May 18, 2013
Viewing Court Records

To view court files, fill out the request form located at the Records Management counter. You may request up to 5 files at a time. Once the files are viewed and returned, an additional 5 files may be requested. When viewing over 10 files, your request may be faxed to our office (650-363-4914) at least 1 week before viewing. Your files will be available for viewing one week after your fax is received. Files being viewed in sequential number order may be requested up to 30 files at a time. Files located off-site will be viewable in 72 hours. If the file is offsite, there is a fee of $10 per file for retrieval. Once the files are received from our off-site location, they'll be held for 5 working days then returned off-site. Click here for a list of files that are stored off-site.

Files located in the courtroom cannot be accessed. Typically, files are sent to the courtroom 3-5 days prior to a hearing or other matter.

Unlimited Criminal files may be viewed by the defendant or the attorney of record, at the Unlimited Criminal Department, located on the 4th floor. All other requests for Unlimited Criminal files must be made on the 1st floor, at Records Management. There is a turn-around time of 48 hours to retrieve an on-site Unlimited Criminal file and 72 hours if the file is off-site. If the file is offsite, there is a fee of $10 per file for retrieval. Requests for Limited Criminal files are handled by the Limited Criminal Department on the 4th floor.

Fees

Unlimited Criminal files may be viewed by the defendant or the attorney of record, at the Unlimited Criminal Department, located on the 4th floor. All other requests for Unlimited Criminal files must be made on the 1st floor, at Records Management. There is a turn-around time of 48 hours to retrieve an on-site Unlimited Criminal file and 72 hours if the file is off-site. If the file is offsite, there is a fee of $10 per file for retrieval. Requests for Limited Criminal files are handled by the Limited Criminal Department on the 4th floor.

© 2013 Superior Court of San Mateo County