ALAMEDA (Updated April 17): “The Superior Court of Alameda County is pleased to announce that, beginning April 20, it will resume a limited number of hearings in Civil, Family, and Probate matters. The hearings will be conducted remotely via telephone or videoconference and will be limited to emergency hearings and matters filed and scheduled before the March 17 Court closure. The Court will notify parties or their counsel in cases that are being set for hearing the week before the anticipated hearing date. Also beginning April 20, the Court is offering limited public courthouse access for records searches. Between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., members of the public may enter the criminal and civil clerk’s offices of the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland to conduct records searches. The Court offers this public opportunity in recognition of the fact that criminal and family records are not permitted to be offered remotely per the California Rules of Court. Members of the public who wish access will only be admitted if they wear a respiratory covering or mask, use their own or Court-provided hand sanitizer, and comply with social distancing directives. Access will be limited to one person in the criminal office and two people in the civil office at any given time; computer use will be limited to 15 minutes per user.” More “The Superior Court of Alameda County is formally extending its current public closure period through the close of business on May 1.” More “The Court will not accept any Civil filings from April 6 through May 1, nor will any civil matters or hearings be conducted. Matters will be reset and notices will be mailed by the Court.” More “Pursuant to newly adopted Emergency Local Rule 1.8a, the Superior Court of Alameda County announces the resumption of the Court’s fax filing service—which the Court temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 crisis—for certain enumerated emergency-related Civil, Family, and Probate documents, effective April 13. Rule 1.8a also expands the types of documents that can filed at the Court’s drop box locations.” More
ALPINE (Updated March 17): “All scheduled court hearings, with the exception of criminal matters that have statutory time constraints, will be rescheduled to May 2020. The court encourages a reduction in all non-essential hearings, the use of court-call in lieu of personal appearances, and any other measures to minimize the risks associated with personal contact during the current national health crisis.” More
AMADOR (Updated March 13): “Effective April 8 through May 1: All civil matters including case management conferences and settlement conferences will be continued for 90 days. Civil filings may occur but they will be filed as staffing allows. The documents shall be stamped as received to comply with any statutory issues.” More “The Court has suspended all non-emergency services. The clerk’s office is closed to the public until further notice. Drop boxes have been placed in the court lobby for filings between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.” More
BUTTE (Updated April 3): “We will be reopening the week of March 30, with reduced services and limited access.” More “All Civil calendars, including Trials, Law and Motion, Case Management Conferences, Settlement Conferences, Civil Harassment’s, Unlawful Detainers, and Small Claims are cancelled through May 18. Newly filed Motions and other calendaring documents should be set in accordance with the Court’s regular calendar, but for a date after May 18. Public phones are open during regular business hours (8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.) and Public Counters at the Chico Courthouse will be open for reduced hours (10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.).” More
CALAVERAS (Updated April 6): “Essential functions of the Superior Court at this time are limited to proceedings that are required to comply with defendants’ constitutional rights, protect the health and safety of parties and address jail population concerns. Access to the Calaveras County courthouse is restricted to those persons required to appear in person for a court hearing.” More “Effective March 19, all Clerk’s Counters will be closed to the public. A drop box is located in the public entrance and is available Monday thru Friday 8:15 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Parties may also file documents using Odyssey eFileCA.” More
COLUSA (Updated April 3): “The Court will remain closed to the public until May 4, with limited exceptions. Persons having court dates during the closure will receive written notice of their rescheduled dates. Entrance to the courthouse shall be limited to those individuals conducting legitimate business. A drop box for all filing types is available at the courthouse in Colusa. Filings can also be submitted by mail. Clerk windows will be closed.” More
CONTRA COSTA (Updated April 15): “Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, all hearing dates on any Civil case set to take place from April 8 through May 18 (including Case Management Conferences, Orders to Show Cause, Law and Motion, Orders of Examination, Issue Conferences, Settlement Conferences and Court or Jury trials in progress or calendared to begin during this time frame) are vacated. All Court or Jury Trials set between May 18 and June 12 are vacated and converted to a Trial Setting Conference on the date previously set for trial. Civil hearing dates that are vacated pursuant to these Rules and all hearing dates that have been previously vacated due to the Court closure that began on March 16 will be reset by the Court. Notice of the new hearing date will not be sent out by the Court. Instead, all new hearing dates will be available through the Open Access web portal on the Court’s website. While a drop box for Civil cases is available, non-urgent matters will not be immediately processed.” More “The Court is closed to the public until at least April 28. The Court will begin accepting filings for civil matters on April 6 at a drop box placed at the Main Street entrance of the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez.” More
DEL NORTE (Updated April 17): “The Del Norte County Superior Court will continue limiting access to its courthouses, effective April 18. The Court currently plans to resume regular court operations on May 11, although that date is subject to change due to rapidly unfolding conditions. Counsel in all civil and probate law and motion matters scheduled to appear between April 18 to and including May 8 shall attend via Court Call; no personal appearances will be permitted without prior approval from the court. Parties may request a continuance if they prefer to appear in person; their matter will be reset for hearing on or after May 8. From April 18 to May 8, the Court will continue to schedule only critical matters. The Court Clerk’s front desk will be open with a drop box to accept all filings from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.” More
EL DORADO (Updated April 17): “Public access to courthouse is limited to only those persons who have been ordered to appear for a calendared matter where an in-person appearance is statutorily required. Clerk’s Counters will be closed to the public in all Court facilities. All civil and probate law and motion matters scheduled on or after April 17 shall be reset for hearing to a future date as determined by the Court. Modifications to Court operations will remain in effect until the Governor declares that the state of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic is lifted, or until amended or revoked by the presiding judge of this Court.” More
FRESNO (Updated April 7): “From April 6 until May 1, inclusive, all courtrooms of the Court will remain closed for judicial business, except for time-sensitive and essential functions. All other matters that had been previously scheduled or calendared between April 6 and May 1 will be reset and continued.” More “All clerk’s offices in the B.F. Sisk Courthouse will be closed. Mandatory efiling remains in place. A drop box has been located outside the B.F. Sisk Courthouse and will be available for filing papers Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. All Civil Unlimited Mandatory Settlement Conferences, Trial Readiness Hearings and Trials (jury and court) scheduled to occur from March 23 through May 26 will be rescheduled to occur on later dates in 2020 and 2021. All of these cases are being re-noticed for Trial Setting Conferences to be held on May 11 and May 12. Civil law and motion matters will be continued for four weeks on a rolling basis.” More “Access to any and all Fresno County Superior Court courthouses is restricted to those authorized persons required to appear in person for a court hearing. No other persons will be permitted without good cause.” More
GLENN (Updated March 25): “Effective March 20 to May 18, access to the courthouse is limited to only those individuals who have business with the court in matters not vacated. In-person access to the clerk’s office is closed. Documents may be filed using the drop box. Filing remains available through the mail. Counsel and parties for Civil matters still calendared are strongly encouraged to appear by CourtCall. Except for civil harassment, elder abuse, and workplace violence, all Civil matters calendared for dates between March 20 and May 18 are vacated and re-set for a date to be recited in a notice from the court.” More
HUMBOLDT (Updated April 20): “Effective April 20, the Court will call civil matters in which emergency temporary orders are in effect. All other civil matters will be rescheduled by written notice.” More “The Clerk’s office is closed to the public. The drop box is open for necessary filings.” More “Effective March 20, the Court will broadcast live all public court sessions until further notice.” More
IMPERIAL (Updated April 18): “The orders issued by this court oon March 25 are hereby extended until at least May 17.” More “On April 6, the Imperial County Superior Court expects to have all hearings in the limited matters being heard to be done via remote technology. The Brawley and Winterhaven courthouses remain closed until further notice. All other cases have been continued. The El Centro courthouse is still restricting public access except for limited purposes.The Civil Clerk’s Office is open for filing of papers for limited matters and restraining orders.” More
INYO (Updated March 23): “The Inyo County Superior Court will be limiting access to its courthouses, effective immediately. All civil law and motion matters, case management conferences and mandatory settlement conferences scheduled between March 23 to and including May 1 will be reset as follows: matters set on April 10 and April 24 are continued to May 8.” More “Attorneys and litigants are strongly encouraged to make court appearances telephonically or through CourtCall in all non-criminal case types.” More
KERN (Updated March 24): “Access to any and all courthouses is restricted to those persons required to appear in person for a court hearing.” More “All civil cases set for hearings in Departments 10, 11, 12 and 17, between the dates of April 1 and May 22, have been rescheduled to a later date.” More “Beginning March 18, all Clerk’s windows will be closed to the public, until further notice.” More
KINGS (Updated April 7): “The exterior service windows to the Courthouse will no longer be open to the public for the purposes of filing documents or making payments. There are two available drop box locations.” More
LAKE (Updated April 22): “The Court will be calling and hearing those matters presently set for hearing on the Civil Law and Motion Calendar, the Civil Case Management Conference calendar and the Status Conference calendar commencing with the calendars set for May 4, commencing at 9:00 a.m. in Department 2. The attendance at the hearing and participation in the hearing shall be by Telephone Appearance only. A Telephone Appearance shall be arranged through Court-Call.” More “The court will remain closed through May 1, except for critical emergency matters. The court will not be conducting any trials or hearings during the closed period. The trials and hearings currently set to occur during the closed period will be rescheduled by the court to a date after May 1. The Court Clerk’s Offices will remain closed to the public. Court staff will be available by phone. Access to the Fourth Floor of the Courthouse and the Courtrooms is restricted to those persons who are required by law to be present for the court proceeding.” More
LASSEN (Updated March 27): “Effective March 26 to May 15, access to the courthouse is limited to only those individuals who have business with the court. Access for purpose of filing documents with the clerk’s office is limited to the drop box located at the courthouse. Filing remains available through the mail.” More “Counsel in all civil and probate matters scheduled to appear between March 23 and April 10 should arrange to attend via CourtCall.” More
LOS ANGELES (Updated April 24): “All civil trials scheduled to begin for the period March 17 through June 17 have been or will be continued by General Order. Because civil jury and non-jury trials are not included in the enumerated time-sensitive essential functions set out in these General Orders, they will be continued, or advanced and vacated and a trial setting conference will be scheduled. The parties will receive individual minute orders issued by the trial judge to whom the case is assigned continuing these trials to a date after June 17 or advancing and vacating the trial dates and scheduling a trial setting conference on or after June 22. The length of the continuance will be determined by reference to a number of factors, including most critically, the ongoing need to protect the public, potential jurors, attorneys, witnesses, court staff and judicial officers through the use of social distancing. Many courtrooms, jury boxes, jury deliberation rooms, audience seating and size and counsel table locations may not be well-suited to maintain the social distancing measures that we assume will continue even after our court moves into hearing non-emergency matters. Thus, our total available supply of jury trial-ready civil courtrooms may remain constrained for some period of time. The length of the continuance will also be influenced by the ability of our criminal courts to summons and secure a sufficient number of jurors to enable them to meet all constitutional speedy-trial requirements. Given that any pool of potential jurors must first be allocated to those criminal matters with constitutionally mandated trial dates, civil jury pools will be restricted for the foreseeable future. Further, limiting the ability of civil courts to resume civil jury trials immediately upon reopening of the courts to non-essential matters is the need to comply — to the greatest extent possible — with the statutory preference schemes articulated in CCP section 36, and the statutory mandates for unlawful detainer trials. The same considerations requiring the court to continue civil jury trials for the period from now until June 17 apply to those trials currently scheduled to begin on or after June 22. While the continuance orders may not be immediately issued, counsel should be prepared for the possibility that courts will find good cause for further continuances of non-preference civil jury trials throughout the summer. Because our courtrooms and courthouses are very likely still to be operating under social distancing requirements when we resume operations, counsel are strongly encouraged to appear telephonically for all calendar matters. In fact, our ability to resume calendars of any substantial size, is wholly dependent on counsel’s willingness to appear telephonically. The electronic filing system for non-complex civil matters continues to accept filings. Motions for Complex courts can be filed using drop boxes. Civil law and motion matters are not enumerated as time-sensitive essential proceedings under the Court’s existing and future General Orders. The Court at this time must direct its resources to ensuring that the constitutionally and statutorily mandated time-sensitive essential matters in criminal, dependency, delinquency, mental health, probate and family law can be timely heard and decided. Also, please keep in mind that more than 75% of the court staff is away from the courthouses during this emergency period. The court simply cannot process civil law and motion matters at this time.” More “All courtrooms will remain closed for judicial business through May 12, except time-sensitive, essential functions. All other matters will be continued by the Court. Access to all Los Angeles County courthouses remains restricted at all times to judges, commissioners, court staff, co-lessees, Judicial Council staff and vendors, and authorized persons.” More “Los Angeles Superior Court Presiding Judge Kevin C. Brazile, in a webinar on Friday…speculated that civil trials will start up again in August or September, and said civil trials now scheduled for late June will probably be continued.” More “Effective March 23 and until further notice, the Superior Court of Los Angeles County will close the Clerk’s Offices at all 38 courthouses.” More
MADERA (Updated April 21): “All civil proceedings, other than jury trials, currently scheduled between April 20 and May 19 are continued for eight weeks from the currently scheduled date. All hearings in the appellate department that are scheduled between April 20 and May 19 are continued for eight weeks from the currently scheduled date. All visitors to the courthouse must maintain an appropriate social distance of six feet between the visitor and other persons at all times.” More “Attorneys and litigants are strongly encouraged to file documents by facsimile in civil, probate and family law matters. Attorneys and litigants are strongly encouraged to make court appearances via CourtCall in all case types. Subject to the exercise of judicial discretion, the court will liberally grant hearing continuances upon request.” More
MARIN (Updated April 2): “The Marin County Superior Court will remain closed for all non-essential matters until 11:59 p.m. on May 29. During that period, all courtrooms and clerk’s offices will remain closed, except three courtrooms will be open to hear essential matters only. All Civil, Small Claims and Family Law hearings, trials, case management conferences, settlement conferences and other matters currently set until May 29 will be continued eight weeks out from the date the matter is currently set.” More
MARIPOSA (Updated March 25): “Mariposa Superior Court has substantially closed through April 19. You will not be allowed entry into the courthouse without prior approval.” More
MENDOCINO (Updated April 4): “The initial prediction that the Court would resume regular court operations on April 6 is no longer feasible. At this time, it is unknown when county-wide court services will resume regular operations. Counsel in all civil and probate matters scheduled to appear between March 17 and May 29 should plan on attending via CourtCall.” More
MERCED (Updated March 23): “The Court remains open for specific case types that have been determined to be essential matters. The clerk’s office will be closed to the public.” More “All civil jury trials currently set between March 17 and April 28 will be continued on a rolling basis for eight weeks from the currently scheduled trial date. Trials currently underway will continue as scheduled.” More
MODOC (Updated April 10): “The Court currently plans to resume regular court operations on June 1. Court customers who do not have a case on calendar or business with the Court should not enter the courthouse. Counsel in all civil, family law and probate matters scheduled to appear between March 17 to and including May 29 should plan on attending via CourtCall. The Court limits front counter access to those individuals with time-sensitive, essential functions. All other filings should be placed in the drop box, sent via email or facsimile.” More
MONO (Updated March 24): “The Mammoth Lakes and Bridgeport courthouses will be closed to the public except for time-sensitive, essential functions. All jury trials are suspended until further notice.” More “All Civil, Probate, and Family Law matters shall proceed by telephone. CourtCall shall be used unless it is not available. Any Civil, Probate, or Family Law matter that is set for an evidentiary hearing, and/or otherwise cannot be heard by telephone, even with the stipulation of the parties, is hereby continued to a date after May 1. All such matters will be placed on the Law and Motion Calendar May 7 for setting of a new hearing date.” More
MONTEREY (Updated April 20): “The Monterey Superior Court is continuing to expand the number of case types and hearings that can be conducted via remote video and/or phone. Added to the list of hearings that are currently proceeding via remote video or telephonic appearances are some family law matters, restraining orders, dependency, probate hearings, ex parte matters and civil hearings. Starting April 20, the Court will hear misdemeanor arraignments for out of custody defendants at the Salinas Courthouse. Defendants and essential parties to proceedings will be allowed into the Salinas Courthouse. Court offices remain closed to the public. The court continues to process documents and filings electronically.” More “All clerk’s office functions will be closed to the public while the shelter in place order remains in place. Electronic filing of documents may continue to be accepted by the court. No documents should be brought to the courthouse for filing. Access to the Monterey, Marina, Salinas and Juvenile courthouses is restricted to those persons required to appear in person for a court hearing. No other persons will be permitted entry without good cause. No civil hearings are currently being heard. Hearings that were scheduled to be heard between March 18 and through the court closure may be continued between 30 and 60 days from the date of the original hearing. Notices will be mailed to all parties.” More
NAPA (Updated April 9): “The Napa Superior Court will continue its ongoing closure and maintain limited operations through May 1. Most non-time sensitive matters scheduled through May 1 will be continued from 8 to 12 weeks from the current hearing date. The Historic and Juvenile Courthouses will remain closed. Routine matters will not be processed until normal court operations resume or conditions permit staff to report to work.” More “The Court is not currently processing civil filings. All civil cases currently set between April 13 and May 1 for jury or bench trials, trial management conferences and/or mandatory settlement conferences will have their dates vacated. These cases will be continued to a trial-setting conference eight weeks from the currently set TMC. All law and motion matters scheduled between April 13 and May 1 will be continued to a new date eight weeks from the currently set hearing date.” More “Candidly, we may well be looking at 8-12 more weeks [from March 30] of limited operations. However, it is our sincere hope that as we begin to expand our use of remote technology there will be an expansion of Court services.” More
NEVADA (Updated April 13): “Both the Nevada City courthouse and Truckee courthouse will remain open only for restricted business through May 15.Currently scheduled Civil Case Management Conferences and Unopposed Law and Motion Matters will be addressed by tentative rulings without personal appearances. Any matter in which the tentative ruling is contested will be continued to a date set by the Court. All Civil and Criminal Jury Trials through May 15 are VACATED. Counsel and parties for all vacated matters will be notified by the Clerk of dates to appear in the future.” More
ORANGE (Updated April 22): All trials are continued 25 weeks; all law and motion hearings are continued 13 weeks; minors comp petitions will be allowed to be filed as of April 27 and hearings on minors’ comps could begin as early as May 10. Presiding Judge Kirk Nakamura has applied to the Judicial Council for an extension of its previous court closure date which was set to expire on April 24 to after May 25. He expects this will be granted and that courts will reopen after Memorial Day and some aspects may begin to reopen before that, in stages. Once courts reopen, it can be expected that civil judges’ first order of business will be to handle the backlog of criminal cases. (the preceding from a participant in a webinar for Orange County Trial Lawyers Association members on April 22) “The Orange County Superior Court will remain closed to the public until April 24, with minimal exceptions for time-sensitive matters or matters pertaining to the safety and security of the community.” More
PLACER (Updated April 13): “The Superior Court of Placer County continues to remain open. However, effective April 13, the Court will extend its reduction to critical minimum functions through May 8. The Court will continue to focus efforts on matters involving civil liberties, restraining orders, and similar emergency matters. The Court Clerk’s Office remains open at the the Howard G. Gibson Courthouse (Roseville) and the Tahoe City Courthouse. The Court’s Historic Courthouse is closed. The Court Clerk’s Office will only accept filings at the public counter related directly to [emergency matters]. Filings related to other matters should either be submitted to the court via eDelivery [available on the Court’s website] or mailed to the court or placed in the dropboxes at the Howard G. Gibson Courthouse and Tahoe City Courthouse. The court reminds members of the public that they should only come to the courthouse for official court business.” More “The court will continue all hearings in civil cases set between April 13 and May 8 except for Temporary Guardianships, Temporary Conservatorships, Civil Harassment Restraining Orders, Elder Abuse Restraining Orders, petitions regarding firearms, unlawful detainer stays, and other requests for emergency relief, to an available date at least eight weeks from the currently scheduled court date. The court will continue all civil trials set between April 13 and May 8 to an available date at least eight weeks from the current trial date.” More
PLUMAS (Updated March 21): “Effective March 24, the Plumas Superior Court will reduce to essential minimum services. The Court will focus efforts on matters involving civil liberties, restraining orders and other emergency matters. Other matters currently set will not be heard and will be re-noticed by the Court. The Quincy courthouse remains open. However, the court clerk’s office will not be open to the public beginning March 24.” More
RIVERSIDE (Updated April 23): “All unlimited civil jury and court trials currently set are hereby vacated. In any case in which a trial had been set, a trial setting conference is hereby set for the same date, time, and department in which the trial had previously been set. All Mandatory Settlement Conferences currently set are hereby vacated. All currently set hearings for any demurrer and on all pretrial motions are hereby vacated. All other hearings, including but not limited to case management conferences, trial setting conferences, status conferences, post-trial motions and orders to show cause, remain on calendar and will be addressed by a judge’s order in the event the hearing is set before the court fully reopens.” More “The court has suspended all non-essential functions and is hearing only specific limited emergency matters at this time; many court locations are closed through May 1 and have limited public hours. The court continues to accept temporary civil harassment restraining orders, other types of temporary civil restraining orders, requests to renew restraining orders, ex parte applications, and stipulations. Limited civil trials are suspended until May 25. The court has issued a General Order Re: Civil Division Reorganization (pdf ) pertaining to Unlimited and Complex Civil cases. All other civil matters are being continued. Notice of your new hearing will be mailed by the Court. ADR and Mediation Services will be suspended. Court Clerk’s Office staff are only processing civil filings (documents) related to the limited emergency matters being heard by the Court.” More “‘The court has decided to officially take the closures in two-week increments,’ court spokeswoman Marita Ford said.” More
SACRAMENTO (Updated April 21): “All civil courtrooms and civil front counters will remain closed for judicial business, except for the following time-sensitive, essential functions: Civil Harassment Temporary Restraining Orders, including Gun Violence Restraining Orders; Civil Ex Parte Requests for Emergency Relief; Petitions for Compromise of Claims of Minors or Incompetent Persons; Applications for Appointment of Guardian ad litem for a Minor or Incompetent Person to the extent required in support of Petition for Compromise. No filings shall be made in connection with non-essential civil matters and hearings. All non-essential matters, including all related hearings, are continued.” More “The court’s prior temporary closure order, issued March 19, and all subsequent amendments are extended in full force and effect from April 17 to and including May 15. While we will continue to increase court services incrementally, we remain focused on increasing services for only ‘essential matters.” More “The ‘holiday’ period for general civil filings (i.e., filings not in relation to the enumerated essential functions) is extended to May 15. Therefore, general civil filings are not due during this continued “holiday” period pursuant to Civil Procedure Code sections 12 and 12(a). Given that the public health order substantially limits the level of court personnel that may work in court buildings, including for document processing purposes, we continue to request that no general civil filings be submitted to the court while we remain in this ‘holiday’ period. We will provide further notice regarding any amendments/extensions to the ‘holiday’ period for filings as well as any changes to our civil operations. We will be working with members of the civil bar to prepare answers to ‘frequently asked questions’ during this time period. Once we have done so, we will make those questions and answers available on the court’s website for your information.” More All civil mandatory settlement conferences, and their corresponding trial dates, are vacated and the case has been returned to the Trial Setting Program. The voluntary settlement conference program is suspended indefinitely. More
SAN BENITO (Updated April 15): “Effective through June 12, the San Benito Superior Court will reschedule [among other things] Civil Jury and Court Trials, Unlimited Civil Motions and Limited Civil Motions and Trials, except Unlawful Detainers related to Health & Safety.” More Unlimited and limited civil motions, excepting unlawful detainers, set between March 24 and May 4 “are hereby vacated and re-set for the court day six weeks thereafter, at the same time of day. The clerk’s office hours will be closed. Clerk’s office staff will be available by phone until 4 p.m. daily. Parties may deposit documents in the drop box located inside the courthouse entrance.” More
SAN BERNARDINO (Updated April 9): “Effective April 3 through April 30, all Civil and Probate Matters except for same day emergency harassment orders, elder or adult dependent abuse orders, emergency guardianship/conservatorship petitions, and LPS matters will be rescheduled. The Court will continue to hear emergency matters. The current anticipated closure end date is April 30 with reduced hours of operation (8:30 a.m. to noon), with the goal of addressing the highest priority court services while minimizing in-court appearances. The Court will not take non-emergency filings during the closure.” More “From April 3 through April 30, all courtrooms except for limited courtrooms in San Bernardino Justice Center, Victorville, Joshua Tree, San Bernardino Historic and Juvenile Court will be closed for judicial business, except for time-sensitive, essential functions. All other matters are hereby continued by the court. The parties shall receive notice stating the specific time and date of the continuance in their cases.” More
SAN DIEGO (Updated April 4): “From April 6 to April 30, inclusive, all courthouses and courtrooms will be closed to the public, except with regard to time-sensitive, essential functions. All other matters scheduled from April 6 to April 30, inclusive, are continued and will be reset. Notice will be provided to parties.” More “The San Diego Superior Court has suspended the acceptance of paper and e-File documents in the Civil Business Office [except for paper filings related to emergency hearings].” More
SAN FRANCISCO (Updated April 14): “The trial dates for all cases on the civil trial calendar with trial dates from April 16 through June 1 (“applicable cases”) are hereby vacated. The court will set a new trial date for each case which will be 60 days from the vacated trial date. The dates for mandatory settlement conferences in all applicable cases are hereby vacated. When the court resumes normal operations, the court will set new mandatory settlement conferences dates. The hearing dates for all law and motion matters currently calendared in departments 301 and 302 are hereby vacated. When the court resumes normal operations, the Presiding Judge will announce procedures for setting hearing dates for those cases which have been fully briefed. The hearing dates for all law and motion matters currently calendared in the complex litigation departments 304 and 613 are hereby vacated. When the court resumes normal operations, the Complex Department Judge will announce procedures for setting hearing dates for those cases which have been fully briefed.” More “The Court has reduced operations and is only providing necessary and essential services. This is to reduce the number of jurors, parties, and attorneys in the Court for the time period of March 17 through May 1, as advised by public health officials. The Clerk’s Office at all locations will be closed during the period of March 17 through May 1. A drop box is available.” More
SAN JOAQUIN (Updated April 6): “The hearings for all civil Case management conferences, Further case management conferences, and Trial setting conferences from April 1 through May 1 are hereby continued to a new hearing date 8 weeks from the previous hearing date, hearing times shall remain the same. The hearings for all law and motion matters from April 1 through May 1 are hereby continued to a new hearing date which shall be 60 days or more from the previous hearing date. The hearings for all settlement conferences from April 1 through May 1 are hereby continued to a new hearing date which shall be 60 days or more from the previous hearing date.” More “Effective March 19, all San Joaquin Courthouses will be closed to the public for general business except for limited purposes. The Lodi Courthouses are closed.” More
SAN LUIS OBISPO (Updated April 10): “The San Luis Obispo Superior Court civil departments will be closed through May 8. No in-court hearings will be held during this closure period. You will receive notice of your new hearing date via U.S. mail, or email if you have agreed to receive electronic communications from the Court in your case. The Court will continue to accepe electronic filings via e-file and encourages parties and counsel to continue to submit filings electronically.” More “The courthouses in Paso Robles and Grover Beach are closed. Document drop-boxes will not be available. Public access to the San Luis Obispo courthouse is limited to matters on the calendar that day. The document drop-box is available in San Luis Obispo.” More
SAN MATEO (Updated April 6): “Except for those court calendars that are deemed mandated and essential, the court will be closed to the public through May 21. All Law and Motion matters, both hearings and ex partes, complex civil cases and Orders of Examination in civil cases will be continued. The Court is mindful of the fact that many attorneys and litigants involved with civil cases wish that these calendars be reopened. The Court is sympathetic to those attorneys and litigants in civil cases whose cases are not being heard at this time. However, effectively reopening Civil would necessitate the calling in of a large number of court staff to process filings (even electronically filed papers) and staff the courtrooms. More judges, including those sheltering at home, would have to be called back into court. This would significantly increase the risk of spreading the COVID-19 and would arguably be in violation of the County’s Shelter-in-Place Order.” More
SANTA BARBARA (Updated April 21): “The Santa Barbara Superior Court has suspended all non-emergency services effective March 17 – April 23. All civil proceedings will be rescheduled.” More ” All civil court trials set through May 11 will be continued on a rolling basis between 90 – 120 days from the currently scheduled trial date to trial setting conference date. Notice of new trial setting dates will be mailed. All jury trials set through May 26 will be continued on a rolling basis between 90 – 120 days from the currently scheduled trial date to trial setting conference date. Law & Motion: All civil motions scheduled for hearing between March 17 and May 1 will be continued on a rolling basis for 45 days. The Clerk’s Office is not setting dates for law and motion hearings. Please check back once the Clerk’s Office has resumed normal operation. All complex litigation matters currently set between March 17 and May 1 will be continued on a rolling basis for 45 days. The Clerk’s Office will be closed during the period of March 17 through May 1. A drop box is available for filings in the lobby and the court’s e-file system remains available for submissions. Pleadings will be collected in the order they are received and processed once the Clerk’s Office resumes operation.” More
SANTA CLARA (Updated April 10): “The Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara has suspended all non-essential functions until May 1 or until such time as the ‘shelter-in-place’ orders are extended, rescinded, superseded, or amended. Currently, 17 departments and four courthouses continue to hear matters on a limited number of case types. All clerk’s office functions will be closed to the public while the order remains in place.” More “All civil court trials set through May 11 will be continued on a rolling basis between 90 – 120 days from the currently scheduled trial date to trial setting conference date. Notice of new trial setting dates will be mailed. All civil jury trials set through May 26 will be continued on a rolling basis between 90 – 120 days from the currently scheduled trial date to trial setting conference date. All civil motions scheduled for hearing between March 17 and May 1 will be continued on a rolling basis for 45 days. The Clerk’s Office is not setting dates for law and motion hearings. All complex litigation matters currently set between March 17 and May 1 will be continued on a rolling basis for 45 days. A drop box is available for filings in the lobby and the court’s e-file system remains available for submissions. Pleadings will be collected in the order they are received and processed once the Clerk’s Office resumes operation.” More “Access to all courthouses is restricted to those persons required to appear in person for a court hearing. No other persons will be permitted entry without good cause.” More
SANTA CRUZ (Updated April 10): “All Civil trials set through June 30 will be continued. Effective April 8 the court is continuing most civil and probate matters set through May 8. Notice of the new court dates will be mailed to the parties. Please note that most civil and probate filings are not being processed at this time. The clerk’s office is only processing emergency and time sensitive matters. No paperwork will be accepted in the courtroom. All paperwork must be efiled in advance. All mediations set for April, May and June are cancelled. The clerk’s office is open 8:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Monday-Friday. Phones are answered from 8:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.” More
SHASTA (Updated April 13): “Through May 4, civil matters heard in Departments 3 and 8 will be heard only on an emergency/urgent basis. Clerk’s Offices are closed. You may contact the offices by phone or email. Drop boxes for documents to be delivered to the clerk’s offices are provided in the public lobby.” More
SIERRA (Updated April 6): “The court will remain closed through May 2 except for critical emergency matters. The courthouse is currently closed to the public. There is no projected date when the courthouse will reopen to the public. The court will not be conducting any trials or hearings during the closed period. The trials and hearings currently set to occur during the closed period will be rescheduled by the court to a date after May 2, and notice of the rescheduled date will be mailed to counsel or the self-represented party. All regular court calendars and currently scheduled court dates through May 2 will be rescheduled by the court. Notice of the rescheduled date will be mailed to counsel or the self-represented party. The Court Clerk’s Office will remain closed to the public until further notice. Court staff will be available by phone. Filings will be accepted by mail or email.” More
SISKIYOU (Updated April 14): “The Court currently plans to resume regular court operations on June 1. The Court anticipates continuing all cases set beginning April 20 through May 29 unless there is a critical issue requiring a case be heard as currently set. Counsel and/or parties in all civil and probate law and motion matters with cases that are not continued by the Court should plan to attend via Court Call. All civil jury trials scheduled to commence beginning April 20 through May 29 are vacated. Cases in which trials are vacated will be put on calendar for resetting, with parties notified by the Court of the date. Beginning April 20 through May 29, the Court will be closed on Thursdays and Fridays. A judge will be available in the courthouse on Thursdays to handle emergency requests. Judges will be available telephonically on Fridays to handle emergency requests consistent with the existing after-hours duty schedule.” More
SOLANO (Updated April 7): “Effective March 20, the court reduced operations. These orders are extended to May 1. Limited operations are restricted to processing and hearing essential matters that are required to comply with an individual’s constitutional rights, to address exigent requests for emergency relief and/or to protect the health and safety of the public. Filings in Fairfield and Vallejo courthouses will be accepted via the drop-box. The clerk’s office will not be open for in-person processing. With the exception of emergency matters, civil matters scheduled between March 20 and May 1 will be postponed. The court will provide notice of the continued hearing date or case management orders.” More “Notice of a continued hearing date may not be issued until the conclusion of emergency operations. During the period of emergency operations, the clerk’s office will not schedule any civil matter including law and motion, unless directed to do so by the assigned judicial officer or Supervising Judge.” More
SONOMA (Updated April 17): “Essential functions of the Superior Court at this time are limited to proceedings that are required to comply with defendants’ constitutional rights, protect the health and safety of parties and address jail population concerns. Unless the Sonoma County Health Officer’s shelter in place order is extended, it is anticipated that all courthouse locations will resume normal business operations on May 4. Until May 4, the court is not open to the general public at any of the court locations, and only required persons are allowed access to the courthouses. As of April 15, the respective clerks’ offices are filing documents — however the offices remain closed to the public until May 4. The Civil Division continues to hear emergency ex parte application every day. Matters that are submitted and not deemed an emergency are returned to the requesting party. On April 15, the Civil Division will begin the process of resetting all matters, including trial settings, that were calendared between March 16 and May 3 in Departments 16, 17, and 19. Note that Department 18 has issued orders that have reset matters that were on calendar between March 16 and May 3.” More
STANISLAUS (Updated April 22): “The Stanislaus County Superior Court has suspended all non-emergency services which includes most filings. Customers with emergency filings will be contacted by phone when their documents are ready for pick up. If no phone number is provided, documents will be mailed to the address provided. All other filings will be handled when time permits and documents will be mailed out if an address is provided. If no address is provided, filers that provide a phone number will be contacted once the court reopens for business.” More
SUTTER (Updated April 14): “The Sutter County Superior Court will remain open for restricted business through May 8. Civil case management dates currently scheduled between March 20 and May 8 are vacated. The parties will be notified by the Court of new case management dates.” More
TEHEMA (Updated April 2): “The Court will remain closed to the public until May 4, with limited exceptions. To reduce the number of individuals in the courthouse, entrance shall be limited to those individuals conducting legitimate business. A drop box for all filing types is available outside of the main entrance of the courthouse in Red Bluff. Filings can also be submitted by mail. For general questions, you may contact the Court Clerk’s Office by telephone between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.” More
TRINITY (Updated April 20): “The Trinity Superior Court is currently OPEN.” “The Court asks that your personal appearance to the courthouse be solely for critical and necessary reasons.” More
TULARE (Updated April 17): “The Tulare County Superior Court is substantially closed to the public from March 23 through May 12. Most court hearings will not be held in Tulare County during the closure period. All hearings will be postponed and you will receive written notification of your new court date. Most hearings will be set out between 30 and 60 days from your current date. During this emergency, the Court and clerk’s office strongly discourage bringing paper filing documents to the court, and would direct persons to e-file documents (initial filings). The office will also be operating with greatly reduced staff; so we ask that you wait to file until after May 12, if possible.” More
TUOLUMNE (Updated April 17): “The Tuolumne County Superior Court has decided to reduce court operations to mostly essential functions/matters starting with the target date of April 20 and ending May 15. We are planning to reduce our calendars to only two courtrooms running Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. On Wednesday the plan is to run one courtroom. Those courtrooms are going to hear “essential matters,” such as in-custody no time-waiver matters, requests for protective orders, requests for emergency injunctive relief, and warrants. Our judges may also select certain non-essential matters to be heard. Otherwise, all other calendared cases will be continued. However, for the first day of our reduction, April 20, most cases that are on calendar will be heard. Regarding non-essential cases mentioned above, our judges will have the discretion to continue to hear a limited number of non-essential cases already on calendar between April 20 and May 15 that they believe can be heard expeditiously. If your case is one that the judges have decided to keep on calendar, if you have provided an email to the court, the court will advise you by email that your case is still on calendar in advance of your current court date. The number of already calendared cases that will be kept on calendar will be kept to a minimum. The court will also be reducing the hours that our public counter is available to accept filings. Starting April 20, the remaining public counter located at the courthouse location on 60 N. Washington St. will reduce its hours to 8 AM to 1:00 PM, Monday through Friday. The civil division public counter located at the old courthouse at 41 W. Yaney Ave. was closed on March 19 and will remain closed until further notice. Persons needing to do civil filings can use the civil division drop box located at the old courthouse lobby or can go to the public counter located at 60 N. Washington St.” More
VENTURA (Updated April 16): “The Ventura Superior Court continues with limited operations that started March 19th and now goes through May 12. During this period, the majority of courtrooms and all clerk’s offices at all court locations remain closed to the public. A small number of courtrooms continue operating to hear urgent criminal, juvenile, temporary restraining order issues and emergency ex parte Family Law, Civil and Probate matters only. All civil trials and non-emergency hearings have been suspended for 90 days since March 20. All of these matters will be continued to a new date and notices will be mailed out.” More
YOLO (Updated March 30): “The Court will remain open with reduced calendars until further notice. The public windows will be closed to the public, except for emergency cases. All civil/family law hearings will be continued and you will receive notice in the mail of a new date.” More “Any person allowed or required to appear in civil matters shall appear in Court only by remote means (telephone or video), unless physical appearance has been specifically allowed by a judicial officer of the Yolo Superior Court. Judicial officers may appear in Court by remote means.” More
YUBA (Updated April 9): “Superior Court of California, County of Yuba has suspended all non-essential functions through April 30.” More “The dates currently scheduled on the civil case management calendar between March 20 and April 30 are vacated.” More
