United States District Court, Central District of California
Records

Subject: Section: Last Updated:
RecordsRecords 06/12/2012

Table of Contents

VIEWING CASE FILES, DOCKETS, TRANSCRIPTS, OR
OBTAINING COURT CERTIFIED DOCUMENTS
CORRESPONDENCE PROCEDURES

For information on viewing case files, dockets, transcripts, depositions, or exhibits; obtaining certified, exemplified, or apostille copies of documents; and correspondence procedures, please contact the appropriate divisional office.

To determine the location of the court where the case file is held, please note the prefix of the case number on the following examples (see note below regarding transferred cases):

Case Number
Type of Case
Case File Location
CV 09-1234
CR 09-123
SACV 09-111
SACR 09-111
EDCV 09-222
EDCR 09-222
Civil
Criminal
Civil
Criminal
Civil
Criminal
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Santa Ana
Santa Ana
Riverside
Riverside

NOTE: Case files, dockets, or transcripts for criminal and civil cases (except non-capital habeas corpus petitions, pro se civil rights cases, social security cases, bankruptcy cases, and other matters referred to a magistrate judge) transferred between divisions after January 1, 2005 are available at the division where the assigned district judge is located.

Los Angeles cases: Western Division
United States District Court
Records Department / Correspondence Clerk
312 North Spring Street, Suite G-8
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-894-3863
records_cacd@cacd.uscourts.gov

Santa Ana cases: Southern Division
Ronald Reagan Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse
Clerk’s Office / Records Department
411 West Fourth Street, Room 1053
Santa Ana, CA 92701-4516
714-338-4746

Riverside cases: Eastern Division
Clerk’s Office / Records Department
3470 12th Street, Room 134
Riverside, CA 92501
951-328-4450

Office hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, with the exception of federal holidays.

All requests for certified copies must include the case number and specific item number of the document, obtained from the docket sheet. Please provide your name and contact information.

Payments that do not follow the court’s guidelines will be returned unprocessed. Please do not submit any fees without first contacting the appropriate divisional office for complete remittance instructions.

OBTAINING UNCERTIFIED COPIES OF COURT DOCUMENTS

For information on receiving uncertified copies of documents, please contact the on-site photocopy service for the appropriate division:

Los Angeles: Western Division
ABC Scanning
312 N. Spring Street, Room G-7A
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 253-9413
(213) 253-9414 FAX

Santa Ana: Southern Division
Clerk’s Office / Records Department
411 West Fourth Street, Room 1053
Santa Ana, CA 92701
714-338-4746

Riverside: Eastern Division
Clerk’s Office / Records Department
3470 12th Street, Room 134
Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 328-4470

PACER

You may also take advantage of the “Public Access to Court Electronic Records” or PACER service. This on-line service allows you to retrieve electronic docket information without having to leave your office or home. You can search for a civil, criminal or magistrate case by participant name or case number, and once you access the case the docket information can be downloaded to your computer for review or printing. Images of scanned civil and criminal judgments and orders are also available. The PACER service is available 24 hours a day, including weekends.

For further information, please contact:
PACER Service Center
Post Office Box 780549
San Antonio, TX 78278
(800) 676-6856

REVIEWING FILES AT THE FEDERAL RECORDS CENTER (FRC)

Files for cases which have been closed for two years or more and are not pending appeal are maintained at the Federal Records Center (FRC).

You are able to request certified or uncertified photocopies of selected documents or the entire case file directly from FRC. You may also schedule an appointment to view the file.

Please contact FRC as follows for more information and the required forms:
Telephone: (951) 956-2000
On-line: http://www.archives.gov/facilities/ca/perris/factsheet.html

You will need to provide the accession, location and box numbers to FRC for file retrieval. This information my be obtained from the court's NARA web site. If there are no search results, please contact the appropriate divisional office:

Los Angeles: Western Division
(213) 894-3863
records_cacd@cacd.uscourts.gov

Santa Ana: Southern Division
(714) 338-4785

Riverside: Eastern Division
(951) 328-4450

REVIEWING FILES AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION (NARA)

For information on cases from 1969 and earlier, you will need to contact the National Archives and Records Administration at 949-360-3426.