Access Hayward Criminal Court Records

Criminal court records for cases in Hayward are kept by the Alameda County Superior Court. Hayward has its own Hall of Justice that handles criminal arraignments and hearings for the mid-county area. You can search for Hayward criminal court records online using the county's criminal records portal or go to the courthouse in person to view case files and get copies. The Hayward Police Department also maintains arrest and incident records that are separate from the court system. This page covers your main options for finding criminal records in Hayward.

Search Hayward Criminal Records Online

Alameda County provides an online criminal records request portal at criminalrecords.alameda.courts.ca.gov. You can use this tool to submit a request for criminal case information tied to Hayward or any other city in the county. Enter the defendant's name or case number and the system searches the court's database. Records going back to 1974 are available through this portal. That covers a wide range of Hayward criminal cases.

The portal lets you request records for one or multiple defendants at once. Results include case numbers, charges, and hearing dates. Full document access is limited online, though. Under California Rules of Court Rule 2.503, criminal case documents have restrictions on remote electronic viewing. You can usually see the register of actions and basic case information, but the actual court filings may only be available at the courthouse. For a complete look at a Hayward criminal court record, an in-person visit is often the best route.

The Alameda County criminal records request system covers all courthouses in the county, including the Hayward Hall of Justice.

The portal above is where you submit online requests for Hayward criminal court records. It covers cases filed across Alameda County since 1974.

Hayward Hall of Justice for Criminal Cases

The Hayward Hall of Justice is the local courthouse that handles criminal cases from Hayward and the surrounding mid-county area. The clerk's office phone number is (510) 690-2703. Visit during business hours and the clerk can look up a case for you. Bring the case number if you have it. That speeds things up. If you only have a name, the clerk can search by that too, but it might take a bit longer.

Copies at the courthouse cost $0.50 per page. Certified copies are $40 per document plus the per-page charge. If the clerk has to search for more than 10 minutes, they can add a $15 search fee. These are standard California fees that apply at every Superior Court in the state.

Some Hayward criminal cases may be transferred to other Alameda County courthouses. Serious felony trials sometimes move to the main courthouse in Oakland. If the file is not at the Hayward Hall of Justice, the clerk can tell you where it went. The East County Hall of Justice in Dublin and the Fremont Hall of Justice also handle cases from different parts of the county.

Hayward Police Criminal Records

Arrest records and police reports from Hayward come from the Hayward Police Department. This is different from the court. The police create a record when they make an arrest or respond to an incident. The court creates a record when a case is filed and moves through the legal system. If you need the full story on a criminal matter in Hayward, you may need records from both.

Contact the Hayward Police Department for copies of arrest reports and incident records. They have their own fee schedule and processing times. For a basic police report, turnaround is usually a few days to a couple of weeks depending on the request. Older records may take longer if they need to be pulled from storage.

Alameda County Booking Records for Hayward

People arrested in Hayward are typically booked at a county jail facility run by the Alameda County Sheriff. The sheriff publishes a daily booking docket at acgov.org. This log shows who was booked in, the charges, bail amount, and booking date. It is free and open to anyone. Check it if you want to see recent arrests from Hayward or anywhere else in the county.

For inmates in the state prison system, the CDCR inmate search lets you look up anyone serving state time. It shows the facility, commitment county, and parole hearing dates. This covers people sentenced from Hayward criminal court cases who ended up in state custody.

Hayward Criminal Record Access Laws

Criminal court records from Hayward are public. Anyone can request copies from the Alameda County Superior Court. You do not have to be the defendant, a victim, or a lawyer. There are some limits. Juvenile records are sealed. Mental health evaluations and probation reports within criminal cases are restricted. Arrest reports in the court file are also not available for public viewing even though the court keeps them.

Under Penal Code Section 11105, the California DOJ maintains state criminal history records. These are RAP sheets built from fingerprint submissions. They are separate from court case files. Court records in Hayward are held by the Alameda County Superior Court. For your own record, you can submit a request through the DOJ record review process for $25. That gives you your full state criminal history, not just Alameda County cases.

If a conviction was dismissed under Penal Code Section 1203.4, the Hayward criminal court record will still show the case but mark it as dismissed. Under Penal Code Section 851.8, a person found factually innocent can petition to have their arrest record sealed and destroyed.

State Court Resources for Hayward

The California courts site at courts.ca.gov helps you find the right court for any county. For Hayward, it directs you to the Alameda County Superior Court. The state self-help guide explains how to request copies of court records, what fees to expect, and what types of records are available to the public. These guides cover Hayward criminal court records along with every other case type.

Nearby Cities

These cities are close to Hayward. Criminal cases from all of them go through the Alameda County Superior Court.

Alameda County Court

All criminal cases from Hayward are filed with the Alameda County Superior Court.