In 1996, the Los Angeles Superior Court transferred records from the Court's first three decades of operation to The Huntington Library. The transfer placed several series of historical case files and supporting material for the “First Era” of the Los Angeles Superior Court on long-term deposit at The Huntington. Additional material was subsequently transferred to the library in May and September 2002, then integrated into the First Era series. The Superior Court initiated another major library transfer in 2008, which placed the surviving records and volumes of the “Second Era” of the Los Angeles Superior Court on long-term deposit at The Huntington. All transferred material has been cataloged as the Los Angeles Area Court Records (LAACR) collection.
The First Era series (1850-1879) consists of the following jurisdictions: the California 17th/first District Court (1850-1879), County Court: Civil (1850-1879), County Court: Criminal (1851, 1861-1893), Probate Court: First Series (1850-1879), and County Justice Court: Civil and Criminal (1855, 1861-1894).
The Second Era series (1880-1910) constitutes the following: Superior Court: Civil (1880-June 30, 1910); Probate: Second Series (1880-1892); Probate: Current Series (1893-1900).
In addition, volumes from the Justice courts in the townships of Los Angeles and Long Beach have been included along with some miscellaneous volumes.
The First and Second Era series of the LAACR collection contain gaps where case files or volumes are missing or did not survive. Please refer to the finding aid page for further details.
N.B. The Huntington Library holds case files for 1850-1910 only. Researchers must contact the Los Angeles County Archives and Records Center for cases filed after 1910. See Additional Resources for further information.