Santa Rosa Criminal Court Records

Criminal court records for Santa Rosa are maintained by the Sonoma County Superior Court. Santa Rosa is the county seat and largest city in Sonoma County. Every criminal case that starts with an arrest in Santa Rosa goes through the county court. The court uses Tyler Odyssey for case management and runs a public portal for online searches. This page explains how to look up Santa Rosa criminal court records, what the online tools offer, and the process for getting copies of case files from the clerk's office.

Sonoma County Court for Santa Rosa Cases

All criminal cases from Santa Rosa go through the Sonoma County Superior Court. California cities do not operate their own criminal courts. The Santa Rosa Police Department handles law enforcement in the city. When they make an arrest, the Sonoma County District Attorney decides whether to file charges. If charges are filed, a criminal court record is created in the Sonoma County court system.

Santa Rosa is the county seat. The main courthouse is in the city, making it convenient for people who need to deal with criminal court records in person. The clerk's office at the courthouse handles all record requests. Cases from Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, and every other city in Sonoma County are all in the same system. There is no way to filter the database by city, so you search by the defendant name or case number.

Search Santa Rosa Criminal Records Online

The Sonoma County case portal is the primary tool for searching Santa Rosa criminal court records online. The portal runs on Tyler Odyssey. You can search by party name or case number to find criminal cases filed in Sonoma County. Enter a name and the system pulls up any matching cases. Results show the case number, filing date, charges, and scheduled court dates.

Sonoma County's case portal provides access to search Santa Rosa criminal court records online.

The register of actions for each case lists every event from the initial filing through hearings and the final outcome. This gives you a good overview of how a Santa Rosa criminal case played out. Under California Rules of Court Rule 2.503, remote access to criminal case records is limited to indexes, calendars, and registers of actions. Police reports, probation reports, and other restricted documents are not available through the portal. For the full file, you need to visit the courthouse in person.

Note: The portal is for informational purposes and may not match the official court file in every detail.

Santa Rosa Criminal Record Fees

Copies of Santa Rosa criminal court records cost $0.50 per page at the clerk's office. Certified copies are $40 per document on top of the per-page charge. If you need a certified copy for legal proceedings or to submit to another agency, you pay the higher rate. A plain copy works fine for personal reference.

The clerk may charge a $15 search fee if it takes more than 10 minutes to locate the record. Off-site retrieval for older cases costs $10. These fees are set by state law and apply at every California Superior Court. For most people looking up recent Santa Rosa criminal court records, the costs stay reasonable. The $0.50 per page is the biggest expense unless you need many pages or a certified copy. Having the case number ready speeds things up and may help you avoid the search fee.

Santa Rosa Police Records

The Santa Rosa Police Department maintains arrest reports, incident reports, and other police records. These are separate from criminal court records. A police report covers what happened during the arrest. A court record covers the legal case that follows. You need to contact the Santa Rosa PD records division for police reports. The court will not provide them.

Not every arrest in Santa Rosa leads to criminal charges. If the Sonoma County DA declines to prosecute, there will be a police record with the Santa Rosa PD but no criminal court record at the Superior Court. When charges are filed, both records exist. The police report stays with the police department. The court record stays with the court. These two agencies do not share a database or a records system.

The Sonoma County Sheriff handles law enforcement outside city limits. For arrests in unincorporated parts of Sonoma County near Santa Rosa, the sheriff's office would have the police records. The court records for those cases still go to the Sonoma County Superior Court system.

Criminal Record Access for Santa Rosa

Most Santa Rosa criminal court records are public. You can request copies of case files whether or not you are part of the case. Some records have limits. Juvenile cases are sealed from public view. Mental health records within a criminal file are restricted. Certain domestic violence documents may also be limited.

Under Penal Code Section 11105, the California DOJ maintains the statewide criminal history database. Court case files are separate and held at the county level. For Santa Rosa cases, the Sonoma County Superior Court has the official records. The DOJ handles the state-level criminal history information, which is a different system. For your own criminal history from the state database, the DOJ Record Review process costs $25 through Live Scan.

Convictions can be dismissed under Penal Code Section 1203.4 after probation. The record stays in the system but shows the dismissal. This is sometimes called expungement in California, though the record is not erased. It is marked as dismissed. If you see a 1203.4 entry on a Santa Rosa criminal court record, that means the conviction was set aside by the court.

Get Santa Rosa Criminal Record Copies

Visit the Sonoma County Superior Court clerk's office in Santa Rosa. In person gives you the fastest results. Provide the case number or defendant name and the clerk will pull the file. Copies are made and paid for at the counter. Bring cash or a check.

You can also mail a request. Include the case number, defendant name, documents needed, and a check or money order for the fees. Mail takes longer, typically several weeks depending on the court's workload. The CDCR inmate search is useful if the person was sentenced to state prison from a Sonoma County case. The California Courts website at courts.ca.gov can help you find contact details for the Sonoma County courthouse if you need directions or phone numbers before your visit.

Sonoma County Criminal Court Records

For the full county court system information, courthouse locations, and all available resources, see the Sonoma County criminal court records page.