California Legislative Counsel
California Legislative Information
Official code and bill searches kept distinct.
California legal sources
California law, bills and court records live in different places
GuideWeSpeakLaw EditorialUpdated August 24, 2026Sources reviewed
Use Legislative Information for codes and bills, the county Superior Court for trial records, and the official opinion collection for citable appellate law.
Official record
Primary sources
Judicial Branch of California
California Courts
The official judiciary and court locator.
Judicial Branch of California
How to look up a court case
Why county courts hold trial records and why access varies.
Judicial Branch of California
Published/Citable Opinions
The official publication and correction distinction.
Do not confuse a bill with the code
California Legislative Information provides separate tools for California Law and Bill Information. Use the code search for enacted section text and the bill search to follow a proposal or its history.
Save the code name and section for enacted text. For a bill, save the bill number, session, version date and status; those details keep a proposal from being described as current law.
Trial records are local
California has three court levels: county Superior Courts, Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Trial-case records are kept by the court where the case was filed, not in one complete statewide trial-court search.
Use Find Your Court, then the county court's online services or clerk. Some records are not online and some are confidential or restricted, so a missing web result is not a final answer.
Check whether an opinion is citable
California's official opinion page distinguishes published, citable opinions in the Official Reports from slip opinions posted as filed. Slip opinions may not yet reflect later editing or corrections.
Record the court, case number, opinion date and publication status. Read later history before describing the opinion as the last word in a case.
Corrections
Updated August 24, 2026. No corrections are recorded.