Redwood City Court

In San Mateo County the court has 26 judges assisted by four commissioners operating in Redwood City, San Mateo, and South San Francisco locations. The Redwood City location is the Southern Branch of the Superior Court of San Mateo County.  If you or a loved one is awaiting a court date at the Redwood City Court, it is beneficial to know a good Redwood City bail bonds company.

Redwood City Court Divisions

The court conducts its public services through divisions corresponding to fields of legal practice:

• The Civil Division hears and decides lawsuits between individuals, corporations, and other legal entities.
• The Criminal Division arraigns and sets conditions for pretrial release for arrested persons, holds criminal trials, imposes sentencing penalties, and provides public information on all pending criminal proceedings.
• The Family Law Division hears divorce, domestic violence, child paternity, custody, and visitation, and other domestic relations matters.
• The Juvenile Division oversees cases of adoption, dependency, delinquency, and emancipation of minors.
• Probate Division cases involve guardianships, compromises of minors’ claims, conservatorships, and decedent estates.
• The Small Claims Division is unusual. Parties must represent themselves; the court does not permit representation by attorneys. Claims cannot be for more than $5,000 for business entities or $10,000 for natural persons, who, however, may not file more than two claims over $2,500 each during a calendar year. Only party defendants may appeal from Small Claims Court judgments; party plaintiffs may not. Appeals are to the Civil Division, which then holds new trials and permits attorney representation.
• The Traffic Division advises traffic ticket holders first to wait for receipt of a notice of bail from the court, then, if it does not arrive a week before the court date on the bottom of the ticket, to call the division and ask for a check. The notice of bail states the amount to pay and whether a court appearance is mandatory. If not, the fine is payable in person, by mail, or online.

Online Services

All court case records except sealed or confidential files are available to the public for viewing. Available information parameters are case number, jurisdiction, party type, case name, case file date, and index information source. Public computers in the Redwood City Court lobby offer quick, easy research service for cases converted to the electronic format after 2000.

Besides traffic ticket dispositions and case record searches, the online system of the Redwood City Court serves:

• Jurors who can use it to check on changes in instructions, update their records, and make requests,
• Parties to lawsuits for monitoring and responding to tentative rulings from the court,
• Parties and other interested persons or entities in need of transcripts of proceedings from court reporters.

The Superior Court of California

In California the Superior Court is the state trial court with general jurisdiction over any civil or criminal case not specifically heard and decided by another court or governmental administrative agency. Under the California Constitution, each of the state’s 58 counties has a superior court, and each county superior court has an appellate division in which superior court trial judges sit as appellate judges on cases previously heard by lower courts that no longer exist.

California county voters elect Superior Court judges to six-year terms. For vacancies that occur between elections, the governor appoints replacements to complete the terms. To be eligible for a Superior Court judgeship, a candidate must be a member of the state bar for at least 10 years.