| Superior Court | Orange County Superior Court — Case Access |
|---|---|
| Clerk address | Central Justice Center, 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana, CA 92701 |
| Phone | Listed on the clerk website |
| Hours | Confirm current hours with the clerk before visiting |
| Earliest records noted | 1996 |
| Plain copy fee | $0.50 per page (Government Code § 70627) |
| Certified copy fee | $0.50 per page plus a $40 certification fee (Government Code §§ 70626–70627) |
The Superior Court of California, County of Orange is the county's single trial court, with the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana as its main courthouse. As in every California county, there is no separate county clerk — the Clerk of the Superior Court keeps every case type.
Orange County's Case Access system is organized by case type rather than one combined search: separate online tools exist for civil, criminal and traffic, family law, and probate cases, plus a Case Name Search that lets a registered user search by a person's or business's name across the court's records rather than by case number alone. Small claims records are also part of the civil access tool.
The common mistake is trying to find a case by name without registering first — name-based search requires a free account, while case-number search does not. Confidential case types (adoptions, mental health, and others) never appear in any of these public tools no matter how you search.
Search Orange County court records online
Superior Court
Orange County Superior Court — Case Access
- Cost
- Free to search by case number; free registration required to search by name
- Coverage
- Separate case-access tools for civil (including small claims), criminal and traffic, family law, and probate cases
- Records
- Civil, Criminal, Family, Probate, Traffic
One Clerk of the Superior Court serves the whole county; there is no separate county clerk. Confidential case types (for example adoptions and certain mental-health matters) are excluded from all search tools.
What is available online
Civil case records (including small claims) go back to 1996 for unlimited/complex civil actions and to 2005 for limited civil actions, according to the court's own description of the civil case-information site. Criminal, traffic, family law, and probate each have their own case-access tool with different coverage. A free account is required to search by party or business name; searching by case number does not require registration. We could not confirm a general phone number or public office hours for the Central Justice Center from an official page during this review, so call the court's general information line listed on occourts.org before visiting.
Which clerk has your record
In California, the clerk who keeps a file depends on which court heard the case. Check the court name on the case notice, citation, or order, then use the office and coverage details above to identify the record holder. Court names and responsibilities differ by state; a county clerk may not keep court case files. For federal cases, see the PACER guide. The full court structure is on the California page.
| Court | Typical cases | Records kept by |
|---|---|---|
| Superior Courts (58, one per county) | Felony and misdemeanor criminal cases; Civil lawsuits of any amount, including small claims; Family law, including divorce and custody | Clerk of the Superior Court of the county |
| Appellate Division of the Superior Court | Appeals from misdemeanor, infraction, and limited-jurisdiction civil cases decided in that county's Superior Court | Clerk of the Superior Court of the county |
Request records in person or by mail
Orange County clerk offices
Central Justice Center, 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Contact details were taken from the office's website and are re-checked on a schedule; confirm hours before visiting.
Online. Choose the case-access tool that matches the case type (civil, criminal/traffic, family law, or probate) from the court's Case Access page. Register for a free account to search by name; case-number search does not require an account.
In person or by mail. Visit or write to the records section of the Central Justice Center, 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana, CA 92701, for certified copies or records not available online. Include the case number, the documents needed, and whether the copy must be certified; call ahead to confirm the fee.
Certified copies. Certified copies are not available through the online case-access tools and must be requested from the clerk directly.
Fees
| Item | Typical cost in California |
|---|---|
| Plain copy | $0.50 per page (Government Code § 70627) |
| Certified copy | $0.50 per page plus a $40 certification fee (Government Code §§ 70626–70627) |
These are the statewide fees set in the Superior Court fee statutes (Government Code, Title 8, Chapter 5.8). Individual courts may also charge separately for a records search that takes more than ten minutes ($15, Government Code § 70627) or for name searches and document downloads on their online portals, which vary by county. Confirm the total with the specific clerk before sending payment.
Need a copy an agency will accept? See how to get certified copies of court records.
Sealed and restricted records
California court records are presumed open under the common-law right of access and the First Amendment, as applied by the California Supreme Court in NBC Subsidiary (KNBC-TV), Inc. v. Superior Court (1999). California Rules of Court, rules 2.550–2.551, set the standard and procedure a party must meet to have a court seal a record: the court must find an overriding interest that outweighs the public's right of access, a substantial probability that interest will be harmed without sealing, that sealing is narrowly tailored, and that no less restrictive alternative exists. A record is not sealed merely because the parties agree to it.
The California guide lists every category of sealed and restricted record, and our guide to expunging or sealing a criminal record explains how to remove one from public view.
Frequently asked questions
Can I search Orange County court records by name for free?
Name-based searches require free registration with the court's Case Name Search tool. Case-number searches on the individual civil, criminal, family, and probate access tools do not require an account.
Where is the main Orange County courthouse?
The Central Justice Center at 700 Civic Center Drive West in Santa Ana. Other case types and branch locations exist elsewhere in the county, so confirm the assigned courthouse on the case summary.
Is there one search for all Orange County case types?
No. Civil (including small claims), criminal and traffic, family law, and probate each have their own online case-access tool, so you need to pick the right one for your case type.
How far back do Orange County civil records go online?
The court's civil case-information site covers unlimited and complex civil actions back to 1996 and limited civil actions back to 2005. Older or unlisted cases require a records request to the clerk.
Sources
- Superior Court of California, County of Orange — https://www.occourts.org/
- Case Access (Orange County Superior Court) — https://www.occourts.org/online-services/case-access
- Judicial Branch of California — About California Courts — https://courts.ca.gov/about
- California Courts Appellate Court Case Information — https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/
- California Department of Justice — Record Review (Criminal History) — https://oag.ca.gov/fingerprints/record-review
- California Rules of Court, Rule 2.550 — Sealed Records — https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/two/rule2_550
- California Rules of Court, Rule 2.551 — Procedures for Filing Records Under Seal — https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/two/rule2_551
- Penal Code § 851.91 — Petition to Seal an Arrest Record — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=851.91
- Penal Code § 1203.4 — Withdrawal of Plea and Dismissal (Expungement) — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=1203.4
- Government Code § 70626 — Certification Fee — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV§ionNum=70626
- Government Code § 70627 — Copy and Records-Search Fees — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV§ionNum=70627
- PACER — Federal court records — https://pacer.uscourts.gov/
See also: all California counties.