How to Access Santa Clara County Court Records?

Created in 1850, Santa Clara County is the third-most populous county in the state, with an estimated population of 1.8 million. It is located in the heart of Silicon Valley and has a land mass of 1,291 square miles. The county seat is San Jose City, and the county is known for its dynamic tech industry.

Courts in Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County operates a unified trial court system, and all court proceedings are conducted by the Superior Courts. The Superior Courts are organized by divisions based on the case types. Santa Clara Superior Court Divisions include criminal, civil, family, probate, small claims juvenile, and traffic Divisions. The Civil Division presides over cases with claims less than $25,000 for limited cases and above $25,000 for unlimited cases, while the Criminal Division adjudicates felony and misdemeanor cases.

The  Family Division handles disputes involving families and children, such as marriage dissolution and child custody. The Probate Division presides over cases relating to estate administration, trusts, and wills. Juvenile Disvions adjudicates cases involving juvenile delinquencies and child abuse and neglect. The Traffic Division of the Superior Court handles all traffic-related offenses and citations, such as parking.

Where to Find Public Court Records in Santa Clara County

The Clerk of the Superior Court is the record custodian for Santa Clara court records filed and heard in the county. The Clerk of Courts provides an online repository through the Case Information Online to view and obtain copies of court records. In addition, the clerk allows walk-in requests to view and obtain copies of the record at the courthouses where the case was filed. Record seekers may also mail written requests to purchase the court records. 

Types of Public Court Records in Santa Clara County

Public Court records are official documents created or generated in court during a legal proceeding. Public court records are open to the public, permitting individual access to information about specific court cases. Publicly available court records in Santa Clara include

• Civil Court Records: Such as landlord/tenant disputes, ordinance violations, foreclosures and liens, and small claims
• Criminal Court Records: Including felonies, misdemeanors, and traffic and infractions
• Family Court Records: They include divorce records and child support court records
• Probate Court Records: Publicly available probate court records include wills, guardianships, name changes, and conservatorship

Confidential Court Records in Santa Clara County

Confidential court records or closed court records are documents sealed by federal or state law. The courts may also seal a court record, making it inaccessible to the public. Consequently, the following court records constitute Santa Clara County confidential court records.

• Adoption records
• Mental health records
• Juvenile court records
• Tax records

Sensitive personal information contained in court records where disclosure may result in an invasion of privacy is not open to the public. Therefore, the record custodian may redact Social Security numbers, medical records, and financial account numbers contained in a court record.

Santa Clara County is located in the state of California with a total of 1,938,153 residents and was established in 1850.

Santa Clara county court records are public records that are available in most cases to the everyone. Some Santa Clara courts are very busy with many different types of cases, and others see very few. It depends on the court structure and the number of residents. 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 websites to find California court records.

Public court records for Santa Clara 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 1,746,474 were filed in the county. As of 2018, 81% of the cases were criminal cases. The busiest courts in the county were Superior Court.

Finding Santa Clara County court records is possible using the California court system website at https://www.courts.ca.gov/, and even easier through Santa Clara 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 Santa Clara County court.

Santa Clara County Court Caseload Data and Trends

Depending on the law enforcement practices, and political and economic climates, court case statistics will vary from year to year in specific areas of Santa Clara County, CA.

The Santa Clara County court system consists of 1 court type, Superior Court. In 2018, Superior Court recorded 183,236 filings, which indicates a decrease of 19% from 217,577 in 2017. Review the table below for number of cases in the county.

Most Popular Court Cases

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

Santa Clara 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 183,236 cases filed in the county for the year 2018. The most popular type of court case is criminal comprising 81% 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 options to search for a Santa Clara County court case using someone’s name, the court type, the courthouse or county name, and other information.

Created in 1850, Santa Clara County is the third-most populous county in the state, with an estimated population of 1.8 million. It is located in the heart of Silicon Valley and has a land mass of 1,291 square miles. The county seat is San Jose City, and the county is known for its dynamic tech industry.

Courts in Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County operates a unified trial court system, and all court proceedings are conducted by the Superior Courts. The Superior Courts are organized by divisions based on the case types. Santa Clara Superior Court Divisions include criminal, civil, family, probate, small claims juvenile, and traffic Divisions. The Civil Division presides over cases with claims less than $25,000 for limited cases and above $25,000 for unlimited cases, while the Criminal Division adjudicates felony and misdemeanor cases.

The  Family Division handles disputes involving families and children, such as marriage dissolution and child custody. The Probate Division presides over cases relating to estate administration, trusts, and wills. Juvenile Disvions adjudicates cases involving juvenile delinquencies and child abuse and neglect. The Traffic Division of the Superior Court handles all traffic-related offenses and citations, such as parking.

Where to Find Public Court Records in Santa Clara County

The Clerk of the Superior Court is the record custodian for Santa Clara court records filed and heard in the county. The Clerk of Courts provides an online repository through the Case Information Online to view and obtain copies of court records. In addition, the clerk allows walk-in requests to view and obtain copies of the record at the courthouses where the case was filed. Record seekers may also mail written requests to purchase the court records. 

Types of Public Court Records in Santa Clara County

Public Court records are official documents created or generated in court during a legal proceeding. Public court records are open to the public, permitting individual access to information about specific court cases. Publicly available court records in Santa Clara include

• Civil Court Records: Such as landlord/tenant disputes, ordinance violations, foreclosures and liens, and small claims
• Criminal Court Records: Including felonies, misdemeanors, and traffic and infractions
• Family Court Records: They include divorce records and child support court records
• Probate Court Records: Publicly available probate court records include wills, guardianships, name changes, and conservatorship

Confidential Court Records in Santa Clara County

Confidential court records or closed court records are documents sealed by federal or state law. The courts may also seal a court record, making it inaccessible to the public. Consequently, the following court records constitute Santa Clara County confidential court records.

• Adoption records
• Mental health records
• Juvenile court records
• Tax records

Sensitive personal information contained in court records where disclosure may result in an invasion of privacy is not open to the public. Therefore, the record custodian may redact Social Security numbers, medical records, and financial account numbers contained in a court record.

Juvenile Delinquency in Santa Clara, CA

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

In 2017, a total of 1252 juvenile cases were reported for every 100,000 people age 10 to adulthood in the jurisdiction of Santa Clara County. Of that total, 66% of those proceedings were delinquencies which equaled 824 court cases. Another 34% were dependency cases that accounted for 428 of the juvenile cases.

A lot of counties, including, Santa Clara County, are focusing on family health and relationships rather than punishment for juvenile crimes. Future Santa Clara County juvenile delinquency statistics will show whether or not this approach is working.

Government of Santa Clara County, CA

https://www.ca.gov/

County Seat:	San Jose
Government Type:	County
Authority:	Home Rule
Year Organized:	1850
Total Square Miles:	1,304
2019 Population:	1,938,153
Persons/Square Mile:	0.00
County Contact:	70 W Hedding St County Government Center San Jose , CA 95110-1705 https://www.sccgov.org/

Santa Clara County, CA Courts