California Court Records

Major California courts that kept records of genealogical value were established as follows:

Supreme court is a statewide appellate court. The Family History Library has copies of plaintiff and defendant indexes to records of supreme court cases from 1850-1930 (Family History Library films 978908-9).

Court of appeal is a statewide intermediate appellate court. The Family History Library has plaintiff and defendant indexes to records of cases from 1900-1930 (Family History Library films 978910-11).

Superior courts have countywide jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases including probate and juvenile cases, and appeals from citywide justice and municipal courts. The superior courts replaced the district courts. The Family History Library has some superior court records, such as San Francisco County attachments for 1850 and 1869 to 1872 (at this time it was the district court; Family History Library ( films 974856-7).

Original court records are located at the various county or city courthouses. You can also find records and indexes at the California State Archives, including Index to Transcripts of Court Cases in State Archives (Sacramento, California: Attorney General, North Dakota; Family History Library film 978914).