California, Santa Clara County
Where San Jose's records are kept. San Jose has its own city government and clerk's office; county and state offices keep its other public records.
Start here
The cards below include San Jose'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.
Property 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
Judicial Branch guide to looking up a California case: county courts keep the records, so start on the court's website or with its clerk; juvenile and adoption files are confidential.
Open official site California Courts Self Help GuideVital records
Order certified California birth, death and marriage records from the state Office of Vital Records, with forms, fees and processing times.
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 WebsiteFederal
Population, housing and economic facts for San Jose city, California from the Census Bureau, including the July 1, 2025 estimate of 989,814 residents and a land area of 178.26 square miles.
Open official site U.S. Census Bureau QuickFactsCity records
The City of San Jose website lists City Hall at 200 E. Santa Clara St., 408-535-3500, and covers building permits, business licenses and tax, issue reports, agendas and minutes, official city records and open data.
Open official site City of San JoseCity records
San Jose City Clerk, the office that keeps county filings and public records, with the copies and searches it publishes.
Open official site San Jose City ClerkCity records
San Jose Fire Department page for fire permits and inspections, public records requests, fire station locations, wildfire preparedness, the first responder fee program and recovery after a fire.
Open official site San Jose Fire DepartmentEverything else, organized
11 more San Jose sources not listed above.
Local record guide
Local profile
San Jose, a place of 1,013,240 people, is the seat of Santa Clara County. Court and property records sit with Santa Clara County, and birth and death certificates come from the State of California. San Jose'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 53 named mine sites inside the city or town limits, 31 of them worked out or abandoned; the old survey maps add 66 holes drawn inside the city or town limits, 18 of them shafts or tunnels. The minerals the records name are construction sand and gravel; Mercury; 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.
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.
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.
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 San Jose.
Deeds for property in San Jose 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.