Find People in San Diego County

San Diego County people search gives you access to records for over 3.3 million residents in Southern California's second largest county. The San Diego Superior Court, County Recorder-Clerk, and Sheriff's Department each run their own search tools. You can look up court cases, find inmate records, and pull vital documents from San Diego County without going to a courthouse. Free and paid options exist for most of these people search databases. This page walks through the main ways to find people records in San Diego County, California.

San Diego County Court People Search

The San Diego Superior Court runs one of the better online case search systems in California. The Court Index at courtindex.sdcourt.ca.gov lets you look up people by name across all case types. This is a free search tool. You type in a name and get back case numbers, filing dates, and case types. It covers civil, criminal, family, probate, and traffic matters in San Diego County. The records go back years, so you can find people tied to old cases as well as new ones.

The San Diego County court people search portal is shown below.

Once you find a case, you can pull more details from the Register of Actions. San Diego County splits this into two portals. Family law cases use the ROA search at roasearch.sdcourt.ca.gov. Civil, small claims, and probate cases use a separate ROA portal at odyroa.sdcourt.ca.gov. Both show case events, hearing dates, and filed documents. These are key tools for people search in San Diego County courts.

The civil and probate ROA search tool for San Diego County people records is shown here.

San Diego County keeps records for set time frames. Infraction records stay on file for 3 years. Misdemeanor traffic stays for 5 years. DUI cases are kept for 10 years. Small claims records last 10 years too. After those periods the court may purge the data, so run your people search sooner rather than later if you need old case info from San Diego County.

Find People in San Diego County Jail

The San Diego County Sheriff runs an inmate search tool called "Who Is In Jail" at apps.sdsheriff.net/wij. It shows who is currently held in San Diego County jails. You can search by name and see booking details, charges, bail amounts, and facility locations. This is a free people search tool that updates in real time as people are booked in or released from San Diego County custody.

Here is the San Diego County inmate search portal for people records.

For phone lookups, call the San Diego County Custody Info Line at (619) 409-5000. The non-emergency Sheriff line is 858-868-3200. Both lines can help you find people who may be in San Diego County custody. State inmates from San Diego County can be found through the California CDCR search at ciris.mt.cdcr.ca.gov, which covers all state prisons.

San Diego County Vital Records Lookup

The San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk handles birth, death, and marriage records. These vital records are useful for people search because they show full names, dates, and other key details. As of January 2026, fees went up under AB 64. Birth certificates now cost $34. Death certificates cost $26. Marriage certificates cost $19. These are the same rates across all California counties since the state sets the base fees.

You should wait at least 3 weeks after an event before you request a vital record from San Diego County. It takes that long for the documents to be processed and made available for search. Call the San Diego County Recorder-Clerk at (619) 237-0502 for questions. You can also email ARCCRecorderCountyClerk.FGG@sdcounty.ca.gov for help with vital records people search in San Diego County.

Under the California Public Records Act (Government Code Section 7920.000), many public filings are open for search. Vital records have some limits, though. Certified copies of birth records are restricted to authorized persons under Health and Safety Code Section 103526. Informational copies are available to anyone and work well for people search purposes in San Diego County.

Note: San Diego County processes most vital records requests within 5 to 10 business days by mail.

How San Diego County Records Work

San Diego County is part of a unified court system. All case types go through the San Diego Superior Court. There is no separate municipal court. Civil cases, family law, probate, criminal, and traffic all fall under one roof for people search. The court has locations across the county in downtown San Diego, Vista, El Cajon, and Chula Vista. Each courthouse handles people search the same way through the online case index.

Property records in San Diego County are also useful for finding people. The county assessor keeps ownership data for all parcels. You can search by owner name to find where someone owns property. The recorder keeps document recordings like deeds, liens, and other filings that show names. These are all public records open for people search in San Diego County.

People Search in San Diego County Cities

San Diego County has 18 incorporated cities. All of them use the San Diego County Superior Court and Recorder-Clerk for people records. The three largest cities with dedicated search pages are listed below.

Nearby Counties

These counties border San Diego County. If you need people records for someone in a neighboring area, check the county where they live or where the record was filed.

Imperial County also borders San Diego County to the east but is not covered on this site.