California, Santa Clara County
Where Palo Alto's records are kept. Palo Alto has its own city government and clerk's office; county and state offices keep its other public records.
Start here
The cards below include Palo Alto's own offices, along with State of California offices; the Santa Clara County offices are on our Santa Clara County page. Use the category buttons to narrow the list.
Federal
Census data for Palo Alto city, California in QuickFacts form: population estimates, age and race, housing, families and living arrangements, computer and internet use, education, health, economy and geography.
Open official site U.S. Census Bureau QuickFactsProperty records
Oversees how California's 58 county assessors apply property tax law, audits their practices, certifies appraisers and itself assesses utility and railroad property and pipelines spanning two or more counties.
Open official site California State Board of Equalization Property Tax DepartmentState records
The Secretary of State's archives holds over 105,000 cubic feet of California government records, maps and photographs, described in its Minerva catalog, including court, legislative, land grant and family history collections.
Open official site California State Archives CollectionsCounty court
Sits in San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Rosa and San Jose and posts judges' and 341 meeting calendars, local rules, forms and guidance for people filing without an attorney.
Open official site U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of CaliforniaCounty court
The Judicial Branch of California runs Find Your Court: enter a five digit California zip code or a city name to see the court locations nearest to it.
Open official site Judicial Branch of California Find Your CourtVital records
Keeps California birth, death, fetal death, marriage and divorce records, issues certified copies and registers or amends records as the law allows. Accepted orders cannot be canceled or refunded.
Open official site California Department of Public Health Vital RecordsState records
The California Department of Justice unit that helps police locate missing people and identify unknown persons; its missing persons database, searchable by name, county and description, holds a subset of reported cases.
Open official site California DOJ Missing and Unidentified Persons SectionPolice & jail
FBI San Francisco Field Office posters for wanted fugitives, kidnapped and missing persons, cyber suspects and cases where agents ask the public for information; tips can be sent through tips.fbi.gov.
Open official site FBI San Francisco Wanted and Missing PersonsPolice & jail
California Department of Justice listing of registered sex offenders that state law allows it to disclose; some registrants are left out, and registrants who use the search face a fine or jail.
Open official site California Megan's Law WebsitePolice & jail
The California Department of Justice sends people a copy of their own state criminal history to review: Live Scan or card fingerprints and a $25 fee are required, and third party requests are refused.
Open official site California DOJ Request Your Own Criminal RecordCity records
The City of Palo Alto website lists City Hall at 250 Hamilton Avenue, (650) 329-2100, and covers city utility bill payment, building permits, agendas and minutes, PA311 issue reports, library cards and a document search.
Open official site City of Palo AltoCity records
City legal records and files 250 Hamilton Avenue 7th Floor Palo Alto, CA 94301 Phone: (650) 329-2571 Fax: (650) 328-3631
Open official site Palo Alto City ClerkEverything else, organized
10 more Palo Alto sources not listed above.
Local record guide
Local profile
Palo Alto, a place of 68,572 people, is in Santa Clara County, whose county seat is San Jose. Court and property records sit with Santa Clara County, and birth and death certificates come from the State of California. Palo Alto's own offices are in the cards above, and our Santa Clara County page lists each county office.
Abandoned mine records
Where the workings are, and the office that holds the mine maps.
From the old mine records
The mine records hold 4 named mine sites inside the city or town limits, 3 of them worked out or abandoned; the old survey maps add 5 holes drawn inside the city or town limits, 0 of them shafts or tunnels. The minerals the records name are Calcium; Gold, Silver, Phosphorus-Phosphates.
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.
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.
Straight answers
Open only the answer you need.
Voter registration in California is run by the California Secretary of State and local election officials. Its site lists the registration deadline, online voter registration, polling places and the local election office for Palo Alto.
Deeds for property in Palo Alto are recorded by the Santa Clara County Recorder, and the county office that assesses property keeps the tax values. Our Santa Clara County page lists the county offices.
Certified birth and death certificates for events in California come from the state vital records office, California Department of Public Health Vital Records. Its site lists who may order a copy, the fee and how to order.
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.