Modoc County, California
Modoc County · Alturas is the seat · only incorporated city · northeast corner · Oregon line · Sacramento is the capital · Klamath Falls is Oregon
Alturas is the seat. Sacramento is the capital. Cedarville is not the hall.
Modoc County, California, was created 17 February 1874 from Siskiyou, and named for the Modoc people. Alturas is the county seat. Sacramento is the capital of California. Alturas is not the capital. Cedarville is not the seat. Adin is not the seat. This is among California’s least-populous counties — on the order of eight thousand people, third-least after Alpine and Sierra, not a Bay remainder with a new name. Do not read this page as Autauga-with-sage. Do not read this page as Lassen-with-a-rename. Prattville is Autauga. Susanville is Lassen. Neither is this oval.
Alturas is the only incorporated city. Cedarville, Adin, Canby, Likely, Newell, Fort Bidwell, Lookout, and New Pine Creek are communities — remainder, not a second seat. Klamath Falls is Oregon — not this hall. Lakeview is Oregon — not this hall. Siskiyou is west — Yreka is that hall. Lassen is south — Susanville is that hall. Washoe County, Nevada, is east.
This page is Side One for the place. The Sheriff’s job — northeast remainder patrol and 102 South Court Street this badge still holds in Alturas — is taught at Office of the Sheriff — Modoc County.
Five Supervisors at 204 South Court. They do not sit as the Oregon Legislature.
Modoc is a general law county. A five-member Board of Supervisors sits at the Modoc County Courthouse, Board of Supervisors Room, 204 South Court Street, Suite 203, Alturas, CA 96101 — (530) 233-6201. They fund roads, the Barclay calendar, and the Sheriff’s budget. They do not hire the Sheriff. The people do. Alturas City Council is a city body. The California Legislature sits in Sacramento. Oregon’s legislature sits in Salem. None of those is this Board.
Modoc Superior Court lists the Robert A. Barclay Justice Center at 205 South East Street, Alturas, CA 96101 — (530) 233-6516. Confirm live at co.modoc.ca.us and modoc.courts.ca.gov.
The Sheriff is a county officer (California Constitution Article XI; Government Code § 24000). This Sheriff is not on the 2026 gubernatorial table. Elections Code § 1300 (AB 759, 2022) moved sheriff and district attorney to the presidential primary. A sheriff elected in 2022 serves a six-year term; the next regular is the 2028 presidential primary. Modoc has no charter that could have locked a gubernatorial-year date before 1 January 2021. Last regular 7 June 2022. Take office at noon on the first Monday after January 1 succeeding election (Gov. Code § 24200). The Governor is 2026. That is a different desk in Sacramento.
The Pit is a river. Surprise Valley is remainder. Lassen is a different county.
U.S. 395, State Route 299, and State Route 139 meet on this map. Goose Lake and Surprise Valley are geography, not an Oregon badge. The Warner Mountains are a range, not a second county. Much of this map is federal land — Forest Service, BLM, Fish and Wildlife — not this government as those agencies. Siskiyou is west. Lassen is south. Shasta is southwest. Staff who paste a Golden Gate photograph onto Court Street, or treat Klamath Falls as this county government, or file Alturas as the capital, or rewrite this county as Autauga-with-sage, are on the wrong county.
How a northeast public finds Court Street, East Street, and 102 South Court
Board of Supervisors: 204 South Court Street, Suite 203, Alturas. Elections / Clerk: 204 South Court Street and listings at 108 East Modoc Street — confirm the live door at co.modoc.ca.us. Sheriff / Jail: 102 South Court Street, Alturas, CA 96101 — (530) 233-4416. Superior Court: Robert A. Barclay Justice Center, 205 South East Street — (530) 233-6516. Confirm live at modocsheriff.us and modoc.courts.ca.gov. A student who only knows a Klamath Falls photograph, or a Sacramento photograph as this county, or treats Alturas City Hall as the jail, has not found this campus.
102 South Court still jails. Alturas PD does not. High Desert State Prison does not.
Crime in unincorporated Modoc — Cedarville, Adin, Canby, Likely, Newell, Fort Bidwell, Lookout, and the remainder — is this Sheriff. Crime in Alturas is often Alturas Police at 200 West North Street — (530) 233-2011. This Sheriff is not that municipal department. Modoc County Jail at 102 South Court Street is this Sheriff’s house — the office’s own Corrections page lists a 48-bed county detention facility part of the Sheriff’s Office. Official doors did not show a separate county Department of Corrections taking this house — do not invent a jailer split.
CDCR is not this Sheriff. High Desert State Prison is in Susanville — Lassen County CDCR. There is no state prison on this map. CHP is a state badge — Alturas area listings include 905 West C Street. Do not send a family looking for a county booking to Alturas PD, to a Susanville CDCR gate, or to Klamath County, Oregon.
Care without inventing Klamath Falls as this hall
A peace order served in Cedarville remainder. A court-ordered transport from 102 South Court to 205 South East Street without becoming Alturas PD. Civil process the office actually posts. Do not invent a church. Do not invent Oregon as this oval. Do not invent Sacramento as this hall.
What Modoc actually watches
Court calendar at Barclay. A wreck on U.S. 395. Ice on 299. Fire in the Warner sage. High water on the Pit. Coordination with Alturas PD, CHP, Forest Service, and Lassen’s Sheriff without becoming those departments. Coordination with Siskiyou’s Sheriff or an Oregon neighbor is mutual aid between two offices, not a merger. Sage is geography. A prison wall in Susanville is Lassen CDCR. Neither is Alturas PD as this oval.
Alturas civic snapshot (verify official sources)
- State: California · County: Modoc · Seat: Alturas · Capital of California: Sacramento
- Map: Alturas · Cedarville · Adin · Canby · Newell · Fort Bidwell · U.S. 395 · SR 299 · Oregon line
- Not Klamath Falls · Not the capital · Not Alturas PD as this oval · Not High Desert State Prison as this jailer · Not Autauga-with-sage
- Board: five Supervisors at 204 South Court Street, Suite 203
- Sheriff clock: not 2026 · last regular 2022 · next regular 2028 presidential primary · six-year bridge from AB 759
- Jail: 102 South Court Street, Alturas — this Sheriff still holds it · 48-bed county house · Susanville CDCR is not this house
Orientation adapted from the California Constitution Article XI, Elections Code § 1300, Government Code §§ 24000, 24200, 25304, and 26600, Modoc County official pages (co.modoc.ca.us, modocsheriff.us), Modoc Superior Court locations, and the Secretary of State for education. The Sheriff of record is whatever those sources say today. Confirm HQ versus court versus jail, CDCR versus this jailer, and city PD versus this badge, on official pages before you travel.
What Alturas is not, as this county
- Not the capital of California. Sacramento is.
- Not Klamath Falls. Not Lakeview. Not Oregon as this hall.
- Not Cedarville / Adin / Canby as the county government.
- Not Alturas Police as this oval. Not CHP.
- Not High Desert State Prison. Not Lassen as this jailer.
- Not Autauga-with-sage. Not Lassen-with-a-rename.
- Not the Governor (that desk is 2026 in Sacramento).
- Not a campaign flyer.