Case-law access map · checked November 7, 2026
California: where to read court opinions for free
Free and searchable from 1803 to today (CourtListener).
Appeals courts: free and searchable from 1803 to today (CourtListener from 1839; Caselaw Access Project to 2019).
As we read the highest court's own website and the free indexes on November 7, 2026. CourtListener's years come from its public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026). The table has each court and source.
Not legal advice. Check the court's own website before relying on any listing.
Courts and sources
Each line is one court read from one source. Years are the span that source lists; “inferred” means taken from a description of the site, not from the site itself. A site that refused our automated check may still open in a browser.
| Court | Level | Source | Years | Text search | Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California Supreme Court | Highest court | courts.ca.gov | from 2024 | No | Only partly readable in our check |
| California Supreme Court | Highest court | CourtListener evidence | 1803–2026 | Yes | Opened in our check40,609 opinions in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026); newest Sep 24, 2026; 6,652 with approximate dates. |
| Appellate Division of the Superior Court of California | Appeals | CourtListener evidence | 1930–2017 | Yes | Opened in our checkCourtListener shows no automatic collection of new opinions from this court.1,071 opinions in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026); newest Mar 27, 2017. |
| California Court of Appeal | Appeals | CourtListener evidence | 1839–2026 | Yes | Opened in our check170,986 opinions in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026); newest Sep 29, 2026; 1 with approximate dates. |
| California Court of Appeal, 1st District | Appeals | CourtListener evidence | 2015–2016 | Yes | Listed by CourtListener as not in use9 opinions in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026); newest Apr 27, 2016. |
| California Court of Appeal, 2nd District | Appeals | CourtListener evidence | 2015–2016 | Yes | Listed by CourtListener as not in use19 opinions in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026); newest May 23, 2016. |
| California Court of Appeal, 3rd District | Appeals | CourtListener evidence | 2015–2016 | Yes | Listed by CourtListener as not in use8 opinions in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026); newest May 25, 2016. |
| California Court of Appeal, 4th District | Appeals | CourtListener evidence | 2015–2016 | Yes | Listed by CourtListener as not in use29 opinions in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026); newest May 24, 2016. |
| California Court of Appeal, 5th District | Appeals | CourtListener evidence | 2016–2019 | Yes | Listed by CourtListener as not in use1,930 opinions in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026); newest Aug 29, 2019. |
| California Court of Appeal, 6th District | Appeals | CourtListener evidence | 2015–2016 | Yes | Listed by CourtListener as not in use6 opinions in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026); newest Mar 14, 2016. |
| California Courts of Appeal (6 districts) | Appeals | courts.ca.gov | from 2024 | No | Only partly readable in our check |
| California - all reported decisions in CAP reporters | Other | Caselaw Access Project (Harvard) evidence | 1803–2019 | No | Opened in our check |
| California - state appellate and supreme courts (published opinions) | Other | Google Scholar | from 1950 | Yes | Opened in our check |
| California Attorney General Reports | Other | CourtListener evidence | 1986–2026 | Yes | Opened in our check1,165 opinions in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026); newest Sep 22, 2026. |
| California Office of Administrative Hearings | Other | CourtListener evidence | None found | Yes | Listed by CourtListener as not in useNo opinions from this court were found in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026). |
| California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board | Other | CourtListener evidence | None found | Yes | Listed by CourtListener as not in useNo opinions from this court were found in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026). |
Where else to look
- CourtListener: Lists 4 California courts.
- Caselaw Access Project (Harvard): Holds published opinions from 1803 to 2019.
- Google Scholar: Its help page says its case law covers state appellate and supreme courts since 1950.
- courts.ca.gov: Official court website.
- Justia: Also publishes opinions; we did not check it state by state.
Known gaps
- CourtListener's court record shows no automatic collection of new opinions from Appellate Division of the Superior Court of California. Check the court's own website for recent ones.
- Only part of California Supreme Court's website could be read in our check, so its years and text search are not fully measured.
- We found no search of opinion text on California Supreme Court's website, only lists or lookup by name, number or date.
- The Caselaw Access Project holds published opinions only through 2019.
- Our survey lists no free statewide source of trial-court opinions for this state.
Corpus
Corpus holds the statutes, not the opinions
For the law itself, Corpus searches California statutes, and each result cites its section and links the source.
Data: Corpus Open (open source). CourtListener bulk data (public domain), snapshot Sep 30, 2026.
Read by Corpus on November 7, 2026. Sites change; check the court’s own website before relying on a line.
Not legal advice. Check the court's own website before relying on any listing. Corpus is not a law firm.