Los Angeles County, California Criminal Records

A background check is any instance where an individual or company researches another person’s public records for the purposes of gaining insight into their character and legal standing. Performing a background check is a crucial part of the hiring process when evaluating a potential new employee. A standard background check will look at a person’s personal references and employment history, while a thorough background check will delve into a person’s criminal, court, and even rental history. Some employers nowadays will even check a job applicant’s credit history as part of a background check. A person can conduct a background check on their own, or pay a commercial company or sheriff’s department to do it for them.

Court Records

When you need Los Angeles County Court records for a background check, you will want to petition one of the nine divisions comprising the Los Angeles Superior Court System that handle criminal cases. The districts are listed here:

Central District
Central Arraignment Court
429 Bauchet St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
East District
El Monte Courthouse
11234 East Valley Blvd
El Monte, CA 91731
North Central District
Burbank Courthouse
300 East Olive Ave
Burbank, CA 91502
Northeast District
Pasadena Courthouse

300 East Walnut St.

Pasadena, CA 91101

North Valley District

Santa Clarita Courthouse

23747 West Valencia Blvd

Santa Clarita, CA 91355

South Central District

Compton Courthouse

200 West Compton Blvd

Compton, CA 90220

South District

Catalina Courthouse

215 Sumner Ave.

Avalon, CA 90704

Southeast District

Downey Courthouse

7500 East Imperial Hwy

Downey, CA 90242

West District

Airport Courthouse

11701 South La Cienega Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90045

Each courthouse is open to the public between the hours of 8:00am – 4:30pm, Monday through Friday. The Los Angeles Superior Court system has created a comprehensive, full-featured website for county web users to obtain court information, and is located at the following link: http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org.

Public Records

Most background checks in California lean heavily on records on file with the California DOJ, but you can also find recent, up to date information on criminal records by checking with the county sheriff’s office. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department is located at 4700 Ramona Blvd, Monterey Park, California 91754. You can call 323-267-4800 if you need to contact someone at the sheriff’s office. You also have the option of sending an e-mail to webemail@lasd.org. If you are looking for extensive information about sheriff’s office online, you can visit their website, which is located here: http://www.lasdhq.org/.

Online Resources

You can look into the files, records, and archives stored online with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation if you need see if an individual has ever been in their custody. Simply use the offender search tool provided by the DOC at the following web address: http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Reports_Research/Inmate_Locator.html.

To find out if your own personal background check has accurate information in it, use the web-based tool provided by the California Department of Justice located here: http://ag.ca.gov/fingerprints/security.php.

If you instead are required to generate an official fingerprint background check for some company or organization, use this web tool, also sponsored by the DOJ, at this link: http://ag.ca.gov/fingerprints/.

To check the Megan’s Law sex offender registry, click here: http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/.