Sonoma County Municipal Court records
Scope and Contents
Official records of the Sonoma County Municipal Court.
Dates
- Creation: 1952-1980
Language of Materials
English
Conditions Governing Access:
Materials stored offsite, but collection is open to research. In many cases, further details on individual volumes can be found by calling staff at the Sonoma County History and Genealogy Library. To view these materials, please call staff at link to request they be brought from the Archives to the Library
Conditions Governing Use
Collection does not circulate and may be photocopied or photographed by arrangement only.
Publication Rights
Property rights reside with the Sonoma County Library. The Sonoma County Library has made this collection available and believes that the collection is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Collection may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Preferred credit line is: Courtesy, the Sonoma County Library. Please see additional reproduction and reuse information at link
Court History
Prior to June 1998, California's trial courts consisted of Superior and Municipal courts, each with its own jurisdiction and with its number of judges fixed by the Legislature; prior to 1951, twelve inferior courts with municipal or judicial township jurisdiction were designated by the Board of Supervisors to try civil and lesser criminal cases in the County. The County Court (also known as the Sonoma County Justice Court; more formally designated as the State of California's County Court for Sonoma County), served as referees for the Juvenile Court, among other duties involving minor offenses. The County Court was reorganized in 1952 as part of the State of California's inferior court reorganization program authorized by the voters as California Proposition 3 in 1950, which combined the offices of the municipal and township justices of the peace and city police court judges; the Santa Rosa Justice Court and other, local municipal courts were combined as the Santa Rosa Judicial District Court, or more formally, the State of California's Municipal Court for the Santa Rosa Judicial District on Jan. 1, 1952. The Santa Rosa Judicial District aborbed the Cotati-Rohnert Park area in 1964 and changed names to the Sonoma County Central Judicial District in 1965 when it was consolidated with the Redwood Judicial District, with the Court referred to as the Municipal Court for the Sonoma County Central District). The name later changed again to the Sonoma County Judicial District. The Northern Sonoma County Judicial District was consolidated with the Sonoma County Judicial District in 1971
A number of other reorganizations and consolidations of the County's District Courts took place over the next two decades until the District Courts and other inferior courts were absorbed into the Superior Court following another voter-authorized reorganization in 1998, California Proposition 220.
Biographical / Historical
Prior to June 1998, California's trial courts consisted of Superior and Municipal courts, each with its own jurisdiction and with its number of judges fixed by the Legislature; prior to 1951, twelve inferior courts with municipal or judicial township jurisdiction were designated by the Board of Supervisors to try civil and lesser criminal cases in the County. The County Court (also known as the Sonoma County Justice Court; more formally designated as the State of California's County Court for Sonoma County), served as referees for the Juvenile Court, among other duties involving minor offenses. The County Court was reorganized in 1952 as part of the State of California's inferior court reorganization program authorized by the voters as California Proposition 3 in 1950, which combined the offices of the municipal and township justices of the peace and city police court judges; the Santa Rosa Justice Court and other, local municipal courts were combined as the Santa Rosa Judicial District Court, or more formally, the State of California's Municipal Court for the Santa Rosa Judicial District on Jan. 1, 1952. The Santa Rosa Judicial District aborbed the Cotati-Rohnert Park area in 1964 and changed names to the Sonoma County Central Judicial District in 1965 when it was consolidated with the Redwood Judicial District, with the Court referred to as the Municipal Court for the Sonoma County Central District). The name later changed again to the Sonoma County Judicial District. The Northern Sonoma County Judicial District was consolidated with the Sonoma County Judicial District in 1971
A number of other reorganizations and consolidations of the County's District Courts took place over the next two decades until the District Courts and other inferior courts were absorbed into the Superior Court following another voter-authorized reorganization in 1998, California Proposition 220.
Extent
3 Volumes
Abstract
This collection contains records of the Sonoma County Municipal Court, under the jurisdiction of the Santa Rosa Judicial District, Sonoma County Central Judicial District and finally, Sonoma County Judicial District. Records include criminal and civil dockets, court trial minutes, etc.
Arrangement of the collection
Organized into six series:
- Civil register case [Civil docket], nos. 15084-25626, 1965-1975
- Criminal register [Criminal docket], v.1-64, 1955-1980
- Plaintiff, 1952-1955
- Law and motion orders of examinations, 1967-1974
- Court trial minutes, 1967-1974
- Defendant [register], 1967-1974
Arranged by case number with each year.
- Title
- Sonoma County Municipal Court records, 1952-1980
- Author
- Finding aid author: Mark Cooper.
- Date
- Published Feb 28, 2011
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in:English
Repository Details
Part of the Sonoma County Archives Repository