Santa Barbara County Redacts Racist Language from Historical Housing Documents (News Article)

This article was originally published on Noozhawk on May 16, 2026.

The Santa Barbara County Hall of Records is home to thousands of historical housing documents. Some contain racist and discriminatory language. 

The Santa Barbara County Clerk-Recorder’s office is working to change that. 

Since the passage of California Assembly Bill 1466 — a 2021 bill that required California counties to redact discriminatory language from property records — the office has redacted 129 restrictive covenants, which are property deeds or leases that contain unlawful and discriminatory restrictions on the use of county land.

Click here to continue reading …