El Dorado County Court Dockets

El Dorado County Superior Court maintains dockets for all cases filed in this Sierra Nevada foothill region. The court operates three locations to serve residents from the valley floor to the Lake Tahoe basin. You can search court dockets online using the public portal at no charge. Journal Technologies provides the case management system that tracks civil, criminal, family, and probate matters throughout El Dorado County. Most records from recent years are available for remote viewing. The courthouse in Placerville serves as the main facility but branch courts in Cameron Park and South Lake Tahoe handle cases from their regions as well.

Online Docket Search

The public portal sits at public-portal-eldorado.journaltech.com/public-portal/. This is where you search for case dockets from any computer or phone. The portal runs free searches by case number or party name. Results show the case summary and register of actions. Each docket entry lists what happened on a given date, who filed papers, and what the court ordered.

You can view most case types through the portal. Civil lawsuits, small claims, unlawful detainers, and probate cases all appear. Criminal and traffic dockets show up too. Some family law records have restricted access due to privacy laws. The portal might only show limited info for divorce or custody cases. If you need more detail, visit the courthouse where staff can check what is available for public viewing in El Dorado County.

Case numbers help you get faster results. If you only have a name, the search may return many matches. Pick the right case by checking the file date or case type. Once you open a case, the docket shows every filing and hearing from start to finish. This tells you the full history of what happened in court.

Courthouse Locations

El Dorado County runs three court facilities. The main courthouse stands at 495 Main Street in Placerville, CA 95667. This is the county seat. Most major civil and criminal trials happen here. The clerk office can help you search for records or get copies of documents from the file. Court hours run from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

A branch court serves the Cameron Park area. You can reach that office at (530) 621-5047. Another branch sits in South Lake Tahoe at (530) 573-3044. These branch courts handle some case filings and hearings for people who live closer to those locations. All three facilities share the same case management system. A case filed in Placerville shows up in the same online portal as a case filed in South Lake Tahoe.

If you visit in person, bring photo ID. The courthouse has security at the entrance. Public computers are available in the lobby for case searches. Staff can print copies for you at the standard fifty cents per page. You can also ask the clerk to pull a file so you can review it in the office in El Dorado County.

Court Docket Types

Civil dockets cover disputes between parties. These include contract claims, personal injury suits, property fights, and business litigation. The docket shows when the complaint was filed, how the defendant responded, and what motions each side made. Hearing dates appear on the docket along with the outcome of each hearing. Many civil cases settle before trial. You will see a notice of settlement or dismissal on the docket when that happens.

Criminal dockets track prosecutions for misdemeanors and felonies. The docket lists the charges, arraignment date, and any plea entered by the defendant. Preliminary hearings show up if the case is a felony. Trial dates appear if the case goes that far. Sentencing hearings and probation terms also get listed on the criminal docket in El Dorado County.

Family law dockets handle divorce, custody, support, and domestic violence restraining orders. These cases often have many hearings spread over months or years. The docket tracks each court appearance and every order the judge makes. Probate dockets manage estates, wills, and conservatorships. Traffic dockets cover tickets and infractions. Small claims dockets list disputes under ten thousand dollars.

Record Copy Fees

Online searches are free. You can look up as many cases as you want through the public portal. The courthouse also lets you search on public terminals at no charge. Fees apply when you need paper copies or certified documents from the file.

Copy fees are fifty cents per page. This is the state standard rate. If you need a certified copy, the clerk adds a forty dollar certification fee on top of the copy charges. Most people only certify copies when they must prove the document is a true court record. Banks, other courts, and government agencies often require certification in El Dorado County.

Search fees can apply if the clerk has to dig through archives or spend over ten minutes finding your records. The fee is fifteen dollars for extended searches. This mostly affects very old cases that are not digitized. Most recent dockets show up fast in the online system so you will not hit this fee if your case is from the last twenty years or so.

What You Can See Online

Most case dockets are available for remote viewing through the public portal. Civil cases, probate cases, and many criminal cases can be searched from home. The portal shows the register of actions and basic case information. Some documents may also be available for viewing or download depending on how the court has set up access.

Certain records have access limits. Family law cases may only show partial information due to privacy rules under California law. Juvenile cases do not appear in public searches at all. Sealed cases also stay hidden from the portal. If a judge orders a case or document sealed, you cannot view it unless you get court permission first in El Dorado County.

Appeals from El Dorado County

El Dorado County is in the Third Appellate District. Appeals from the Superior Court go to the Court of Appeal in Sacramento. The appellate court maintains its own case portal at appellate.courts.ca.gov. If you want to see what happened after a case left the trial court, search the appellate database. The appellate docket will show the trial court case number so you can link the two records together.

The Third District covers a large region including Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo, and Yuba counties. All these counties send their appeals to the same court in Sacramento.

Nearby Counties

El Dorado County borders several other counties, each with its own court system: