Alameda County, California Court Records

Alameda County Court Records

In Alameda County, California, court records are official documents containing information relating to court proceedings. Per California law, these records are categorized as part of Alameda County Public Records and made available to the public on request. The Superior Court of Alameda County creates court records when people file a case with them. There are two types of court records in Alameda:

Civil records
Criminal records

Civil court records are official writings that contain information about family law, small claims, probate, juvenile, elder abuse, civil harassment, and general civil cases. In contrast, criminal records contain information about infractions, misdemeanors, and felonies. The California Rules of Court allows public access to court records online and at off-site court locations.

Are Court Records Public in Alameda County?

The California Public Records Act (PRA) grants access to court records maintained by local and state government agencies. Therefore, individuals can inspect or obtain copies of court records available at Alameda County Superior Court unless legally exempt from disclosure. Examples of confidential court records are:

Juvenile records
Adoption records
Personnel records
Investigative records
Confidential legal advice
Records on pending litigation

What Do Alameda County Court Records Contain?

Typically, Alameda County court records contain the following information:

Names of case parties
Case number
Filing date
Completion date
Attorney's name
Judge’s name
Judgment date
Case status
Case citation
Case type
Case category
Case caption
Oral Argument Date/Time
Hearing information (type, date/time, and location)
Docket details (date, description, notes)
Briefs (due date, date filed, party and attorney, and notes)
Future Scheduled Actions
Disposition details (date, description, disposition type, publication status)

Where to Conduct an Alameda County Case Lookup

Court records are generated during a judicial proceeding, and they contain court case information. A case lookup can be conducted at:

How to Conduct an Alameda County Court Case Search

An Alameda County case search can be done online or in person at the Superior Court. Online requests can be made through civil and criminal case portals on the Superior Court website. An online requester must register for a user account before they can conduct any search on the portals.

In-person requests can be made at the Superior Court during office hours. The court has public access terminals and indexes where individuals can search for case records for free. Requesters must know specific facts about the case, like the case party name, case number, or filing date, to facilitate the search. Case records can only be viewed on the court premises. Records cannot be taken or removed from the court premises at any time.

The fees for retrieving copies of court records vary based on the service rendered. Payment for court records searches and copying charges can be made by check, credit card, or money order. Online court records search can be paid for using a MasterCard or Visa. Interested members of the public may contact the Court Division for more information on how to find court records on a person.

Alameda County Civil Court Case Records

Alameda County civil court case records provide information on legal disputes between private citizens (or companies). Individuals can inspect or obtain copies of civil court case records at the Alameda County Superior Court. Examples of civil court cases the Superior Court handles are:

Small claims cases: These involve lawsuits between individuals or companies for disputes that do not exceed $10,000 or less.
General civil case: It involves suing someone for money in contracts, property damage, or injury disputes.
Family law cases: These involve divorce, child support, child custody, and adoption.
Landlord/tenant cases: These cases involve eviction disputes or a former tenant trying to get their security deposit back from the landlord.
Probate cases: These involve handling wills, a deceased person’s estate, and conservatorships.
Juvenile cases: These are cases involving children under the age of 18.

Records of the aforementioned cases can be obtained online or in person at the Alameda County Superior Court. Individuals can find civil court case records online through DomainWeb or eCourt Public Portal. The DomainWeb tool provides access to Probate and Family Law case records. The eCourt Public Portal provides access to General Civil and Small Claims case records.

Alternatively, requesters can visit the courthouse in person to get civil court case records. They can use the courthouse's public access terminals and indexes to view such records at no cost. However, copies of civil court case records come at a cost.

Alameda County Criminal Court Case Records

An Alameda County criminal court case records are official documents that contain information on a lawsuit brought by the county against an individual who has broken a criminal law. These records are available at the Superior Court office. Individuals can find records on the following criminal cases at the court:

Infractions: These are minor violations like traffic tickets that attract fines.
Misdemeanors: These crimes are more serious than infractions, which attract a penalty of up to 1-year jail term and/or fines up to $1,000.
Felonies: These are severe crimes like murder, which attract imprisonment for more than a year or the death penalty.

Alameda County criminal court case records can be retrieved online or in person at the Superior Court. Online requesters can view criminal case information via the Odyssey Portal. A record seeker can use the Smart Search tool to search for any information regarding a criminal court case. Access to this Smart Search feature in Odyssey Portal requires registration. Also, requesters can use the Search Hearings tool in the Odyssey Portal to search for court hearings for a specific date range. Access to the Search Hearings tool does not require registration. Note that individuals cannot retrieve copies of criminal court case records via the Odyssey Portal. Online requests for criminal court case documents can be made via the Criminal Record Requests portal.

Alternatively, individuals can view non-confidential criminal case documents in person at the Superior Court. The courthouse has public access terminals and indexes where individuals can inspect criminal case records at no cost. Requests for printed copies of criminal court case records will be charged.

How to Get Court Records Online for Free

Requesters can get some court records for free via the Alameda County Superior Court’s online portals. Go to the Superior Court website and click on the “Online Services” menu from the main navigation or scroll down and select the “See All Services” menu. Go to the “DomainWeb (Family Law and Probate)” or “eCourt Public Portal (Civil)” section and click on “View”. Create an account to be able to view and print the following civil court records for free:

Probate examiner notes
Civil law and motion tentative rulings
Tentative and final case management conference rulings
Case-initiating documents for the first 5 calendar days from the filing date

Individuals can get criminal case hearing information for free via the Odyssey Portal. Upon getting to the portal, scroll down and click on the “Search Hearings” tool. To conduct a search, select:

A court location
Hearing types
Search types (case number, party name, business name, attorney name, attorney bar number, judicial officer, or courtroom)
Search by criteria
Search by date range

Search results will reveal basic hearing information like a case number, defendant’s name, case type, hearing date/ time, hearing type, courtroom, and case category. Alternatively, individuals can visit the Superior court to access court records online through the public terminals for free.

Considered open to citizens of the United States, court records are available through both traditional, government sources, and through third-party websites and organizations. In many cases, third-party websites make the search easier as they are not limited geographically or by technological limitations. They are considered a good place to start when looking for a specific record or multiple records. In order to gain access to these records, interested parties must typically provide:

The name of the person listed in the record. Juveniles are typically exempt from this search method.
The last known or assumed location of the person listed in the record. This includes cities, counties, and states.

While third-party sites offer such services, they are not government sponsored entities, and record availability may vary on these sites when compared to government sources.

Courts in Alameda County, California

Below are the addresses and contact information of all the courts in Alameda County, California:

Alameda - George E. McDonald Hall of Justice
2233 Shore Line Drive
Alameda, CA 94501
Phone: (510) 891-6005

Berkeley Courthouse
2120 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
Phone: (510) 647-4439

Dublin - East County Hall of Justice
5151 Gleason Drive
Dublin, CA 94568
Phone: (925) 227-6700

Fremont Hall of Justice
39439 Paseo Padre Parkway
Fremont, CA 94538
Phone: (510) 818-7500

Hayward Hall of Justice
24405 Amador Street
Hayward, CA 94544
Phone: (510) 690-2700

Oakland - Administration Building
1221 Oak Street
3rd and 4th Floors
Oakland, CA 94612

Oakland - René C. Davidson Courthouse
1225 Fallon Street
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: (510) 891-6000
Fax: (510) 690-2555