The collection is made up of records created by the Sacramento County District Court from 1849 to 1880, with the majority of material consisting of case files from tax, civil, criminal, and dismissed cases. Other records include judgment dockets, execution dockets, registers of action, indexes, minutes, fee books, calendars, orders, writs of attachment, and attorney’s oaths and orders. The District Court was established by the state legislature on March 30, 1850. It was the highest court of the county at the time.

The District Court was established by the state legislature on March 30, 1850. It was the highest court of the county at the time; other courts included Probate Court, County Court, and Court of Sessions. The District Court had jurisdiction over all law and equity cases, civil cases in amounts exceeding $200, and criminal cases not otherwise provided for. The court also heard issues of fact in probate and all real property dispute, and it had jurisdiction over naturalizations (see CNTY0008 for naturalization records). Judges held court at county seats within their district on a set periodic schedule. The county clerk acted as the clerk for the court. By an act of 1851, the District Court was given appellate jurisdiction over the County Court, and the Court of Sessions in criminal matters. In 1863, the court was given authority over legality of taxes and fines, and in 1864, cases involving tax sales. The State Constitution transferred the duties of the District Court to the newly created Superior Court in 1879.

175.5 linear feet (433 boxes, 109 volumes)

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.