Collection Guide
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Guide to the Sacramento County (Calif.) Court of Sessions records
CNTY0013
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Table of contents
Title: Sacramento County (Calif.) Court of Sessions records
Dates: 1850-1879
Collection number: CNTY0013
Creator:
Sacramento County (Calif.). Court of Sessions
Creator:
Sacramento County (Calif.). Board of Supervisors
Collection Size:
6 linear feet (13 boxes, 13 volumes)
Repository:
Center for Sacramento History
Sacramento, California 95811-0229
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.
Physical location: SP SV 15:G:5, 15:K:6, 15:L:1, 21:K:3-4, 22:A:1
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Collection is open for research use.
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.
[Identification of item and/or item number], [box and folder number], Sacramento County (Calif.) Court of Sessions records,
CNTY0013, Center for Sacramento History.
Transferred from the California State Archives in 1980 (accession #1980/132).
Biography / Administrative History
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.
Scope and Content of Collection
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.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Sacramento County (Calif.) Court of Sessions records
Courts--Sacramento County (Calif.)--Cases
Sacramento County (Calif.)--Trials, litigation, etc.
The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors acted as a trial board for the Court of Sessions. The board's minutes from that
time period (1850 to 1863) contain entries related to court business.