiers (not the dispensers), up to a limit of $25.00. The money box at the copier accepts nickels, dimes, quarters, $1.00 and $5.00 bills.

If customers have questions or wish to receive a refund on the balance of their copy card, they can contact Caltronics at 916-363-2611.

Most civil court files are public records and may be viewed by anyone. To see a court file you must present a valid picture identification such as a current driver's license.

Written requests sent to the Civil Correspondence Clerk take approximately 3 weeks to complete and require fees for copying, certifying, and researching. Your letter should include as much information as you are able to provide, including the court case number, name of the document(s) you want copied and an indication if you want them certified (see fees listed below). If you do not know the court case number you can use the Court's Index Search Program for Unlimited Civil cases filed from 1992 to current, and Limited Civil Cases filed from 1996 to current. All cases that are not on the Court's Index Search Program are on microfiche, which is located in the Civil Records Unit, or at the following libraries:

• Fair Oaks Branch at 11601 Fair Oaks Blvd., Fair Oaks
• Galt Branch at 1000 Caroline Avenue in Galt
• Martin Luther King Branch at 7340 24th Street Bypass
• Carmichael Branch at 5605 Marconi Avenue,Carmichael
• Central Branch at 828 I Street in Downtown Sacramento, and,
• Sacramento Archives and Museum Collection Center at 551 Sequoia Pacific Boulevard by appointment only. For an appointment, call 916-264-7072. Please note that they do not have case files after 1950.

Fees

The following charges apply if you wish court staff to search for and copy documents. You may send a blank check, made out to Sacramento Superior Court, bearing the words, "Not to exceed [amount] dollars" in the memo section.

• $15.00 for searching records or files, for each search longer than 10 minutes (includes index search)
• $0.50 per page for copies
• $25.00 per certification of a copy of paper, record or proceeding on file (in addition to $0.50 per page for copies)
• $20.00 per exemplification
• Postage: charged at cost