The collection contains records created by the Sacramento County Superior Court from 1879 through circa 1970. The largest part of the collection consists of records related to civil and criminal cases, including case files, registers of action, judgments, and minutes. The collection also contains Juvenile Court minutes, juvenile commitments and claims, insane commitments and discharges, court calendars and journals, and other records. The Superior Court was created in 1880 by provisions of the 1879 State Constitution. This court assumed the functions previously carried out by the District, Sessions, County, and Probate Courts. Cases are handled by one of four departments: criminal, civil, probate, and juvenile. Each county in California has its own Superior Court.

The Superior Court was created in 1880 by provisions of the 1879 State Constitution. This court assumed the functions previously carried out by the District, Sessions, County, and Probate Courts. Cases are handled by one of four departments: criminal, civil, probate, and juvenile. Each county in California has its own Superior Court.

1,290 Linear Feet

All requests to publish or quote from private manuscripts held by the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) must be submitted in writing to csh@cityofsacramento.org. Permission for publication is given on behalf of CSH as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the patron. No permission is necessary to publish or quote from public records.

Collection is open for research use, except Series 3 (Juvenile records) and Series 4 (Insane commitment records), which are closed to access and research per California Welfare and Institution Code. Material in those series can only be accessed by court order.