> For AI agents: read the machine-readable documentation index at [https://corpuslaw.us/llms.txt](https://corpuslaw.us/llms.txt) or the single-file full reference at [https://corpuslaw.us/llms-full.txt](https://corpuslaw.us/llms-full.txt). 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 | Court | Level | Source | Years | Text search | Access | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | California Supreme Court | Highest court | [courts.ca.gov](https://courts.ca.gov/opinions/publishedcitable-opinions) | from 2024 | No | Only partly readable in our check. | | California Supreme Court | Highest court | [CourtListener](https://www.courtlistener.com/) ([evidence](https://www.courtlistener.com/?q=&type=o&court=cal)) | 1803–2026 | Yes | Opened in our check. 40,609 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](https://www.courtlistener.com/) ([evidence](https://www.courtlistener.com/?q=&type=o&court=calappdeptsuper)) | 1930–2017 | Yes | Opened in our check. CourtListener 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](https://www.courtlistener.com/) ([evidence](https://www.courtlistener.com/?q=&type=o&court=calctapp)) | 1839–2026 | Yes | Opened in our check. 170,986 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](https://www.courtlistener.com/) ([evidence](https://www.courtlistener.com/?q=&type=o&court=calctapp1d)) | 2015–2016 | Yes | Listed by CourtListener as not in use. 9 opinions in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026); newest Apr 27, 2016. | | California Court of Appeal, 2nd District | Appeals | [CourtListener](https://www.courtlistener.com/) ([evidence](https://www.courtlistener.com/?q=&type=o&court=calctapp2d)) | 2015–2016 | Yes | Listed by CourtListener as not in use. 19 opinions in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026); newest May 23, 2016. | | California Court of Appeal, 3rd District | Appeals | [CourtListener](https://www.courtlistener.com/) ([evidence](https://www.courtlistener.com/?q=&type=o&court=calctapp3d)) | 2015–2016 | Yes | Listed by CourtListener as not in use. 8 opinions in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026); newest May 25, 2016. | | California Court of Appeal, 4th District | Appeals | [CourtListener](https://www.courtlistener.com/) ([evidence](https://www.courtlistener.com/?q=&type=o&court=calctapp4d)) | 2015–2016 | Yes | Listed by CourtListener as not in use. 29 opinions in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026); newest May 24, 2016. | | California Court of Appeal, 5th District | Appeals | [CourtListener](https://www.courtlistener.com/) ([evidence](https://www.courtlistener.com/?q=&type=o&court=calctapp5d)) | 2016–2019 | Yes | Listed by CourtListener as not in use. 1,930 opinions in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026); newest Aug 29, 2019. | | California Court of Appeal, 6th District | Appeals | [CourtListener](https://www.courtlistener.com/) ([evidence](https://www.courtlistener.com/?q=&type=o&court=calctapp6d)) | 2015–2016 | Yes | Listed by CourtListener as not in use. 6 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](https://courts.ca.gov/opinions/publishedcitable-opinions) | from 2024 | No | Only partly readable in our check. | | California - all reported decisions in CAP reporters | Other | [Caselaw Access Project (Harvard)](https://case.law/) ([evidence](https://case.law/caselaw/)) | 1803–2019 | No | Opened in our check. | | California - state appellate and supreme courts (published opinions) | Other | [Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com/) | from 1950 | Yes | Opened in our check. | | California Attorney General Reports | Other | [CourtListener](https://www.courtlistener.com/) ([evidence](https://www.courtlistener.com/?q=&type=o&court=calag)) | 1986–2026 | Yes | Opened in our check. 1,165 opinions in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026); newest Sep 22, 2026. | | California Office of Administrative Hearings | Other | [CourtListener](https://www.courtlistener.com/) ([evidence](https://www.courtlistener.com/?q=&type=o&court=calofcadmhrg)) | None found | Yes | Listed by CourtListener as not in use. No opinions from this court were found in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026). | | California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board | Other | [CourtListener](https://www.courtlistener.com/) ([evidence](https://www.courtlistener.com/?q=&type=o&court=caluneinsappbd)) | None found | Yes | Listed by CourtListener as not in use. No opinions from this court were found in CourtListener's public bulk files (snapshot of Sep 30, 2026). | ## Where else to look - [CourtListener](https://www.courtlistener.com/): Lists 4 California courts. - [Caselaw Access Project (Harvard)](https://case.law/): Holds published opinions from 1803 to 2019. - [Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com/): Its help page says its case law covers state appellate and supreme courts since 1950. - [courts.ca.gov](https://courts.ca.gov/opinions/publishedcitable-opinions): Official court website. - [Justia](https://law.justia.com/cases/): 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. ## Search the law Corpus doesn't hold opinions. It does search California statutes: [Search California statutes in Corpus](https://corpuslaw.us/search?state=CA) Read by Corpus on November 7, 2026. All case-law pages: https://corpuslaw.us/case-law Data: [Corpus Open (open source)](https://github.com/teakesdev/corpus-open). CourtListener bulk data (public domain), snapshot Sep 30, 2026. Not legal advice. Check the court's own website before relying on any listing.