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Direct answer

State History, Arrest or Court Case?

For your own California criminal-history record, use the California Department of Justice Record Review process. If you are researching a specific arrest event, identify the law-enforcement agency and county involved, then use the local custody/report source and the court source for any filed case or disposition. Do not treat one channel as a substitute for all three.

Record types

Three records that can sit behind an “arrest record” query

Personal California history

California DOJ Record Review is the official personal-review path.

Local arrest / booking information

The local law-enforcement or detention agency is tied to the arrest event and custody information.

Court case and disposition

If a criminal case was filed, use the court record for the court outcome.

Scope

The state personal-review product has a narrow purpose

California DOJ describes Record Review as a process for an individual to obtain their own state summary criminal-history information and challenge inaccurate or incomplete information. That is different from a public search for another person.

For event-level research, location is critical. DOJ’s general FAQ distinguishes its criminal-history function from obtaining court documents, and federal DOJ guidance similarly directs state/local records requests to the government that maintains the record.

Workflow

Build the arrest timeline without mixing custodians

  1. 01
    Locate the arresting or booking agency

    Use the city/county and approximate date to identify the agency. The California POST agency directory links police and county sheriff websites. On the appropriate agency site, use its public custody lookup for current detention or its records-request instructions for an incident/arrest report. Include the event date and report/booking number if known; do not assume all reports are public or that a current inmate result contains historical arrests.

  2. 02
    Check the court if charges were filed

    A court case is the source for filed charges and later court disposition. Follow California Courts’ county-court lookup guidance to the court where the case was filed. Check that court’s online services; if the case or document is unavailable online, contact the clerk or visit the courthouse. Criminal-case details online can be limited, and confidential files are restricted.

  3. 03
    Use California DOJ only for your own state history review

    Record Review is a personal fingerprint-based process. California residents use Live Scan form BCIA 8016RR, mark “Record Review” for the application type and reason, complete the personal-information fields and take the form to a Live Scan site.

    Applicants outside California or the United States use application BCIA 8705 and a manual FD-258 fingerprint card. The card must include full name, date of birth, sex and return mailing address. Mail the application, card and processing payment to California DOJ, Bureau of Criminal Identification and Analysis, Record Review & Challenge Section, PO Box 160207, Sacramento, CA 95816-0207, following the form’s payment instructions.

    The DOJ processing fee is $25; fingerprint rolling/service charges are separate and vary by site. Use the DOJ page’s Live Scan site list to check those charges and payment methods. A DOJ processing-fee waiver may be available; follow its fee-waiver instructions before applying.

Interpretation
Arrest is not the same as conviction
Keep the arrest event, booking/custody record, court filing and final disposition as separate stages. A booking record alone should not be presented as proof of a conviction.
Source matrix

Match the question to the source

Question Source What not to infer
What is in my California criminal history? California DOJ Record Review It is not a public search for another person
What happened at a specific local arrest? Local law-enforcement / detention source Custody information is not the final court outcome
What did the court decide? Court record Court disposition does not turn the state repository into the court file

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Sources

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