Copies of court documents - including orders regarding dissolutions of marriage and judgments of dissolutions, probate, wills, name changes, criminal and civil cases – may be available at the headquarters courthouse in the district where the case was handled. Check at a district headquarters courthouse – see “Superior Courts” for a listing of the district courts, or go to http://lasuperiorcourt.org to determine where the case was heard. If the case concluded more than five years ago, records are likely at the Archives and Records Center, 222 N. Hill St., Los Angeles 90012. (No phone orders are accepted).

Some post-1999 civil case documents may be found online at http://lasuperiorcourt.org/Online/CivilImages where they can be purchased and downloaded.

In the Central District, visit or write the certification section in Rm. 112 at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 N. Hill St., Los Angeles or call (213) 974-5192 for information. (No phone orders will be accepted.)

Ordering case documents requires a case number. To search for a civil case number, provide the names of the parties and the year the case was filed to civil index staff members. If the civil case was filed in 1965 or earlier, call the civil index clerk at (213) 974-1378. For civil cases filed after 1965, call the civil index clerk at (213) 974-5171. (An in-person index fee for civil searches costs $15 per name if a search takes more than 10 minutes.)

Criminal case index searches for criminal cases filed before 1956 are performed at the Archives and Records Center, 222 N. Hill St., Los Angeles 90012; criminal cases filed 1957 and later are indexed at the Criminal Justice Center, 210 W. Temple St., Rm. M-6, Los Angeles 90012. (California law allows misdemeanor case records to be destroyed five years after their disposition.)