Access Trinity County Criminal Records

Criminal records in Trinity County are handled by a small Superior Court and sheriff's office in Weaverville. Trinity is one of California's most remote and least populated counties, with about 16,000 residents. The terrain is almost entirely mountainous and forested, with no incorporated cities. Weaverville is the county seat and the largest community. Criminal case filings here are infrequent by statewide standards, but records remain accessible under California public records law. State-level tools from the California DOJ supplement the limited local online options for background checks and criminal history lookups.

Trinity County Court Records

The Trinity County Superior Court is in Weaverville. All criminal cases filed in the county come through this single courthouse. The court website at trinity.courts.ca.gov provides general information about the court. Like many small California counties, Trinity does not offer a public online criminal case search portal. You need to contact the clerk's office to look up a case.

Call the clerk or visit in person. Give them the defendant's name and any case number or date range you have. Criminal court records in California are public unless sealed or made confidential by law. The clerk will let you view the case file and can make copies at 50 cents per page. Certified copies are $40. A search that takes staff more than 10 minutes costs $15. With Trinity County's low case volume, most searches should not take long.

Trinity County has no incorporated cities. All communities here are unincorporated. That means there are no city police departments. Every local criminal case starts with the sheriff's office or a state agency, and the court records all sit in the Weaverville courthouse.

Sheriff and Jail Records

The Trinity County Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency in the county. Call (530) 623-1208 to reach the sheriff. The office handles arrests, investigations, and runs the county jail. Because there are no city police departments in Trinity County, the sheriff's office is involved in practically every criminal matter that originates here.

You can call the sheriff to ask about current inmates, recent bookings, and arrest reports. There is no online inmate search tool for Trinity County. The jail is small, and the inmate population at any given time is limited. If someone was arrested in Trinity County and you cannot find them in the local jail, they may have been released, transferred to another facility, or sent to state prison.

For people in the California state prison system, the CIRIS inmate search from the CDCR is the right tool. It covers all state prison inmates statewide. The local sheriff's records only cover people in county custody or recently booked.

Note: Trinity County's isolation means transporting inmates to and from court or other facilities can be a logistical challenge. Booking and release records may sometimes lag behind the actual event.

California DOJ Criminal Records

The California Department of Justice keeps the statewide criminal history database. This is the authoritative source for criminal records that span multiple counties or go back many years. Trinity County residents can request their own RAP sheet through the Live Scan fingerprint process. The fee is $25 to the DOJ. In a remote county like Trinity, Live Scan providers are scarce. You will likely need to travel to Redding in Shasta County or Eureka in Humboldt County to find a provider. Use the DOJ Live Scan locator to check what is available.

After submitting fingerprints, the DOJ processes them against the state database. Results come back in 48 to 72 hours when there is no criminal history on file. Hits require manual review and take longer. Track the status at applicantstatus.doj.ca.gov using your ATI number and date of birth. There is no way to speed up the process.

The sex offender registry at meganslaw.ca.gov covers Trinity County along with the rest of the state. Search by name or location to find registered offenders. Given Trinity County's small population, results in most areas will be minimal.

Record Clearing Options

People with criminal records from Trinity County can use California's record relief laws. Penal Code Section 1203.4 is the primary tool for people who completed probation. You petition the Trinity County Superior Court to withdraw your guilty plea and have the case dismissed. If the judge grants it, the conviction shows as dismissed on your RAP sheet. It does not erase the record completely, but it changes how the conviction appears to employers and licensing agencies.

If you were arrested in Trinity County and the case did not end in a conviction, Penal Code Section 851.87 lets you seal the arrest record. Proposition 47 allows people to petition for resentencing on certain nonviolent felony convictions. Proposition 64 covers marijuana-related charges. All petitions are filed with the Trinity County Superior Court in Weaverville.

Finding legal help in Trinity County is difficult. There are very few attorneys in the area. Legal Services of Northern California serves some rural counties and may be available. The California courts self-help website has forms and instructions for people handling record relief petitions on their own.

Getting Trinity County Records

Criminal records from Trinity County come from a few different sources. The type of record you need determines which agency to contact. Here is a summary of where to go for each type.

• Call the Trinity County Superior Court clerk for criminal case files and copies
• Contact the sheriff at (530) 623-1208 for arrest and jail records
• Submit Live Scan fingerprints to get your own RAP sheet from the DOJ for $25
• Search CIRIS online for people in the California state prison system
• Use meganslaw.ca.gov to check the sex offender registry

The courthouse address is 11 Court Street, Weaverville, CA 96093. Mail and phone requests work well for this county, given the distance most people would need to travel. Send a written request with the defendant's name, case number if you have one, a check for copy fees, and a self-addressed stamped envelope. The clerk's office can tell you the estimated cost when you call.

Note: Trinity County roads are winding and can be slow. If you plan a trip to the courthouse, budget extra time for the drive. Highway 299 from Redding to Weaverville takes about an hour even though it is only 45 miles or so.

Nearby Counties

Trinity County borders several other Northern California counties. Check these pages for criminal record resources in neighboring areas.