California, county records
Find the right office in Santa Cruz 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 Santa Cruz County hear its criminal cases, and the court clerk keeps the charges, the dispositions and the sentences on file.
Open official site Santa Cruz County Criminal RecordsCity records
Search for information by business name or business owner.
Open official site Santa Cruz County Fictitious Business Name FilingsPolice & jail
Santa Cruz Arrests: Search arrest records online, on the official site of the office that keeps it.
Open official site Santa Cruz ArrestsCity records
Index of Santa Cruz County's services and resources.
Open official site Santa Cruz County DirectoryCounty court
Civil Cases, records and information of General and Limited jurisdiction.
Open official site Santa Cruz County Civil CourtProperty records
Property assessment and other county real estate resources.
Open official site Santa Cruz County Property AssessorPolice & jail
The California Megan's Law website, run by the state Department of Justice, lists the sex offenders required to register in Santa Cruz County and can be searched by name, address or ZIP code.
Open official site Santa Cruz County Sex OffendersCourt records
The family law division of the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Cruz, hears divorce, custody, support and domestic violence cases, and the court clerk keeps the case files.
Open official site Divorces in Family Law courtProperty records
The Santa Cruz County Assessor values the real and personal property in the county and publishes the parcel, owner and assessed value records.
Open official site Santa Cruz County Property Tax InformationCounty court
filings and court records of probate cases.
Open official site Santa Cruz Probate CourtsState records
Voter registration and election information from Santa Cruz Voter Registration, the office that keeps the county voter roll.
Open official site Santa Cruz Voter RegistrationCounty court
Case records information and help with lawsuits in the small claims division.
Open official site Santa Cruz Small Claims CourtsEverything else, organized
9 more Santa Cruz County sources not listed above.
Local record guide
County profile
Sheriff & Law Enforcement. Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office is responsible for law enforcement services in the unincorporated areas of Santa Cruz County.
Police Departments. In addition to Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office, several municipal police departments operate within Santa Cruz County.
Law Enforcement & Arrests. Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office, headquartered at 5200 Soquel Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA 95062 (phone: 831-454-7611, website: scsheriff.com), is the primary law enforcement agency for unincorporated areas and operates Santa Cruz County's detention facilities. Inmates can be searched through the Sheriff's Office website using the online inmate locator tool at scsheriff.com/home/inmate search, which provides booking information, charges, bail amounts, and projected release dates. Municipal police departments operate in the cities of Santa Cruz County (Santa Cruz County Police Department, 155 Center Street), Watsonville (Watsonville Police Department, 215 Union Street), Capitola (Capitola Police Department, 422 Capitola Avenue), and Scotts Valley (Scotts Valley Police Department, 1 Civic Center Drive).
Arrest Records. Arrest records in Santa Cruz County are maintained by Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office. Residents and attorneys can request arrest records through the Sheriff's Office by submitting a formal request, often requiring identification and a fee.
Mugshots & Booking Photos. Mugshots in Santa Cruz County are taken and retained by Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office during the booking process. These booking photos are part of the arrest record and can be accessed through the Sheriff's Office's online resources or by request.
The Superior Court of California, County of Santa Cruz, is the trial court handling all criminal, civil, family, probate, juvenile, and traffic matters within Santa Cruz County. The court operates from two main locations: the main courthouse at 701 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (phone: 831-420-2205), and the Watsonville Courthouse at 300 Segundo Drive, Watsonville, CA 95076. Santa Cruz County Assessor's Office (phone: 831-454-2002) maintains property assessment rolls and ownership information. Santa Cruz County Recorder-Clerk's Office, located at 701 Ocean Street, Room 210, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (phone: 831-454-2050, website: sccrecorder.com), maintains official land and property records including deeds, deeds of trust, mortgages, reconveyances, liens, easements, maps, and other documents affecting real property title. Property tax information is maintained separately by Santa Cruz County Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector at 701 Ocean Street, Room 100 (phone: 831-454-2510). Business license requirements in Santa Cruz County vary by city and unincorporated area jurisdiction. Santa Cruz County of Santa Cruz Planning Department (701 Ocean Street, 4th Floor, phone: 831-454-2580) handles business licenses for unincorporated areas, while each city maintains its own licensing system: City of Santa Cruz County Finance Department (809 Center Street, Room 6). Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce (santacruzchamber.org, phone: 831-457-3713) and Watsonville Chamber of Commerce provide business resources and networking opportunities for local enterprises. Divorce records (marriage dissolution decrees) are maintained by the Superior Court Clerk's Office, not the County Clerk. The California Department of Public Health Vital Records Office in Sacramento is the state-level repository for vital records statewide from 1905 forward and can be contacted at 916-445-2684 or cdph.ca.gov/vitals.
Abandoned mine records
Where the workings are, and the office that holds the mine maps.
From the old mine records
The mine records hold 63 named mine sites inside the county, 41 of them worked out or abandoned; the old survey maps add 54 holes drawn inside the county, 6 of them shafts or tunnels. The minerals the records name are construction sand and gravel; Limestone, Dimension; Granite.
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.
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.
Booking photos are kept by the agency that made the arrest, such as the Santa Cruz County Sheriff or a city police department in Santa Cruz 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 Santa Cruz County are kept by the Santa Cruz 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.
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.