Santa Cruz County Court Caseload Data and Trends
Depending on the local government practices, and political and economic climates, court case numbers will vary from year to year in specific areas of Santa Cruz County, CA.
The Santa Cruz County court system consists of 1 court type, Superior Court. In 2018, Superior Court recorded 39,033 filings, which indicates a decrease of 20% from 46,943 in 2017. Review the table below for number of cases in the county.
| Courts Type | Number of filings in 2018 |
|---|---|
| Superior Court | 39,033 |
Most Popular Court Cases
You can tell a lot about an area by the types of legal proceedings that appear in county courts.
Santa Cruz County court records data dates back to 2012. Some may date back further, but they started formally recording them since 2012. There was a total of 39,033 cases filed in the county for the year 2018. The most popular type of court case is criminal comprising 85% of the total filings. The next most popular types of court cases are civil and family law cases. Check out the table below to review the filing information for a specific court case type in county.
There are various choices to lookup for a Santa Cruz County court case using someone’s name, the court type, the courthouse or county name, and other information.
| Cases Type | Number of filings in 2018 |
|---|---|
| Criminal | 33,012 |
| Civil | 3,430 |
| Family Law | 1,887 |
| Probate | 314 |
| Delinquency | 234 |
| Dependency | 156 |
Juvenile Delinquency in Santa Cruz, CA
Unfortunately, in many areas of the Santa Cruz County, juvenile delinquency issues are on the rise. There are many reasons for the rise in youth offenders. The juvenile sentence in California often depends on the severity of the crime, the number of crimes, and other family matters.
In 2017, a total of 385 juvenile cases were reported for every 100,000 people age 10 to adulthood in the jurisdiction of Santa Cruz County. Of that total, 59% of those proceedings were delinquencies which equaled 229 court cases. Another 41% were dependency cases that accounted for 156 of the juvenile cases.
A lot of counties, including, Santa Cruz County, are focusing on family therapy and relationships rather than punishment for juvenile crimes. Future Santa Cruz County juvenile delinquency numbers will show whether or not this approach is working.
| Juvenile Cases | Number of cases |
|---|---|
| Delinquency | 11,158 |
| Dependency | 4,397 |
| Status | 302 |
Government of Santa Cruz County, CA
| County Seat: | Santa Cruz |
| Government Type: | County |
| Authority: | Dillon's Rule |
| Year Organized: | 1850 |
| Total Square Miles: | 607 |
| 2019 Population: | 275,897 |
| Persons/Square Mile: | 0.00 |
Santa Cruz County, CA Courts
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Santa Cruz County Superior Court
Address: 701 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Phone: 831-420-2200