Loading…
Electronically imaged court records in the Criminal Division from February 17, 2026: the Odyssey electronic file is the official record in imaging program cases; paper filings are destroyed after 30 days except originals the court must keep; kiosk access in the criminal business offices; no remote viewing of documents. Effective April 28, 2026 through December 31, 2026.
California > Fourth Appellate District > San Diego County > Superior Court of California, County of San Diego
[File stamp: FILED, San Diego Superior Court, APR 28 2026, Clerk of the Superior Court, By: C. Lainez, Deputy] SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO CENTRAL DIVISION IN RE PROCEDURES REGARDING ELECTRONICALLY IMAGED COURT RECORDS AND ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC RECORDS IN THE CRIMINAL DIVISION GENERAL ORDER OF THE PRESIDING DEPARTMENT ORDER NO. 020926-35 THIS COURT FINDS AND ORDERS AS FOLLOWS: I. CRIMINAL IMAGING PROGRAM On February 17, 2026, the San Diego Superior Court (“court”) will begin an Imaging Program in the Criminal Division (“Imaging Program”) designed to reduce paper filings and storage, and facilitate electronic access to criminal case files. All papers and documents filed in criminal cases initiated on or after February 17, 2026 will be scanned and imaged. The imaged documents will be stored in an electronic court file that can be viewed in any of the court’s Criminal Business Offices. II. ELECTRONIC COURT FILE IN IMAGING PROGRAM CASES - THE OFFICIAL COURT RECORD Pursuant to Government Code section 68150 and California Rules of Court ("CRC"), rule 2.504, in Imaging Program cases, the electronic court file in Odyssey is certified as the official record of the court. The paper filings that are imaged by the court and stored electronically will be physically stored by the court for 30 days after filing, after which time they will be shredded and recycled, except for original bonds, Fingerprint Forms (JC Form #CR-100), and other original documents the court is required to maintain, which will be physically retained by the court for the period required by law. During this 30-day period, these documents will not be stored in a manner that will allow a member of the public, including a party or the party’s attorney, to access them, and access will only be granted by order of the court upon a showing of good cause. III. ENHANCED ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO OFFICIAL COURT FILE AND COURT DOCUMENTS A. Public kiosks providing free access to the official electronic record of the court files in Imaging Program cases are available in the business offices identified below: 1. North County Division, Criminal Business Office, located at 325 S. Melrose Drive, Vista, California 92081. 2. Central Division, Misdemeanor and Felony Business Offices, located at 1100 Union Street, San Diego, CA 92101. 3. East County Division, Criminal Business Office, located at 250 East Main Street, El Cajon, CA 92020. 4. South County Division, Criminal Business Office, located at 500 3rd Avenue, Chula Vista, CA 91910. Members of the public may access and view all public portions of the files just as they currently do with paper court files. If there are people waiting to use the kiosks, a time limit of 15 minutes will be imposed. Additional time will be permitted after waiting in line to use one of the kiosks again. Any changes to this policy will be made by the Presiding Judge of the court and the new policy will be posted in the applicable business offices. B. In accordance with CRC, rule 2.504(d), the public accessing court records electronically are advised that the Manager of criminal court operations, or their designee, is the court staff member who may be contacted about the requirements for accessing the court's records electronically in all divisions of the court supporting imaging. C. Copyright and other proprietary rights may apply to information in a case file, absent express grant of additional rights by the holder of the copyright or other proprietary right. In this regard, the public is advised: (1) Use of such information in a case file is permissible only to the extent permitted by law or court order; and (2) Any use inconsistent with proprietary rights is prohibited. D. Court documents sealed or considered confidential pursuant to statute, rule of court, or court order shall remain sealed or confidential and may not be released except to the extent necessary to comply with the law. E. The electronic records of cases within the Imaging Program available for viewing in the criminal business offices are the official records of the court. There is no charge for accessing or viewing court files in the business offices. Copies, including certified copies, of any documents in an electronic court file may be obtained by paying the applicable fee. The court’s Fee Schedule is available online on the court’s website at www.sdcourt.ca.gov. (See San Diego Superior Court Form #ADM-001). Additional instructions for obtaining printed copies of records from the electronic file will be provided at the kiosk locations in the applicable business offices; instructions are also available online at the court’s website listed above. F. Any person who willfully destroys or alters any court record maintained in electronic form is subject to the penalties imposed by Government Code section 6201. G. Court documents from records of Imaging Program cases are not available in electronic format for viewing and printing remotely due to the prohibition of that type of access set forth in CRC, rule 2.503(c). This order shall become effective immediately and expire on December 31, 2026, unless otherwise ordered by this court. IT IS SO ORDERED. DATED: April 28, 2026 [signature] HONORABLE MICHAEL S. GROCH PRESIDING JUDGE
[File stamp: FILED, San Diego Superior Court, APR 28 2026, Clerk of the Superior Court, By: C. Lainez, Deputy] SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO CENTRAL DIVISION IN RE PROCEDURES REGARDING ELECTRONICALLY IMAGED COURT RECORDS AND ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC RECORDS IN THE CRIMINAL DIVISION GENERAL ORDER OF THE PRESIDING DEPARTMENT ORDER NO. 020926-35 THIS COURT FINDS AND ORDERS AS FOLLOWS:
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-09-28 (California T3 San Diego build) from BenchPath custody ca/t3/ca-san-diego/go/general_order_020926-35.pdf (1154268 bytes, sha256 7bfb0f8f2dc0c764f319b567bb86e7a6c4a30404404eb9478c02bd7b7fc0a399; 4 pages) - the court's own posted PDF, a scan with no usable text layer: transcribed from the rendered page images, every page read against the image; a machine reading (RapidOCR) was used only as a second reader for a word-level diff; every quotation mark, apostrophe, dash and section sign checked in full-resolution crops; pleading line numbers and “///” fill marks omitted; the file stamp and signature bracketed. Printed irregularities are kept as printed.
9 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-10.
6 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-13.