California, Orange County
Where Rancho Santa Margarita's records are kept. Rancho Santa Margarita has its own city government and clerk's office; county and state offices keep its other public records.
Start here
The cards below include Rancho Santa Margarita's own offices, along with State of California offices; the Orange County offices are on our Orange County page. Use the category buttons to narrow the list.
Police & 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 RecordProperty 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
Secretary of State archive holding over 105,000 cubic feet of state records, 250,000 photographs and 20,000 maps, searchable in the Minerva catalog, with court, legislative, local government and family history collections.
Open official site California State Archives CollectionsCounty court
Bankruptcy court for California's Central District, offering PACER lookup, online petitions, live chat with court staff and self help desks with pro bono help in each of its five divisions.
Open official site U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of CaliforniaCounty court
Superior Court of California, County of Orange civil section: limited cases up to $35,000, unlimited cases, filing and calendar information, civil appeals, unlawful detainer and ex parte hearing procedures.
Open official site Orange County Superior Court Civil DivisionVital 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
Wanted and missing person posters from the FBI Los Angeles Field Office, including Ten Most Wanted fugitives, Most Wanted Fraudsters and cases where agents seek information; tips go to tips.fbi.gov.
Open official site FBI Los Angeles 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 WebsiteFederal
Official Census Bureau page on Rancho Santa Margarita city, California, counting 47,949 people in 2020 and listing income, education, employment, housing, health insurance and household estimates from the American Community Survey.
Open official site Census Bureau ProfileCity records
City of Rancho Santa Margarita site with a citizen request tracker, online building permits, agendas and minutes, passport services, a daily inspection log, the municipal code, Mello-Roos details and the city line 949-635-1800.
Open official site City of Rancho Santa MargaritaCity records
City legal records and files 22112 El Paseo Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688 Phone: (949) 635-1800 Fax (949) 635-1840
Open official site Rancho Santa Margarita City ClerkEverything else, organized
11 more Rancho Santa Margarita sources not listed above.
Local record guide
Local profile
Rancho Santa Margarita, a place of 47,949 people, is in Orange County, whose county seat is Santa Ana. Court and property records sit with Orange County, and birth and death certificates come from the State of California. Rancho Santa Margarita's own offices are in the cards above, and our Orange 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 6 named mine sites inside the city or town limits, 3 of them worked out or abandoned; the old survey maps add 4 holes drawn inside the city or town limits, 0 of them shafts or tunnels. The mineral the records name is Clay.
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 Rancho Santa Margarita.
Deeds for property in Rancho Santa Margarita are recorded by the Orange County Recorder, and the county office that assesses property keeps the tax values. Our Orange 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.