Tehama County Court Records

Court docket records in Tehama County get handled by the Superior Court in Red Bluff. The courthouse sits at 1740 Walnut Street and serves all county residents. Staff maintain case files for criminal, civil, family, probate, and traffic matters. You can search for dockets by visiting the courthouse in person or checking the court website for available online tools. The county is part of the Third Appellate District. Cases filed here move through one central courthouse location that handles all case types under one roof in Tehama County.

Search Dockets Online

Tehama County Superior Court maintains a website at www.tehama.courts.ca.gov. The court is working on adding online case search options. Right now most searches happen at the courthouse. You can call ahead to check if a case exists before you visit. Staff will tell you if the file is there and what division handles it.

Many California courts use the Tyler Technologies system or Journal Technologies for online access. Tehama County may adopt one of these platforms in the future. Until then you need to visit the clerk office for most record searches. Some basic case info might be available by phone if you have a case number already. The court phone number is 530-527-6441.

Public terminals at the courthouse let you look up cases at no charge. You only pay when you print copies. The state standard copy fee is fifty cents per page. Certified copies add a forty dollar fee plus the per page cost. Most people start at the public terminal to find their case before asking the clerk for printed documents in Tehama County.

Red Bluff Courthouse

The courthouse is at 1740 Walnut Street in Red Bluff. This is the only court location in Tehama County. All case types get filed here. The building has a clerk office, courtrooms, and public terminals. Parking is available nearby. Court hours run Monday through Friday during normal business hours. Many clerk offices close from noon to 1:00 p.m. for lunch. Check the court website or call ahead to confirm hours before you visit.

The clerk office handles walk-in questions. Staff can help you locate a case file or explain the filing process. They cannot give legal advice. If you need help understanding court procedures, consider contacting a lawyer or legal aid organization. The clerk can only tell you where to file papers and what the fees are for different services in Tehama County.

Case files stay at the courthouse while a case is active. Once a case closes, it may move to storage after some time. Very old files might require advance notice for retrieval. Staff will let you know if a file needs to be pulled from archives. This can take a day or more depending on how busy they are and where the file is stored.

Case Types and Divisions

Civil dockets track lawsuits between parties. These include contract disputes, personal injury claims, and property cases. Small claims handle disputes under ten thousand dollars. Parties represent themselves in small claims court. The docket lists filing dates, hearing dates, and outcomes. Most small claims cases resolve quickly compared to regular civil suits.

Criminal dockets list prosecutions for misdemeanors and felonies. Each entry shows arraignment dates, bail amounts, and court appearances. Many cases end with plea agreements. Those show up as plea dates and sentencing hearings on the docket. Trials appear with jury selection dates and verdict dates if the case goes all the way to a jury decision.

Family law dockets cover divorce, custody, support, and domestic violence restraining orders. Probate dockets manage estates and conservatorships. Traffic cases also generate docket entries. A speeding ticket or other moving violation creates a case file you can look up. The docket shows your citation number, court date, and any fines or penalties ordered by the judge in Tehama County.

Docket Fees

Looking at case files at the courthouse is free. You pay when you want copies. Regular copies cost fifty cents per page. This is set by state law under California Government Code section 70627. The court cannot charge more than this for plain paper copies of docket sheets and court documents.

Certified copies cost more. The certification fee is forty dollars plus the fifty cent per page copy fee. You need certified copies for official purposes. Banks, government agencies, and some employers require certified copies to verify court judgments or case outcomes. Regular copies work fine for your own records in Tehama County.

If staff must search for a case over ten minutes, they can charge a fifteen dollar search fee. This rarely applies if you have a case number or party name. Most searches take less time than that. The search fee only kicks in for complicated requests that require staff to dig through old files or check multiple record systems.

Appeals from Tehama County

Appeals from Tehama County Superior Court go to the Third District Court of Appeal. This appellate court sits in Sacramento. It covers 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. You can find Third District opinions and case info at appellate.courts.ca.gov.

Most cases do not get appealed. Appeals happen when one party claims the trial court made a legal error. The appellate court reviews the trial record. It does not hear new evidence or witnesses. The appeal focuses on whether the judge applied the law correctly. This process takes months or even years. Very few cases go up to the California Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal rules.

Contact Tehama County Court

You can reach the court at 530-527-6441. The physical address is 1740 Walnut Street, Red Bluff, CA 96080. Check the court website at www.tehama.courts.ca.gov for updates on services and hours. Email contact info may be listed on the website if available. Most clerk offices prefer phone calls for quick questions about case status or filing requirements in Tehama County.

Cities in Tehama County

Tehama County has several smaller cities and towns. None exceed the 100,000 population threshold for dedicated pages. All court dockets for county residents are handled at the Red Bluff courthouse regardless of which city you live in.

Nearby Counties

Tehama County borders several other counties. Each maintains its own court system: