Collection Guide
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Guide to the Sacramento County (Calif.) District Court records
CNTY0014
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Table of contents
Title: Sacramento County (Calif.) District Court records
Dates: 1849-1880
Collection number: CNTY0014
Creator:
Sacramento County (Calif.). District Court
Collection Size:
175.5 linear feet (433 boxes, 109 volumes)
Repository:
Center for Sacramento History
Sacramento, California 95811-0229
Abstract: 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.
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.) District Court records, CNTY0014,
Center for Sacramento History.
The collection was acquired from Sacramento County in 1978 (accession number 1978/93) and the California State Archives in
1980 (accession numbers 1980/132 and 1980/132).
Biography / Administrative History
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.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection is made up of records created by the 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. Some of these
other records are clearly specific to tax, civil, or criminal cases, while others are more general to the court’s activities.
The collection is arranged into 5 series:
Series 1. Tax cases, 1863-1879
Series 2. Civil cases, 1863-1879
Series 3. Cases pending, 1849-1879
Series 4. Criminal cases, 1850-1879
Series 5. Other records, 1850-1880
Series 1. Tax cases, 1863-1879
Series 2. Civil cases, 1863-1879
Series 3. Cases pending, 1849-1879
Series 4. Criminal cases, 1850-1879
Series 5. Other records, 1850-1880
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Sacramento County (Calif.). District Court
Courts--Sacramento County (Calif.)--Cases
Sacramento County (Calif.)--Trials, litigation, etc.
For naturalization records from the District Court (1861-1879), see CNTY0008.