Start with the court for the case outcome, not with a generic people-search site
Los Angeles criminal-record information is spread across several government systems. The Los Angeles County Superior Court maintains filed criminal cases and court dispositions; the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department maintains county jail, booking and many Sheriff’s records; the Los Angeles Police Department maintains LAPD arrest and crime-report information; California DOJ maintains the statewide fingerprint-based criminal-history repository; and CDCR maintains state-prison information. The fastest search starts by deciding which record you actually need.
Los Angeles does not have one criminal-record database
The word “criminal record” can mean a court case, arrest summary, jail booking, police report, state RAP sheet, prison record or federal court case. Those records are maintained by different agencies.
Filed criminal case
Use for criminal case numbers, filing location, charges, hearings, disposition and public court documents.
County jail / booking
Use for current county custody, booking details, bail, housing, court dates and release information.
City arrest / police report
Use for qualifying LAPD arrest summaries, crime reports and LAPD-created records.
State criminal history
Fingerprint-based statewide criminal-history summary. Third-party requests are restricted.
State prison record
Use California corrections resources for state incarceration information rather than county jail data.
Federal prosecution
Federal criminal cases in the Central District of California are searched through PACER.
Search Los Angeles County criminal court cases through the Superior Court
The Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles Criminal Division provides online criminal case access.
You can search using a known criminal case number or use the court’s Criminal Defendant Index to locate a case number by defendant name. Public terminals are also available inside Los Angeles County courthouses.
Search by defendant name Open Criminal DivisionStart with the defendant’s legal name
Use the Criminal Defendant Index if you do not already have a Los Angeles Superior Court case number.
Choose Exact Match or Starts With
Exact Match works best when you know the correct spelling. Starts With can help when the full spelling is uncertain.
Identify the correct case
Search results can show case number, defendant name, filing date and filing location. Compare these carefully when several people share the same name.
Open the Criminal Case Summary
Once you have the case number, use the court’s case-summary service to review available case information.
Check the final disposition
Do not treat a filed charge as a conviction. Look for how each count was ultimately resolved.
How the Los Angeles criminal defendant-name search works
The Criminal Defendant Index lets users locate Los Angeles Superior Court criminal case numbers by defendant name. The court updates the service daily.
Use when spelling is known
The search looks for defendants whose entered first or last name exactly matches the value submitted.
Use for uncertain spelling
Enter the beginning characters of a name to return possible names sharing that prefix.
Current Los Angeles Superior Court online search fees
Los Angeles Superior Court charges a public-access fee for defendant-name searches because of the technology and operating costs associated with electronic record access.
| User type | Current search fee | Important detail |
|---|---|---|
| Guest user | $4.75 per name search | Flat fee per search. |
| Registered searches 1–10/month | $1.00 each | Monthly registered-user sliding scale begins here. |
| Registered searches 11–99 | $4.75 each | Rate changes based on monthly volume. |
| Registered searches 100–999 | $4.50 each | Higher-volume tier. |
| Registered searches 1,000–10,000 | $4.25 each | Higher-volume tier. |
| Registered searches 10,001+ | $4.00 each | Highest published volume tier. |
Fees can change. Verify the current LA Court Online Services Fee Information before paying.
How far back can you search Los Angeles criminal cases online?
The current Criminal Defendant Index publishes different online coverage periods for felony and misdemeanor cases.
| Case type | Online defendant-index range | Older-record note |
|---|---|---|
| Felony | 1980–present | Contact Archives for older availability. |
| Misdemeanor | 1988–present | Some misdemeanor information reaches back to 1983 depending on when former Municipal Court locations automated their records. |
Read the disposition before describing someone’s record
A Los Angeles criminal case can contain several counts, and each count can have a different result. The docket should be read chronologically rather than stopping at the original charge.
| Case information | What it tells you | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Filed charge | The offense alleged by prosecutors. | Whether that charge was later dismissed or resolved. |
| Plea | The defendant’s response to the charge. | Whether the plea later changed. |
| Disposition | How that charge was resolved. | Conviction, dismissal, acquittal or other result. |
| Sentence | Court-imposed terms after a qualifying disposition. | Custody, probation, fine or other conditions. |
| Hearing | Court event or scheduled appearance. | A hearing itself is not proof of guilt. |
Buying online Los Angeles court document images
When a document image is available through LA Court Online Services, the court currently uses a page-based fee.
| Document length | Current online fee |
|---|---|
| Pages 1–5 | $1.00 per page |
| Page 6 and above | $0.40 per additional page |
| Maximum | $40 per document |
Registered users can retrieve purchased documents for a limited period through their online account. Guest users should keep the transaction receipt because it is used to retrieve purchased information.
Los Angeles has many criminal courthouses — identify the filing location first
Los Angeles County Superior Court lists more than twenty locations handling criminal matters. They include downtown Los Angeles, Compton, Airport, Van Nuys, Bellflower, Burbank, Glendale, El Monte, West Covina and other locations.
Use the filing location returned by the defendant index or case search rather than assuming every criminal file is at the downtown Criminal Justice Center.
Find the correct criminal courthouseClara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center
210 West Temple StreetLos Angeles, CA 90012
General phone: (213) 628-7700
Criminal Clerk’s Office: 2nd Floor, Room M6.
Clerk and building access
Courthouse building: 7:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Clerk’s Office: 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday except court holidays.
The court strongly encourages appointments for Clerk’s Office and self-help services.
Downtown Los Angeles Criminal Justice Center map
Use this map only when the case is assigned to the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center. Check the case filing location before traveling because criminal cases are distributed among many Los Angeles County courthouses.
Find someone in Los Angeles County jail custody
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department makes specified inmate information available to the public through its Inmate Information Center.
LASD policy lists publicly available inmate information including:
- booking details
- arrest information
- bail amount
- housing location
- court dates and court location
- release date
- information regarding holds
- visiting days and hours
Inmate Answering Service
LASD also publishes telephone inmate-information access at: (213) 473-6002.
How to request Los Angeles County Sheriff’s records
LASD separates record requests by record type. Some requests fall under the California Public Records Act, while certain law-enforcement related records use specialized access procedures instead.
LASD Record RequestsLASD’s Records and Identification Bureau handles services such as:
- booking-arrest information
- clearance and incarceration letters
- criminal-history requests where authorized
- crime-report releases to qualifying victims
- Live Scan fingerprint services
- record-sealing services
LASD Records and Identification Bureau
Public Services Section12440 East Imperial Highway, Suite 120 West
Norwalk, CA 90650
Phone: (562) 345-4441
Current published service hours: Monday–Thursday, by appointment.
How to check whether you have a Los Angeles County warrant
LASD’s current public guidance says a person can contact a local police department or Sheriff’s station to ask law enforcement to check whether an active warrant exists.
If you already know the criminal case number, reviewing the court case and contacting the assigned courthouse can also help identify the court handling the matter.
LAPD records are separate from Los Angeles County Sheriff’s records
The City of Los Angeles Police Department maintains its own Records and Identification Division. If LAPD made the arrest or created the incident report, use LAPD procedures rather than sending the request automatically to LASD.
LAPD also maintains a California Public Records Act process for qualifying public records, while privacy, investigative and criminal-history restrictions can limit what is released.
LAPD Record Information LAPD CPRA RequestsIf LAPD arrested you, you can request your own LAPD arrest summary
LAPD allows a person who has been arrested by LAPD to request a summary of their own LAPD arrests. The summary lists LAPD arrest dates, charges and dispositions when those dispositions are on file.
The current mail procedure requires:
- full fingerprints on Form FD-258
- a letter requesting the arrest summary
- government-issued identification
- mailing and contact information
- current LAPD arrest-summary fee
| Service | Current LAPD fee |
|---|---|
| Arrest Summary | $25 |
| Detention Letter | $26 |
Mail arrest-summary requests to
LAPD R&I DivisionATTN: CSRRU – Arrest Summary
P.O. Box 30158
Los Angeles, CA 90030
LAPD’s Court Sealings & Records Retention Unit currently lists (213) 486-8320 for related assistance.
How to request an LAPD crime report
LAPD does not make every full crime report available to anyone who asks. A qualifying victim, victim representative or another authorized requester may request a report under applicable California law.
The current crime-report request asks for details such as:
- victim name and address
- type of crime
- date and location
- DR or incident number if known
- authorization or relationship documentation when required
LAPD currently lists an ordinary crime-report request fee of $28. Certain qualifying victims—including victims of specified domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, elder/dependent-adult abuse and identity theft— may qualify for a free report under the rules published by LAPD.
Mail crime-report requests to
Los Angeles Police DepartmentR&I Division – Document Processing Unit
P.O. Box 30158
Los Angeles, CA 90030
Recorded information line: (213) 486-8130.
LAPD and LASD are not interchangeable
“Los Angeles” can refer to the City of Los Angeles or the much larger County of Los Angeles. This distinction matters because dozens of law-enforcement agencies operate within the county.
LAPD
Handles police activity within LAPD jurisdiction and maintains its own police and arrest records.
LASD
Operates the county jail system and provides law-enforcement services in many contract cities and unincorporated areas.
California DOJ is the statewide route for your own criminal-history record
California DOJ maintains the state’s summary criminal-history repository. It is not an unrestricted public name-search system.
DOJ states that California criminal-history summary records are confidential and generally are not available to ordinary third parties through the California Public Records Act.
California resident Record Review
California residents who want their own record use Live Scan fingerprints and the DOJ Record Review process.
Download Form BCIA 8016RR
Select “Record Review” as the application type and reason.
Complete the personal-information section
Follow the form exactly to reduce processing problems.
Go to a Live Scan provider
California residents submit fingerprints electronically.
Pay the DOJ processing fee
DOJ currently lists a $25 processing fee, plus any rolling fee charged by the fingerprint provider.
Review the returned criminal history
Check arrest, court and disposition information for accuracy and completeness.
What to do if your California criminal-history record is wrong
DOJ instructs people who believe their criminal history is inaccurate or incomplete to first obtain their own fingerprint-based Record Review.
The returned record includes the process for submitting a Claim of Alleged Inaccuracy or Incompleteness.
Use CDCR for California state-prison records
A Los Angeles County jail search and a California state-prison search answer different questions. If the person was committed to state prison, use the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
CDCR provides the California Incarcerated Records and Information Search (CIRIS) for qualifying public state-custody information.
Open CDCR CIRISCalifornia Megan’s Law is a separate specialized registry
California DOJ operates the Megan’s Law Website for qualifying public sex-offender registration information.
The information comes from California’s Sex and Arson Registry and registration data supplied by local law-enforcement agencies.
Search California appellate records separately
If a Los Angeles Superior Court criminal matter was appealed, use the California appellate case-information system. Los Angeles County is generally within the Second District Court of Appeal.
California Appellate Case SearchThe appellate system can help locate Court of Appeal and Supreme Court case information, including opinions and docket information when publicly available.
Federal criminal cases in Los Angeles use PACER
Federal prosecutions are not Los Angeles Superior Court cases. Los Angeles is within the Western Division of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Search PACER Central District of CaliforniaEdward R. Roybal Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse
255 East Temple StreetLos Angeles, CA 90012
Western Division records
Records contact: (213) 894-3863.
Current public window hours are generally 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., closed 12:30–1:30 p.m., Monday–Friday except federal holidays.
Federal court copy costs
| Service | Current court charge |
|---|---|
| Public-terminal printout | $0.10 per page |
| Physical-document copy | $0.50 per page |
| Certification | $12 per document plus copy/print charges |
| Federal name-index search | $34 |
Older federal Los Angeles criminal cases may be archived
The Central District’s current Records Department guidance separates more recent name-index searching from older federal archival material.
For records from 1992 and earlier, the court directs researchers toward the National Archives and Records Administration when appropriate.
The court also retrieves archived case boxes from the Federal Records Center for a fee. Confirm the current archive fee with the Records Department before requesting retrieval.
Why a Los Angeles criminal record may not appear publicly
California law allows several types of criminal-record relief, and the effect depends on the specific statute and order. Examples can include record sealing, dismissal, automatic relief and juvenile sealing.
A missing public record may also reflect:
- an older record that is not electronically indexed
- a sealed arrest or court record
- dismissal or other statutory relief
- juvenile confidentiality
- a court-order access restriction
- a case filed in another county or jurisdiction
Juvenile records use a different access system
California juvenile records are subject to stronger confidentiality protections than ordinary adult criminal cases. A juvenile matter should not be searched or requested as if it were an adult Superior Court criminal file.
Public access depends on the record type, proceeding and applicable California law. If you are the subject, parent, attorney or authorized party, use the Juvenile Court’s procedures rather than a general criminal defendant-name search.
Public Los Angeles court records are not automatically a compliant background check
Public court research can help verify a case, but employment, housing, licensing and other screening decisions can trigger separate federal, California and local requirements.
California DOJ also makes clear that a person’s own Record Review copy is not a document that an unauthorized employer or other third party may simply require the person to hand over.
Los Angeles criminal-record search tips that save time
Save the case number
Once you find the correct defendant, keep the full Superior Court case number to avoid repeated paid name searches.
Use Exact Match first
Exact Match reduces unrelated results when you know the defendant’s full legal spelling.
Old misdemeanor missing?
Online misdemeanor coverage varies for older Municipal Court records. Contact Archives or the filing courthouse.
Recent arrest?
Start with LASD inmate information when someone is currently in county custody, then move to the court case.
Check the arresting agency
LAPD, LASD and other city police agencies maintain different police-record systems.
County jail ≠ state prison
LASD searches county custody. CDCR searches state correctional custody.
Read each charge separately
Multi-count criminal cases can contain different dispositions for different charges.
Your own statewide record?
Use California DOJ fingerprint Record Review instead of collecting summaries from multiple local agencies.
Federal case?
Switch to PACER immediately. Federal prosecutions will not be found in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Questions people commonly ask about Los Angeles criminal records
1. Can I search Los Angeles criminal court cases online?
Yes. Los Angeles Superior Court provides online criminal case access. If you know the defendant’s name but not the case number, use the court’s Criminal Defendant Index.
2. How much does a Los Angeles defendant-name search cost?
The court currently charges guest users $4.75 per name search. Registered-user rates use a monthly sliding scale, beginning at $1 per search for searches 1 through 10.
3. How far back does Los Angeles criminal court search go?
The current Criminal Defendant Index lists felony coverage from 1980 to the present and misdemeanor coverage from 1988 to the present, with some misdemeanor information extending to 1983 depending on when former Municipal Courts automated their records.
4. How do I find someone in Los Angeles County jail?
Use the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Inmate Information Center. Public information can include booking details, arrest information, bail, housing, court date and location, release date, holds and visiting information.
5. Is LAPD criminal-history information the same as LASD records?
No. LAPD and LASD are separate law-enforcement agencies. LAPD maintains its own city arrest and police records, while LASD operates the county jail system and provides law enforcement in many county areas and contract cities.
6. Can I request someone else’s California DOJ criminal-history report?
No. California DOJ states that third-party Record Review requests are not authorized. Individuals can request their own fingerprint-based California criminal-history record.
7. How do I request my own LAPD arrest history?
If LAPD arrested you, you can request an LAPD arrest summary by mail with fingerprints, identification, a written request and the current LAPD fee. The summary covers LAPD arrests only.
8. Can I get a copy of an LAPD crime report?
Authorized victims, representatives and other qualifying requesters can request certain LAPD crime reports. The current ordinary report fee is $28, with fee exceptions for specified victim categories.
9. Where do I search a federal criminal case in Los Angeles?
Use PACER for federal criminal cases in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The Los Angeles federal courthouse is part of the district’s Western Division.
10. What should I do if an old Los Angeles criminal case is missing online?
Identify the filing courthouse and contact Los Angeles Superior Court about archive or courthouse access. Older criminal records can fall outside the current online defendant-index date ranges.
Official sources for verifying Los Angeles records
- Los Angeles Superior Court — Criminal Division
- Los Angeles Superior Court — Criminal Defendant Index
- Los Angeles Superior Court — Online Services Fees
- Los Angeles Superior Court — Criminal Courthouse Locations
- Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department — Record Requests
- LASD — Records and Identification Bureau FAQs
- LAPD — Obtaining Police Information
- LAPD — Arrest Summaries and Detention Letters
- LAPD — California Public Records Act Requests
- California DOJ — Request Your Own Criminal Record
- California DOJ — Criminal Record Access FAQs
- CDCR — California Incarcerated Records and Information Search
- California DOJ — Megan’s Law Website
- California Appellate Case Information
- PACER — Federal Court Case Search
- Central District of California — Records Department