How to Access Santa Barbara County Court Records?
Santa Barbara County is located in the southern part of the state of California and covers 3,789 square miles. As of 2020, the county population was 448,229. Santa Maria is the largest city in the county, while Santa Barbara is the county seat.
Courts in Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County's court system comprises the various divisions of the Superior Court that have different jurisdictions over legal matters arising in the county. The Civil Division of the Superior Court handles civil lawsuits involving damages for injury, monetary compensation, property damage, breach of contract, and civil rights violations. The Civil Courts have limited jurisdiction over civil actions up to $35,000 and general jurisdiction over civil cases in which the amount in dispute exceeds $35,000.
The Criminal Division of the Superior Court handles criminal proceedings for misdemeanors and felonies. Proceedings held at this court include preliminary felony hearings and trials.
Legal disputes concerning the estates of deceased residents, wills, trusts, conservatorships, and guardianships in Santa Barbara County are brought before the Probate Division of the Superior Court. The Family Law Division provides mediation services to assist parties involved in existing family law cases that were filed at the Santa Barbara Superior Court. These cases include divorce, legal separation, annulments, paternity disputes, child support enforcement, domestic violence incidents, and child custody and support arrangements.
The Small Claims Court handles civil disputes where neither party has legal representation, and the claims are at most $12,500. However, small claims cases filed against businesses must be $6,250 or less. Additionally, residents can only file up to two small claims cases over $2,500 annually. Santa Barbara Superior Court also has a Traffic Division that hears traffic and minor offenses, including speeding, tailgating, and driving without a valid license.
Where to Find Public Court Records in Santa Barbara County
The Superior Court in Santa Barbara may allow anyone to view or obtain copies of its public court records. Generally, interested persons can find public court records in Santa Barbara County by searching the case online or via other means provided by the court’s Records Office. For instance, some courthouses in the county have public access terminals that provide electronic access to court records. Copies of court records requests can also be made in person at the Clerk’s Office, by mail or email.
Types of Public Court Records in Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County courts provide access to the following types of public court records:
- Civil case records
- Criminal case records
- Traffic violation records
- Probate records
- Family law case records
- Probate case records
Confidential Court Records in Santa Barbara County
Not all court records in Santa Barbara County are available to the public. Certain court records are sealed by the court or regarded as confidential by California laws to protect the privacy of the parties involved or to conceal sensitive information. Unlike public court records, access to confidential court records in Santa Barbara County is restricted to plaintiffs, defendants, or prosecutors.
Some court records that are confidential in California State include:
- Juvenile case records
- Adoption records
- Mental health records
- Medical records
- Sealed court records
- Records containing identifying information of trial jurors
- Probation and diagnostic reports
Santa Barbara County is located in the state of California with a total of 448,150 residents and was established in 1850.
Santa Barbara county court records are public documents that are available in most cases to the anyone upon request. Some Santa Barbara local judicial offices are very busy with many different types of cases, and others have few cases. It depends on the court structure and the number of natives. Many counties have court records posted online on their website for easy access in California. However, in some cases, you will have to visit a few different online tools to find California court records.
Public court documents for Santa Barbara County will include criminal cases (both felonies and misdemeanors), civil cases (like personal and business lawsuits), bankruptcies, marriages and divorces, liens, tax issues, small claims, traffic court cases, evictions, family law cases and more.
Since 2012, a total of 654,476 were filed in the county. As of 2018, 86% of the cases were criminal cases. The busiest courts in the county were Superior Court.
Finding Santa Barbara County court records is possible using the California court system website at https://www.courts.ca.gov/, and even easier through Santa Barbara County court records search tools like Infotracer. With just a name search, the user can review hundreds of available court records and cases from any Santa Barbara County court.
Santa Barbara County Court Caseload Data and Trends
Depending on the local authorities practices, and political and economic climates, court case tallies will vary from year to year in specific areas of Santa Barbara County, CA.
The Santa Barbara County court system consists of 1 court type, Superior Court. In 2018, Superior Court recorded 73,044 filings, which indicates a decrease of 17% from 85,705 in 2017. Review the table below for number of cases in the county.
| Courts Type | Number of filings in 2018 |
|---|---|
| Superior Court | 73,044 |
Most Popular Court Cases
You can tell a lot about an area by the types of legal issues that appear in county courts.
Santa Barbara County court records data dates back to 2012. Some may date back further, but they started formally recording them since 2012. There was a total of 73,044 cases filed in the county for the year 2018. The most popular type of court case is criminal comprising 86% of the total filings. The next most popular types of court cases are civil and family law cases. Check out the table below to review the filing information for a specific court case type in county.
There are various solutions to find for a Santa Barbara County court case using someone’s name, the court type, the courthouse or county name, and other information.
| Cases Type | Number of filings in 2018 |
|---|---|
| Criminal | 62,560 |
| Civil | 5,818 |
| Family Law | 3,032 |
| Delinquency | 873 |
| Probate | 565 |
| Dependency | 196 |
Santa Barbara County is located in the southern part of the state of California and covers 3,789 square miles. As of 2020, the county population was 448,229. Santa Maria is the largest city in the county, while Santa Barbara is the county seat.
Courts in Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County's court system comprises the various divisions of the Superior Court that have different jurisdictions over legal matters arising in the county. The Civil Division of the Superior Court handles civil lawsuits involving damages for injury, monetary compensation, property damage, breach of contract, and civil rights violations. The Civil Courts have limited jurisdiction over civil actions up to $35,000 and general jurisdiction over civil cases in which the amount in dispute exceeds $35,000.
The Criminal Division of the Superior Court handles criminal proceedings for misdemeanors and felonies. Proceedings held at this court include preliminary felony hearings and trials.
Legal disputes concerning the estates of deceased residents, wills, trusts, conservatorships, and guardianships in Santa Barbara County are brought before the Probate Division of the Superior Court. The Family Law Division provides mediation services to assist parties involved in existing family law cases that were filed at the Santa Barbara Superior Court. These cases include divorce, legal separation, annulments, paternity disputes, child support enforcement, domestic violence incidents, and child custody and support arrangements.
The Small Claims Court handles civil disputes where neither party has legal representation, and the claims are at most $12,500. However, small claims cases filed against businesses must be $6,250 or less. Additionally, residents can only file up to two small claims cases over $2,500 annually. Santa Barbara Superior Court also has a Traffic Division that hears traffic and minor offenses, including speeding, tailgating, and driving without a valid license.
Where to Find Public Court Records in Santa Barbara County
The Superior Court in Santa Barbara may allow anyone to view or obtain copies of its public court records. Generally, interested persons can find public court records in Santa Barbara County by searching the case online or via other means provided by the court’s Records Office. For instance, some courthouses in the county have public access terminals that provide electronic access to court records. Copies of court records requests can also be made in person at the Clerk’s Office, by mail or email.
Types of Public Court Records in Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County courts provide access to the following types of public court records:
- Civil case records
- Criminal case records
- Traffic violation records
- Probate records
- Family law case records
- Probate case records
Confidential Court Records in Santa Barbara County
Not all court records in Santa Barbara County are available to the public. Certain court records are sealed by the court or regarded as confidential by California laws to protect the privacy of the parties involved or to conceal sensitive information. Unlike public court records, access to confidential court records in Santa Barbara County is restricted to plaintiffs, defendants, or prosecutors.
Some court records that are confidential in California State include:
- Juvenile case records
- Adoption records
- Mental health records
- Medical records
- Sealed court records
- Records containing identifying information of trial jurors
- Probation and diagnostic reports
Juvenile Delinquency in Santa Barbara, CA
Unfortunately, in many areas of the Santa Barbara County, juvenile delinquency offenses are on the rise. There are many reasons for the inflation in youth offenders. The juvenile sentence in California often depends on the severity of the crime, the number of charges, and other family matters.
In 2017, a total of 1133 juvenile cases were reported for every 100,000 people age 10 to adulthood in the jurisdiction of Santa Barbara County. Of that total, 85% of those proceedings were delinquencies which equaled 962 court cases. Another 15% were dependency cases that accounted for 171 of the juvenile cases.
A lot of counties, including, Santa Barbara County, are focusing on family counseling and relationships rather than punishment for juvenile crimes. Future Santa Barbara County juvenile delinquency tallies will show whether or not this approach is working.
| Juvenile Cases | Number of cases |
|---|---|
| Delinquency | 4,466 |
| Dependency | 4,265 |
| Status | 7,868 |
Government of Santa Barbara County, CA
| County Seat: | Santa Barbara |
| Government Type: | County |
| Authority: | Dillon's Rule |
| Year Organized: | 1850 |
| Total Square Miles: | 3,789 |
| 2019 Population: | 448,150 |
| Persons/Square Mile: | 0.01 |
Santa Barbara County, CA Courts
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Santa Barbara County Superior Court
Address: 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93121
Phone: 805-882-4520