About the Courts

             Lassen County was created on April 1, 1864 from portions of Plumas and Shasta Counties.  Prior to the formation, there was a dispute as to whether the region was a part of California or Nevada.  To research litigation prior to 1864 requires searches in both California and Nevada.

The Superior Court system that is in use today, was not created until 1879 when Californians adopted a new Constitution.  Prior to the adoption of the new Constitution litigation was filed in either the County and/or District Court.

About the Defendant’s Index

From 1978 through 1981, Tim I. Purdy volunteered to catalog, organize and index the County, District and Superior Court records for Lassen County covering a time span from 1864 to 1930.  In 1985 a Plaintiff’s index had been prepared, but it was not until 2004 that the Defendant’s index was finally completed.

Abbreviations Used

CM = Case missing.
CT = Case transferred to another county.
MF = The original file has been destroyed and file only exists on microfilm

Cases with Last Names     A-E         F-K         L-R          S-Z