California, county records
Find the right office in Monterey County. Court cases, deeds and parcels, sheriff and jail records, vital records and county filings, each linked to the office that keeps them.
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Every card below goes to the government office responsible for that record. Use the category buttons to narrow the list.
Police & jail
The courts that sit in Monterey County hear its criminal cases, and the court clerk keeps the charges, the dispositions and the sentences on file.
Open official site Monterey County Criminal RecordsProperty records
Property assessment and other county real estate resources.
Open official site Monterey County Property AssessorPolice & jail
Monterey County's service directory holds the sheriff's sex offender registration entry, which says how offenders register in the county and where the public list is kept.
Open official site Monterey County Sex OffendersVital records
Official death certificates from the county of Monterey.
Open official site Monterey County Death RecordsState records
Index of Monterey County's services and resources.
Open official site Monterey County DirectoryCounty court
Criminal records filings for the County of Monterey.
Open official site Monterey County Criminal CourtProperty records
The Monterey County Treasurer bills and collects the property taxes and keeps the record of what is owed and what has been paid on each parcel in the county.
Open official site Monterey County Property Tax InformationVital records
Get information regarding marriage records in Monterey County.
Open official site Monterey County Marriage RecordsPolice & jail
Information regarding county's most wanted and fugitives.
Open official site Monterey County Most Wanted FugitivesCounty court
Civil Cases, records and information of General and Limited jurisdiction.
Open official site Monterey County Civil CourtProperty records
Search and order recorded documents in the county.
Open official site Monterey County Recorded Documents and CopiesVital records
County clerk recorder information and record access.
Open official site Monterey County Birth RecordsEverything else, organized
8 more Monterey County sources not listed above.
Local record guide
County profile
Sheriff & Law Enforcement. Monterey County Sheriff's Office is responsible for law enforcement in the unincorporated areas of Monterey County.
Police Departments. Monterey County is served by several law enforcement agencies, including Monterey County Sheriff's Office and municipal police departments such as the Salinas Police Department, Monterey Police Department, and the Seaside Police Department. Each city department is responsible for law enforcement within its respective jurisdiction, while the Sheriff's Office handles unincorporated areas.
Law Enforcement & Arrests. Monterey County Sheriff's Office, headquartered at 1414 Natividad Road in Salinas, California 93906 (phone: 831-755-3700, website: mcso.countyofmonterey.gov), provides law enforcement services to unincorporated areas and contract policing to several cities. Inmate lookup services are available online through the Sheriff's Office website via the custody information portal, where the public can search current inmates by name or booking number, view booking dates, charges, and bail amounts. Arrest records in Monterey County are considered public records under the California Public Records Act (Government Code Section 6250 et seq.), and requests can be submitted to the arresting agency or the Sheriff's Office.
Criminal Records. For an authoritative source, see Records Division, Monterey County Sheriff's Office .
Arrest Records. They are maintained by the arresting agency, primarily the County Sheriff's Office and municipal police departments.
Abandoned mine records
Where the workings are, and the office that holds the mine maps.
From the old mine records
The mine records hold 318 mine sites inside the county: 122 past producers, now closed, 123 prospects or occurrences that were never worked, 63 sites producing when the record was made, 4 processing plants, which are not workings, 6 sites with no status in the record; the old survey maps add 129 holes drawn inside the county, 21 of them shafts or tunnels. The minerals the records name are Gold; construction sand and gravel; Limestone, General.
A point in either file is a location, not a property line: the sheet shows the opening on the surface, not the rooms under it. The record that shows what runs under a parcel is the mine map. The OSMRE National Mine Map Repository holds scanned underground mine maps and answers requests for a named mine or an area.
Rows taken off the old survey maps open the USGS record of what sits at that spot, because no single feature on those maps has a page of its own. Rows from the mine records open their own USGS page.
Monterey County lies on the edge of the Stone Canyon Field coal field and the coal there is medium and high volatile bituminous, worked underground in many places. The two federal files record a shaft, an adit or a deposit where one was drawn on a survey sheet or catalogued as a site; neither file carries the outline of the workings, so the counts above are not the measure of what was mined under this county. The record that shows it is the mine map, held by California Department of Conservation, Abandoned Mine Lands Unit and linked below.
California abandoned mine maps ranks every county and town in the state by the workings recorded inside it, names the office that holds the mine maps, and says what to do if the ground moves.
Disclaimer: The mine information here is for general information only. Old mine records can be incomplete, outdated or wrong, and finding nothing here does not mean there is nothing there. Check with the mine map office named here before you rely on it, and have a qualified engineer look at any ground you are worried about. PublicRecordCenter.com assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions, or consequences arising from the use of this information.
Know before you ask
Each figure below was read on the official source linked beside it, October to November 2026. A fee or rule the source does not state is left out rather than guessed, and offices can change their schedules, so confirm on the source before you pay or travel.
Recorder search instructions require the document number or reel and page, recording year, a party name and document type for copy requests. Ordinary recorded copies are $2 per page, with $2 certification per document. Public viewing takes place at 168 West Alisal Street in Salinas. A reel reference without its year or record context can be insufficient, so preserve the complete citation from the index or earlier deed.
The Recorder notice says Salinas is the only location for recording and that there are no branch recording offices. It also announces current vital-copy amounts of $31 for birth, $26 for death and $19 for marriage. These locally published amounts are not replaced with a neighboring county's price. For a vital order, confirm the event jurisdiction and entitlement before treating a records-search visit as a certificate appointment.
The revised recording schedule identifies a March 3, 2026 increase in the real-estate fraud component and describes the standard recording amount moving from $22 to $23 per title. Other taxes, titles and applicable charges can affect an instrument total. The stated standard amount is not a page-copy fee or a complete quote for every deed. Supply the entire instrument when asking which components apply.
The court case-search page describes current and completed cases from 2008 without registration. The criminal records instructions separately refer to older criminal case-number lookup from after November 1992. Those published descriptions are not identical. For an older case absent from the current portal, ask Records to identify the available search rather than declaring the case nonexistent. If an agency requested a disposition, include its notice with the copy request.
Civil, family and probate records instructions route transcript requests to the court reporter and distinguish audio recordings available for specified hearing types. An audio copy is not a written transcript, and the court does not create a transcript merely because a CD is requested. Supply the case number, hearing date and judicial officer, with the reporter name if known, so the request can reach the correct source.
The civil, family and probate copy route uses the Monterey courthouse, while criminal records requests use Salinas. A request for the final order should name that document rather than rely on the generic phrase background check. Keep the court case citation separate from any related Recorder instrument. The California record-research guide provides state routes for matters that are not contained in the local case file.
Where to go
Each office below was read on its own site. A field the office does not publish is left out rather than filled in from a directory.
Recorded instruments and eligible vital copies.
Office page: countyofmonterey.gov
Criminal case searches and copies.
Office page: monterey.courts.ca.gov
Civil, family and probate records and hearing-record referrals.
Office page: monterey.courts.ca.gov
Labor Department file
The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division closed 379 investigations in Monterey County since fiscal 2005 and recorded $4,589,397 in back wages agreed for 8,195 workers. The county is the one the Census Bureau puts each employer's ZIP code in. Snapshot of April 22, 2026; a case here is a finding by the Division, not a court judgment.
The 25 employers with the most back wages agreed, of 240 on the Monterey County record; 110 employers have a page of their own and open from the table, the rest show their whole record here. The 215 more with smaller records are on the California wage theft records page, whose search answers for every employer in the state.
Straight answers
Open only the answer you need.
Booking photos are kept by the agency that made the arrest, such as the Monterey County Sheriff or a city police department in Monterey County. Ask that agency for its record. Under Penal Code 13665, a police department or sheriff's office may not share on social media the booking photos of a person arrested on suspicion of a nonviolent crime unless an exception applies, and must remove booking photos it shared on social media within 14 days unless an exception still applies.
The California criminal history record comes from the California Department of Justice. Record Review of your own record only: submit fingerprint images through Live Scan and follow the DOJ Record Review instructions. Fee: $25 processing fee to the DOJ, plus the Live Scan agency's fingerprint fee; a fee waiver may be available.
Search the California Megan's Law Website (Department of Justice), or every state at once on the National Sex Offender Public Website run by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Register with the county elections official (county elections office or registrar of voters) or through the California Secretary of State. You can also register online with the state online registration. The deadline to register is 15 days before Election Day; after that, same day (conditional) registration and voting is available at the county elections office.
Deeds and other recorded land documents in Monterey County are kept by the Monterey County Recorder. Property values are set by the County Assessor, and tax bills come from the County Tax Collector. Source: official state page.
Certified birth and death certificates for California come from the California Department of Public Health, Vital Records (CDPH VR). Copies may be obtained in person at the county office (County Registrar or Recorder) where the birth was registered, for events in that county. By mail with form VS 111 to California Department of Public Health, Vital Records, MS 5103, P.O. Box 997410, Sacramento, CA 95899-7410, or in person at the county office where the event was registered; since July 1, 2026 CDPH VR no longer accepts applications sent through online third party vendors. Fee: $31 for each certified copy of a birth record.
Business entity filings are searched with the California Secretary of State (bizfile Online). Most California cities and counties require a business license, permits or registration to do business within their limits.
The Recorder asks for the recording year, party name and document type as well as the reference.
The Recorder says recording is available only at the Salinas office.
No. Monterey publishes its own birth-copy amount; use the local service price.
Yes. The Recorder identifies the March 3 revision to the real-estate fraud component.
Its stated case range begins in 2008; older lookup needs should be checked with Records.
The court asks for a copy of the agency notice with the record request.
No. The court describes audio and reporter transcripts as separate products.
The criminal instructions identify Records at 240 Church Street in Salinas.
Same county
Use the city page when a record was created by a municipal police department or city office; use the county page for courts, deeds, vital records and jail custody.