Calaveras County Criminal Court Records

Criminal court records for Calaveras County are maintained by the Calaveras County Superior Court in San Andreas, California. The county has roughly 46,000 residents and sits in the Gold Country foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Calaveras County uses an Odyssey eFileCA system for its case management, with public access available through the court's website. Whether you need to check a criminal case status, view a docket, or request document copies, the process starts at the Superior Court clerk's office or through their online tools.

Search Calaveras County Criminal Cases Online

The Calaveras County Superior Court provides online case access through its website at calaveras.courts.ca.gov. The court runs an Odyssey eFileCA platform. This system handles both electronic filing and public case searches. You can look up criminal cases by defendant name or case number. The results show the basic case info: charges, hearing dates, the judge, and the current disposition.

Online access has limits. California Rules of Court Rule 2.503 restricts which criminal court records you can view remotely. For Calaveras County, the online portal generally shows the register of actions, calendar entries, and the case index. The actual documents filed in a criminal case, like the complaint or sentencing order, may only be viewable at the courthouse. This is a statewide rule, not something specific to Calaveras County.

How to Get Calaveras County Criminal Records

There are three ways to get copies of criminal court records from Calaveras County. The fastest is in person. Drive to the courthouse in San Andreas and ask the clerk for the records. You will need the case number or at least the defendant's name and an approximate date range. The clerk pulls the file and makes copies on the spot. Payment is due at the time of the request.

Mail requests work too. Send a written request to the Calaveras County Superior Court clerk. Be specific about what you want. List the case number, defendant name, and the documents you need from the criminal file. Include a check or money order payable to the court. The clerk processes mail requests in the order they come in. Turnaround depends on the volume of requests, but expect at least a couple of weeks for Calaveras County.

For anyone reviewing their own criminal history at the state level, that goes through the California DOJ, not the county court. The DOJ record review process costs $25 and uses Live Scan fingerprinting. This gives you a statewide rap sheet, which is separate from the case file held in Calaveras County.

Note: Fee waivers are an option for those who cannot afford the copy costs.

Calaveras County Criminal Court Fees

Calaveras County follows the standard California fee schedule for court record copies. Plain copies cost $0.50 per page. Certified copies are $40 per document. A search fee of $15 applies when the clerk needs more than 10 minutes to track down the records. Off-site retrieval adds another $10 if the criminal court records have been moved to long-term storage.

These fees are set by California Government Code and apply uniformly across all 58 counties. There is no difference between what Calaveras County charges and what you would pay in Sacramento or San Francisco. Certified copies carry more weight in legal proceedings. If you are submitting a Calaveras County criminal record to another court or a government agency, they will likely want the certified version.

Calaveras County Superior Court

San Andreas serves as the county seat. The Superior Court is the only criminal court in Calaveras County. All misdemeanors, felonies, and infractions pass through this single courthouse. The court handles a moderate caseload compared to urban counties. San Andreas is a small town. The pace is different from a courtroom in Los Angeles or San Francisco.

You can look up the court's contact details on the California Courts website. That directory lists the phone number, mailing address, and business hours for every Superior Court in the state, including Calaveras County. If you are coming from out of the area, plan your route. San Andreas sits on Highway 49, and the drive from major cities can take a while. The courthouse is easy to find once you are in town.

The state courts directory shown above helps you find the Calaveras County courthouse address and hours.

Calaveras County Criminal Record Laws

Public access to criminal court records in Calaveras County follows the same California laws that apply statewide. Penal Code Section 11105 tasks the California DOJ with keeping the master criminal history database. But the actual court case files sit with each county's Superior Court. For Calaveras County, that means the clerk in San Andreas holds the official records.

Sealed and confidential records are the exception. Juvenile criminal cases in Calaveras County are sealed from the public. Records involving mental health assessments done during a criminal case are restricted. Under Penal Code Section 1203.4, a person who has finished probation can petition the Calaveras County court to dismiss the conviction. The record remains in the system but is updated to reflect the dismissal.

Misuse of criminal history data carries penalties. Penal Code Sections 11140 through 11144 make it a crime to improperly share state criminal history information. This applies to agencies and individuals alike. The rules are strict about who can access and distribute criminal record data in California.

Nearby Counties

Calaveras County has no cities with populations over 100,000. These neighboring counties each run their own Superior Court with separate criminal court records.