San Bernardino County Court Records Search

How to Access San Bernardino County Court Records?

Established in 1863, San Bernadino County is located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. The county is home to 24 incorporated cities and spans across 20,105 square miles. As of 2020, the county’s population stood at 2,180,537, making it the fifth-most populous county in California.

Courts in San Bernardino County

San Bernadino County has a unified court system, and all proceedings are conducted in Superior Courts. These courts are organized into various divisions to handle different cases. Divisions within the Superior Courts include criminal, civil, family, juvenile, probate, traffic, and small claims.

The Criminal Division presides over felony matters and misdemeanors. The Civil Division hears cases relating to breach of contract, personal injury, torts, debt recovery, etc. 

The Family Law Division handles several claims, such as dissolution of marriage, domestic partnership, guardianship, child custody and visitations, and adoptions. The Juvenile Division handles cases where a minor is arrested for allegedly violating the law or is reported to the court for being habitually truant in school. At the Probate Division, matters relating to the decedent’s estate, trust, and conservatorship are heard. They also hear petitions to establish facts of death, birth, and marriage, as well as elder abuse petitions.

In the Small Claims Division, parties can resolve their disputes quickly and inexpensively. However, an individual can only request up to $12,500 in a claim, while businesses and other entities can only request up to $6,250. The Traffic Division handles vehicle and non-vehicle code infractions, including municipal codes.

Where to Find Public Court Records in San Bernardino County

The San Bernadino County Clerk maintains records generated in the San Bernadino County Courts. These records can either be accessed online, by mailing a request, or in person at the clerk’s office. However, limited case data is available for cases filed before 1998. For such cases, members of the public can visit the locations of the Superior Courts in San Bernadino County to view and request copies of the records of cases heard in those courts.

Types of Public Court Records in San Bernardino County

The public is generally granted access to court records in San Bernadino County unless such records are considered confidential or sealed by court order. Members of the public can access court records on any of the following cases:

  • Criminal cases, including misdemeanors and felony offenses
  • Civil claims, such as claims based on contract, personal injury, and breach of duty
  • Family law, such as cases on divorce and custody
  • Probate matters and documents, such as wills and codicils

Confidential Court Records in San Bernardino County

Although the public is generally allowed access to court records, per CRC 2.503 (c), not all public records are available for review. Information ordered sealed or deemed confidential, paternity cases, and other cases involving minors are unavailable for public viewing and regarded as confidential.

San Bernardino County is located in the state of California with a total of 2,157,404 residents and was established in 1853.

San Bernardino county court records are public documents that are available in most cases to the anyone upon request. Some San Bernardino local judicial offices are very busy with many different types of cases, and others have few cases. It depends on the court structure and the number of natives. Many counties have court records posted online on their website for easy access in California. However, in some cases, you will have to visit a few different online tools to find California court records.

Public court documents for San Bernardino County will include criminal cases (both felonies and misdemeanors), civil cases (like personal and business lawsuits), bankruptcies, marriages and divorces, liens, tax issues, small claims, traffic court cases, evictions, family law cases and more.

Since 2012, a total of 2,826,196 were filed in the county. As of 2018, 73% of the cases were criminal cases. The busiest courts in the county were Superior Court.

Finding San Bernardino County court records is possible using the California court system website at https://www.courts.ca.gov/, and even easier through San Bernardino County court records search tools like Infotracer. With just a name search, the user can review hundreds of available court records and cases from any San Bernardino County court.

San Bernardino County Court Caseload Data and Trends

Depending on the local authorities practices, and political and economic climates, court case tallies will vary from year to year in specific areas of San Bernardino County, CA.

The San Bernardino County court system consists of 1 court type, Superior Court. In 2018, Superior Court recorded 333,831 filings, which indicates an increase of 7% from 311,649 in 2017. Review the table below for number of cases in the county.

Courts Type Number of filings in 2018
Superior Court333,831

Most Popular Court Cases

You can tell a lot about an area by the types of legal issues that appear in county courts.

San Bernardino 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 333,831 cases filed in the county for the year 2018. The most popular type of court case is criminal comprising 73% 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 solutions to find for a San Bernardino 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
Criminal245,151
Civil49,778
Family Law30,433
Dependency3,897
Probate2,341
Delinquency2,231

Established in 1863, San Bernadino County is located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. The county is home to 24 incorporated cities and spans across 20,105 square miles. As of 2020, the county’s population stood at 2,180,537, making it the fifth-most populous county in California.

Courts in San Bernardino County

San Bernadino County has a unified court system, and all proceedings are conducted in Superior Courts. These courts are organized into various divisions to handle different cases. Divisions within the Superior Courts include criminal, civil, family, juvenile, probate, traffic, and small claims.

The Criminal Division presides over felony matters and misdemeanors. The Civil Division hears cases relating to breach of contract, personal injury, torts, debt recovery, etc. 

The Family Law Division handles several claims, such as dissolution of marriage, domestic partnership, guardianship, child custody and visitations, and adoptions. The Juvenile Division handles cases where a minor is arrested for allegedly violating the law or is reported to the court for being habitually truant in school. At the Probate Division, matters relating to the decedent’s estate, trust, and conservatorship are heard. They also hear petitions to establish facts of death, birth, and marriage, as well as elder abuse petitions.

In the Small Claims Division, parties can resolve their disputes quickly and inexpensively. However, an individual can only request up to $12,500 in a claim, while businesses and other entities can only request up to $6,250. The Traffic Division handles vehicle and non-vehicle code infractions, including municipal codes.

Where to Find Public Court Records in San Bernardino County

The San Bernadino County Clerk maintains records generated in the San Bernadino County Courts. These records can either be accessed online, by mailing a request, or in person at the clerk’s office. However, limited case data is available for cases filed before 1998. For such cases, members of the public can visit the locations of the Superior Courts in San Bernadino County to view and request copies of the records of cases heard in those courts.

Types of Public Court Records in San Bernardino County

The public is generally granted access to court records in San Bernadino County unless such records are considered confidential or sealed by court order. Members of the public can access court records on any of the following cases:

  • Criminal cases, including misdemeanors and felony offenses
  • Civil claims, such as claims based on contract, personal injury, and breach of duty
  • Family law, such as cases on divorce and custody
  • Probate matters and documents, such as wills and codicils

Confidential Court Records in San Bernardino County

Although the public is generally allowed access to court records, per CRC 2.503 (c), not all public records are available for review. Information ordered sealed or deemed confidential, paternity cases, and other cases involving minors are unavailable for public viewing and regarded as confidential.

Juvenile Delinquency in San Bernardino, CA

Unfortunately, in many areas of the San Bernardino County, juvenile delinquency offenses are on the rise. There are many reasons for the inflation in youth offenders. The juvenile sentence in California often depends on the severity of the crime, the number of charges, and other family matters.

In 2017, a total of 5 juvenile cases were reported for every 100,000 people age 10 to adulthood in the jurisdiction of San Bernardino County. Of that total, 40% of those proceedings were delinquencies which equaled 2 court cases. Another 60% were dependency cases that accounted for 3 of the juvenile cases.

A lot of counties, including, San Bernardino County, are focusing on family counseling and relationships rather than punishment for juvenile crimes. Future San Bernardino County juvenile delinquency tallies will show whether or not this approach is working.

Juvenile Cases Number of cases
Delinquency133
Dependency55
Status4,225

Government of San Bernardino County, CA

County Seat: San Bernardino
Government Type: County
Authority: Home Rule
Year Organized: 1853
Total Square Miles: 20,105
2019 Population: 2,157,404
Persons/Square Mile: 0.01
County Contact: 385 N Arrowhead Ave
County Government Center
San Bernardino , CA 92415-0110
http://www.sbcounty.gov

San Bernardino County, CA Courts