California, San Diego County
Where San Marcos's records are kept. San Marcos has its own city government, clerk's office and permit and planning office; county and state offices keep its other public records.
Start here
The cards below include San Marcos's own offices, along with the San Diego County and State of California offices that keep the rest of its public records. Use the category buttons to narrow the list.
City records
The San Marcos City Clerk at 1 Civic Center Drive posts City Council meetings and agendas, takes public records requests and keeps campaign statements and other disclosures and filings.
Open official site San Marcos City ClerkCity records
San Marcos takes California Public Records Act requests online or on paper and responds within 10 calendar days, with a separate authorization form for fire health records.
Open official site San Marcos Public RecordsPolice & jail
Sheriff's deputies serve San Marcos from the San Marcos Station at 182 Santar Place, and the city page links to crime reports, home vacation checks and crime prevention programs.
Open official site San Diego County Sheriff San Marcos StationCity records
The San Marcos Building Division explains what each project needs, takes permit applications, schedules inspections and posts building documents, solar and EV charger rules and ADU plans.
Open official site San Marcos Building DivisionPolice & 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
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
San Diego and Imperial counties' bankruptcy court is housed in the Jacob Weinberger U.S. Courthouse, 325 West F Street, open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and offers an unclaimed funds search and self help center.
Open official site U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern 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 Diego Field Office list of fugitives, terrorism suspects, kidnapping and missing person cases, and cases where agents are seeking information. Results can be filtered by year and sorted by name.
Open official site FBI San Diego 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 WebsiteCity records
San Marcos city government at 1 Civic Center Drive, with City Clerk records requests and elections, sheriff law enforcement services, parks and recreation, and resident and business services.
Open official site City of San MarcosEverything else, organized
9 more San Marcos sources not listed above.
Local record guide
Local profile
San Marcos, a place of 94,833 people, is in San Diego County, whose county seat is San Diego. Court and property records sit with San Diego County, and birth and death certificates come from the State of California. San Marcos's own offices are in the cards above, and our San Diego 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 5 holes drawn inside the city or town limits, 0 of them shafts or tunnels. The minerals the records name are crushed stone; 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 San Marcos.
Deeds for property in San Marcos are recorded by the San Diego County Recorder, and the county office that assesses property keeps the tax values. Our San Diego 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.