Search San Mateo County Court Clerk Records

About the San Mateo Court Clerk

The Clerk of the Superior Court is not an elected office in California. The role is filled by the Court Executive Officer, who serves the bench under California Government Code section 69898. The CEO oversees all clerk functions for the Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo. Day-to-day work is handled by the Records Management Division and by the clerks assigned to each courtroom division: civil, criminal, family, probate, juvenile, traffic, and small claims. The court is unified, so one clerk system covers every case type that used to be split among the old Municipal and Superior tiers before 1998.

Records Management sits on the 1st Floor, Room A of the Hall of Justice and Records at 400 County Center in Redwood City. That counter is the public front door for the court clerk. Staff there pull files, take copy orders, accept mail-in requests, and route juvenile and traffic questions to the right division. The main court line is (650) 261-5100. Phone hours for civil, family, probate, records, and small claims run 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. File viewing keeps the same window.

What the San Mateo Court Clerk Does

The clerk's core job is to take in court papers, file them in the right case, keep them safe, and make them open for public review when the law allows. The San Mateo court clerk also collects filing fees, issues subpoenas and writs at the request of the parties, stamps and conforms copies, and ships files between branches when a case moves. The clerk pulls files for the bench each morning and logs every order the judge signs. Once a case closes, the file moves into the records archive under California Government Code section 68150, which sets the retention rule for trial court records.

• File new pleadings, motions, and petitions at the right division window.
• Issue summons, subpoenas, writs, and abstracts on request.
• Take in filing fees and post payments to the case ledger.
• Pull and refile court files for public viewing at Records Management.
• Make plain and certified copies of court papers on file.
• Retrieve off-site case files when a requester pays the retrieval fee.
• Route juvenile, traffic, and sealed files to the proper division.

Note: The clerk cannot give legal advice and will not search a file for facts. Staff can confirm whether a record exists, but cannot tell a caller what it means.

Visiting the San Mateo Court Records Counter

Walk-in viewing of court files is open at 400 County Center, Room A, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The clerk will give a viewer up to five files at one time. After those go back, the same person may ask for five more. The same-day plain copy limit is one copy per file unless the copy fee is paid up front. The court does not allow phones or scanners to copy file pages at the counter, so most users pay the per-page copy fee. Bring a photo ID. Cash, check, and card are taken at the counter.

The court keeps older case files in an off-site warehouse. Off-site requests have to be filed in person at the Records counter and need a $10 retrieval fee per file paid up front. Files come back to the counter in about 72 hours and stay on hold for five working days. Juvenile files are confidential under Welfare and Institutions Code section 827 and are not handled at the Records counter. Callers should reach the Juvenile Clerk at the main court line, option 8, before going to 222 Paul Scannell Drive in San Mateo. Traffic files live with the Traffic Division at 1050 Mission Road in South San Francisco.

The Records Management page on the court site spells out the file limit, the same-day copy rule, and the off-site retrieval steps. The lead-in to a counter visit is to read the official viewing court records guide first.

The screen above shows the public-facing viewing rules that govern any in-person stop at the San Mateo court clerk's counter. The same page lists the file caps, juvenile routing, and off-site request steps that every visitor should know.

How to Request a Certified Copy from the San Mateo Clerk

Certified copies are the version of a court paper that carries the clerk's seal and signature. Banks, schools, the DMV, federal benefits offices, and foreign consulates will not take a plain print-out. A certified copy is needed for almost any out-of-court use of a court order. The fee schedule under California Government Code section 70627 sets the cost. The San Mateo Clerk of the Superior Court will mail certified copies when the request comes in with the right case number, fee, and self-addressed stamped envelope.

1. Find the case number. Use the MIDX index or the Odyssey Public Portal to pull the case number, the filing date, and the party names before you write the request.
2. Write a one-page request letter. List the case number, the full party names, the filing date, the document title, the number of copies, and whether each copy must be certified. Add a return address and a daytime phone.
3. Add a check for the copy fees. Make it payable to "Superior Court." Write a "not to exceed" cap on the memo line so the clerk can fill the order without a second mailing.
4. Drop in a self-addressed stamped envelope. The clerk will not pay return postage. Use a flat envelope for orders of more than a few pages.
5. Mail the packet to San Mateo Superior Court, Records Management, 400 County Center, 1st Floor Room A, Redwood City, CA 94063, or hand it to the counter in person.
6. Wait up to 30 days. The court replies within 30 days of the mail date and does not research files for the requester. If the case number is wrong, the packet comes back unfilled.

Note: The court mailing rules for copies are posted on the official Request Copies by Mail page; read it once before sending the first packet.

Records Request Form Fields

The court does not publish a single fill-in form for general case-copy requests. The mail-in rules say to send a one-page letter that carries the same fields the clerk would otherwise type into the case search. The list below is the field set the San Mateo Records Management counter expects on every written request, in plain order.

San Mateo Court Clerk Fee Schedule

The San Mateo Superior Court clerk charges the same copy and search rates as every other trial court in the state. The base rates come from California Government Code section 70627. Local off-site retrieval is a separate add-on. Pay by check, money order, cash, or card at the counter. Mail-in packets must use a check.

A certified copy bundles the plain copy charge with the seal fee, which is why the cost jumps from $0.50 a page for a plain copy to a flat $25.00 for a full certified document. The search fee kicks in only when the clerk has to look for a case by name across files and the search runs longer than ten minutes. Most online searches are free because MIDX and Odyssey do the work without staff time.

Mail Records Requests in San Mateo

Mail is the most-used way to get certified copies for people who do not live near Redwood City. The official mail page lists the address and the must-have items. Send all packets to: San Mateo Superior Court, Records Management, 400 County Center, 1st Floor Room A, Redwood City, CA 94063. The clerk will not start the search without a case number, will not research a file for facts, and will not call to collect a missing fee. A missing item sends the packet back.

For files older than the digital range, plan on the off-site retrieval add-on. The clerk's website lists the off-site case ranges by division, and the staff will note which boxes hold the target year. The Records Management page also warns that some old files are paper-only and cannot be emailed or faxed. Anything routed to the wrong division clerk, like a juvenile or sealed file, will come back unfilled with a brief note.

The screen capture above is the official copy-by-mail page that lists the Records Management address and the rules for a clean request packet. Read the page once before sending in a check.

Clerk of the Superior Court vs County Clerk-Recorder

This is the part most people get wrong. The Clerk of the Superior Court holds court case files. The County Clerk-Recorder at smcacre.gov is a separate elected office that holds vital records, recorded real estate papers, and fictitious business names. The two offices sit one block apart on County Center in Redwood City but do not share files, fees, or staff. Sending a court copy request to the Clerk-Recorder, or a marriage license request to Records Management, just slows the order.

A useful rule of thumb: if a judge signed it, the Clerk of the Superior Court has it. If a county registrar or recorder stamped it, the Clerk-Recorder has it. Marriage and birth events go to ACRE; divorce judgments and probate orders stay with the court clerk. See the marriage and divorce records page for the full split on family files.

The screen above is the Clerk-Recorder location and services page, posted by ACRE to explain its own scope. It is a quick way to confirm whether a record belongs to that office or to the court clerk.

Online Access to San Mateo Court Records

Two online tools cover most lookups before a person ever calls the clerk. MIDX, at web.sanmateocourt.org/midx, is the index for appeals, civil, criminal, family, probate, and small claims cases. It returns case numbers and party names. It does not show the full file. The Odyssey Public Portal at odyportal-ext.sanmateocourt.org shows the register of actions and handles traffic payments. Most copy requests start with one of these two lookups, then move to a mail or counter request for the certified version.

California Rules of Court, rule 10.500, sets the rules for public access to court administrative records, while rule 2.503 covers electronic case records. The San Mateo court honors both. The bench has signed off on a LiveChat tool on the home page that helps users find the right division. The chat is not a substitute for the clerk and will not give legal advice.

Note: Remote viewing of full case files is limited. Many trial court papers are only viewable in person at Records Management, per the rule on remote electronic access.

Filing With the San Mateo Court Clerk

Filing is the front-end of the clerk's job. New civil, family, probate, and small claims cases are filed at the right division window in Room A. Criminal filings come in from the District Attorney and from defense counsel through the criminal division. The court has an e-filing portal for civil, complex civil, and probate cases. Self-represented filers can use the portal or file by paper at the counter. Each filing carries a fee set under California Government Code section 70611 and the local fee schedule.

Fee waivers are open to low-income filers. Form FW-001 from the Judicial Council goes with the first filing. The court reviews the form and either grants or denies the waiver in about five court days. Filings without a fee or a granted waiver are not stamped in. Self-help resources for filers live at the Legal Resources and Self-Help page. For deeper court structure, see the Superior Court page.

Related San Mateo Court Resources

For broader court file searches and the MIDX walkthrough, see the San Mateo court records page. For estate and guardianship matters held by the clerk, see probate records. For broader county and state records framework, see the public records page. For the trial court itself and its branch list, see the San Mateo Superior Court page. Family files and the ACRE split are covered on the marriage and divorce records page.