Sacramento County (Calif.) Court of Sessions records, 1850-1879

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Summary

Title:
Sacramento County (Calif.) Court of Sessions records
Dates:
1850-1879
Creators:
Sacramento County (Calif.). Court of Sessions and Sacramento County (Calif.). Board of Supervisors
Abstract:
The Court of Sessions was created in 1850 by the California State Legislature and disbanded in 1863 when its activities were transferred to the County Court. The court served two functions: transacting general county business and hearing certain criminal cases. The majority of this collection is made up of criminal case files from 1850 to 1862; it also includes Board of Supervisors records and calendars from when the board acted as the trial board for the court, plus court minutes, fee books, criminal records and indexes, calendars, jury books, an accounting daybook, civil judgment book, and alcalde's civil docket.
Extent:
6 linear feet (13 boxes, 13 volumes)
Language:
Languages represented in the collection: English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item and/or item number], [box and folder number], Sacramento County (Calif.) Court of Sessions records, CNTY0013, Center for Sacramento History.

Background

Scope and content:

The majority of the collection is made up of criminal case files from 1850 to 1862. Also included are Board of Supervisors records and calendars from when the board acted as the trial board for the court, plus court minutes, fee books, criminal records and indexes, calendars, jury books, an accounting daybook, civil judgment book, and alcalde's civil docket. Some of the volumes include records from the Probate Court and County Court as well.

Biographical / historical:

The Court of Sessions was created in 1850 by the California State Legislature. It was made up of a county judge, two justices of the peace, and the county clerk, who met monthly. The County Board of Supervisors acted as a trial board for the court. The court served two functions: transacting general county business and hearing certain criminal cases. Jurisdiction included cases of assault, assault and battery, breach of peace, riot, affray, petit larceny, and misdemeanors with fines of less than $500 or jail time less than three months. The law of 1851 added the duty of grand jury investigation of offenses excepting murder, manslaughter, and arson, and appellate jurisdiction over justice's, recorder's, and mayor's courts in criminal cases. In 1863, the activities of the Court of Sessions were transferred to the County Court.

Acquisition information:
Transferred from the California State Archives in 1980 (accession #1980/132).
Physical location:
SP SV 15:G:5, 15:K:6, 15:L:1, 21:K:3-4, 22:A:1
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Kim Hayden
Date Prepared:
© 2019
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid created by Kim Hayden. Date of source: August 1, 2019.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research use.

Terms of access:

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.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item and/or item number], [box and folder number], Sacramento County (Calif.) Court of Sessions records, CNTY0013, Center for Sacramento History.

Location of this collection:
551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95811, US
Contact:
(916) 808-7072
csh@cityofsacramento.org
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