Contra Costa Case Search: Portals, Pre-2007 Records, and Fees

A Contra Costa case search starts at one of two free county portals: the Court Public Portal for civil, family law, probate, and small claims matters, and a separate Court Traffic Portal for traffic violations and infractions.¹ Both are free, both require accepting a terms-of-use disclaimer, and picking the wrong one is the single most common reason a case appears to be missing.

Which Portal to Use

The Public Portal handles Unlimited Civil, Limited Civil, Small Claims, Family Law, and Probate cases, and it’s also where you’ll find court calendars and hearing schedules. The Traffic Portal is a separate system for citations and infractions only. If you’re tracking an active civil or family case, everything routine you’ll need lives on the Public Portal.

How to Run the Search

The fastest lookup is by case number. Contra Costa case numbers begin with a two-letter prefix identifying the filing courthouse:

MS: Martinez
PS: Pittsburg
RS: Richmond
WS: Walnut Creek
CS: Concord (legacy cases)

Enter the prefix and number exactly as formatted. A single typo returns nothing. Without a case number, you can search by party name, attorney name, or hearing date. Name searches work best with a date range filter, especially for common names where the system may return dozens of matches.¹

Reading the Results

Search results show case status, filing date, party names, and upcoming hearings. A few status terms matter more than the rest:

Active or Pending: the case is still being litigated, and new filings and hearings are expected.
Disposed: the case has concluded, whether by judgment, settlement, or dismissal. It doesn’t tell you who won; the docket entries do.
Dismissed with prejudice: the case ended permanently and the same claim cannot be refiled. This is effectively a final ruling on the merits.
Dismissed without prejudice: the case ended without a decision on the merits, and the plaintiff can refile.
Stayed: proceedings are temporarily paused by court order, often pending an appeal or a related case.

What You Can and Can’t See Online

For Unlimited and Limited Civil cases, you can download electronic copies of filed documents like pleadings and motions at no charge through the Public Portal.¹ Small Claims and Family Law cases are searchable, but document access varies.

Criminal cases are limited. You can view basic docket information, but underlying documents, minute orders, and transcripts are not available through the portal. For those you’ll need to contact the Clerk’s office directly.

Several categories are excluded from online results entirely. Juvenile dependency proceedings and certain mental health cases are confidential by statute, and California Rules of Court require them to be marked confidential; access requires a court order signed by a judge.² Limited Unlawful Detainer (eviction) cases are frequently excluded from online results as well, so for those you may need to call the Civil Records Unit.

For sensitive case types including domestic violence restraining orders, civil harassment orders, divorce, child custody, and criminal cases, the court restricts online access to the register of actions, calendars, and case indexes. To see the actual filed documents in these cases, you have to view them in person at the courthouse.³

If the Case Is Older Than 2007

Civil case files from before November 13, 2007, predate the court’s electronic system and won’t appear in portal search results. The physical files are stored off-site and take roughly 10 business days to be delivered to the main courthouse for viewing.⁴ You can request them in person at the Civil Records Unit in the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse (725 Court Street, Martinez) or by mail.⁵

Mail requests need a check or money order payable to the Superior Court, plus a self-addressed stamped envelope. If a clerk has to spend more than 10 minutes locating the file, the search fee is $15 per case.⁶

Why an Old Case May Not Exist at All

Court records don’t exist forever. California law sets retention periods after final disposition, and once that window closes the file can be destroyed. If you’re searching for an old case and finding nothing, it may already be gone. The main retention periods:

General civil cases: 10 years
Family law: 30 years
Criminal felonies: 75 years
Criminal misdemeanors: 5 years (3 years for Vehicle Code violations)
Unlawful detainer: 1 year if the judgment was for possession only; 10 years if a money judgment was entered
Dismissed civil or small claims cases: 1 year

Some records are kept permanently, including adoptions, name changes, paternity cases, capital felonies, probated wills, and civil judgments in unlimited jurisdiction cases.⁷ If you need a record close to its destruction date, don’t wait.

Fees for Copies and Certified Documents

Viewing docket information on the Public Portal is free, and downloading electronic documents in Unlimited and Limited Civil cases is free. Fees start when you need physical or certified copies from the Civil Records Unit.

Photocopies: $0.50 per page, in person or by mail.⁸
Certification: $40 per document for a certified copy bearing the court’s seal, on top of the per-page charge.⁹
Dissolution records: a certified copy of a divorce or domestic partnership dissolution record costs $15 for a private individual, or $10 for a public agency.¹⁰
Clerk-conducted searches: $15 per search if it takes more than 10 minutes.⁶

Paying by credit card through an online court portal typically adds a 3% to 5% processing surcharge that goes to the payment processor, not the court.

Sealed Records and Bulk Data

If a record has been made confidential by protective order, statute, or prior court ruling, you cannot access it through normal channels. Release requires filing a motion and obtaining a court order from a judge.²

For researchers or commercial users wanting bulk data rather than individual lookups, California courts restrict bulk distribution to calendars, registers of actions, and case indexes. Bulk distribution of actual case documents is prohibited.¹¹

If You Found Your Own Case

If a search turned up your own record and you want it out of public view, the procedure depends on what happened. Under Penal Code Section 851.91, you can petition to seal an arrest record if the arrest did not lead to a conviction, and the court must grant the petition as a matter of right in most cases as long as none of the following apply: the arrest resulted in a conviction, charges could still be filed, the offense has no statute of limitations (like murder), or you evaded prosecution through identity fraud.¹² Sealing is discretionary rather than automatic when the arrest involved domestic violence, child abuse, or elder abuse and your record shows a pattern of similar arrests or convictions.

Other options exist for cleaning a criminal record, including dismissal of convictions (formerly called expungement), certificates of rehabilitation, and reclassification under Proposition 47. The California Courts self-help site has a guided tool that identifies which fits your situation.¹³

Separately, California Rule of Court 1.201 requires parties and their attorneys to redact Social Security numbers and financial account numbers from any document filed with the court. Court clerks do not screen filings for compliance; the responsibility falls on the filer. If your own sensitive information appears in a public filing, you may need to file a motion asking the court to allow a redacted version to replace the original.

1
Superior Court of California | County of Contra Costa. Online Services
2
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court 2026 Rule 8.45 – General Provisions
3
Judicial Branch of California. Who? Where? How? Viewing a Court’s Electronic Case Records
4
Superior Court of California | County of Contra Costa. Obtaining Court Records and Certified Copies of Documents
5
Superior Court of California | County of Contra Costa. Locations
6
California Legislative Information. California Government Code 70627
7
Justia Law. California Government Code Chapter 1.4 – Management of Trial Court Records
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Superior Court of California | County of Contra Costa. Fees
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California Legislative Information. California Government Code 70626
10
Judicial Branch of California. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 2026
11
Judicial Branch of California. Rule 2.503 – Application and Scope
12
California Courts. Information on How to File a Petition to Seal Arrest and Related Records Under Penal Code Section 851.91
13
Judicial Branch of California. Clean Your Record