2024 California Rules of Court
Rule 10.613. Local court rules-adopting, filing, distributing, and maintaining
(a) Definitions
As used in this rule:
(1) "Court" means a trial court; and
(2) "Local rule" means every rule, regulation, order, policy, form, or standard of general application adopted by a court to govern practice or procedure in that court or by a judge of the court to govern practice or procedure in that judge's courtroom.
(Subd (a) amended and relettered effective July 1, 1999; adopted as subd (b) and repealed effective July 1, 1991.)
(b) Local inspection and copying of rules
Each court must make its local rules available for inspection and copying in every location of the court that generally accepts filing of papers. The court may impose a reasonable charge for copying the rules and may impose a reasonable page limit on copying. The rules must be accompanied by a notice indicating where a full set of the rules may be purchased or otherwise obtained.
(Subd (b) amended effective January 1, 2003; adopted as subd (c); previously relettered effective July 1, 1999.)
(c) Publication of rules
(1) Each court executive officer must be the official publisher of the court's local rules unless the court, by a majority vote of the judges, appoints another public agency or a private company.
(2) The official publisher must have the local rules reproduced and make copies available for distribution to attorneys and litigants.
(3) The court must adopt rules in sufficient time to permit reproduction of the rules by the official publisher before the effective date of the changes.
(4) The official publisher may charge a reasonable fee.
(5) Within 30 days of selecting an official publisher or changing an official publisher, each court must notify the Judicial Council of the name, address, and telephone number of the official publisher. Within 30 days of a change in the cost of the rules, each court must notify the Judicial Council of the charge for the local rules. This information will be published annually by the Judicial Council.
(Subd (c) amended effective January 1, 2003; adopted as subd (d); amended and relettered effective July 1, 1999.)
(d) Filing rules with the Judicial Council
(1) Forty-five days before the effective date of January 1 or July 1, each court must file with the Judicial Council an electronic copy of rules and amendments to rules adopted by the court in a format authorized by the Judicial Council.
(2) The filing must be accompanied by a certificate from the presiding judge or court executive officer stating that:
(A) The court has complied with the applicable provisions of this rule;
(B) The court does or does not post local rules on the court's Web site; and
(C) The court does or does not provide assistance to members of the public in accessing the Internet or the court has delegated to and obtained the written consent of the county law librarian to provide public assistance under (e).
(3) Rules that do not comply with this rule will not be accepted for filing by the Judicial Council.
(Subd (d) amended effective January 1, 2009; adopted as subd (e); amended and relettered effective July 1, 1999; previously amended effective January 1, 2003, and January 1, 2007.)
(e) Deposit and maintenance of rules statewide for public inspection
(1) The Judicial Council must publish a list of courts that have filed rules and amendments to rules with the Judicial Council. The Judicial Council must deposit a paper copy of each rule and amendment in the office of the executive officer of each superior court that does not provide assistance to members of the public in accessing the Internet or has not obtained agreement from the county law librarian to provide assistance under this subdivision.
(2) The executive officer must make a complete current set of local rules and amendments available for public examination either in paper copy or through the Internet with public assistance. In a county maintaining an organized county law library, if the executive officer is satisfied that the rules and amendments will be maintained as required by this paragraph, the executive officer, with the approval of the superior court and the written consent of the county law librarian, may delegate the authority to the county law librarian to either receive and maintain paper copies of the rules and amendments, or make the rules and amendments available through the Internet with assistance to members of the public.
(3) On or before January 1 of each year, the executive officer of each court must notify the Judicial Council of the street address and room number of the place where the rules are maintained under this subdivision.
(Subd (e) amended effective January 1, 2007; adopted as subd (f); amended and relettered effective July 1, 1999; previously amended effective January 1, 2003.)
(f) Format of rules
(1) Paper and electronic copies
Paper copies may be typewritten or printed or produced by other process of duplication at the option of the court. Electronic rules must be prepared in a format authorized by the Judicial Council. All copies must be clear and legible.
(2) Format of paper copies
Paper copies must conform, as far as is practicable, to the requirements of chapter 1 of division 2 of title 2, except that both sides of the paper may be used, lines need not be numbered and may be single spaced, and the pages must not be permanently bound across the top but may be bound at the left side. ("Permanently bound" does not include binding with staples.) The left margin on the front and the right margin on the reverse must be at least one inch. The name of the court must be at the top of each page. The effective date of each rule and amended rule must be stated in parentheses following the text of the rule.
(3) New pages and filing instructions
New pages must be issued for added, repealed, or amended rules, with a list of currently effective rules and the date of adoption or of the latest amendment to each rule. Filing instructions must accompany each set of replacement pages.
(4) Table of contents
The rules must have a table of contents. The rules must list all local forms and indicate whether their use is mandatory or optional. If the total length of the court rules exceeds five pages, the rules must have an alphabetical subject matter index at the end of the rules. All courts must use any subject matter index the Judicial Council may have specified.
(Subd (f) amended effective January 1, 2007; adopted as subd (g); amended and relettered effective July 1, 1999; previously amended effective January 1, 2003.)
(g) Comment period for proposed rules
(1) Timing
Except for rules specifying the time of hearing and similar calendaring matters, the court must distribute each proposed rule for comment at least 45 days before it is adopted.
(2) Organizations
A proposed rule must be distributed for comment to the following organizations in each county located within a 100-mile radius of the county seat of the county in which the court is located:
(A) Civil rules to the county bar association in each county, the nearest office of the State Attorney General, and the county counsel in each county;
(B) Criminal rules to the county bar association in each county, the nearest office of the State Attorney General, the district attorney in each county, and the public defender in each county; and
(C) On request, any bar organization, newspaper, or other interested party.
(3) Methods
A court may distribute a proposed rule for comment by either of the following methods:
(A) Distributing a copy of the proposal to every organization listed in (g)(2); or
(B) Posting the proposal on the court's Web site and distributing to every organization listed in (g)(2) a notice that the proposed rule has been posted for comment and that a hard copy of the proposal is available on request.
(Subd (g) amended effective January 1, 2007; adopted as subd (h); relettered effective July 1, 1999; previously amended effective January 1, 2003.)
(h) Periodic review
Each court must periodically review its local rules and repeal rules that have become outdated, unnecessary, or inconsistent with statewide rules or statutes.
Subd (h) amended effective January 1, 2007; adopted as subd (g); relettered effective July 1, 1999; previously amended effective January 1, 2003.)
(i) Alternative effective date
A court may adopt a rule to take effect on a date other than as provided by Government Code section 68071 if:
(1) The presiding judge submits to the Judicial Council the proposed rule and a statement of reasons constituting good cause for making the rule effective on the stated date;
(2) The Chair of the Judicial Council authorizes the rule to take effect on the date proposed; and
(3) The rule is made available for inspection as provided in (b) on or before the effective date.
(Subd (i) amended effective January 1, 2007; adopted as subd (j) effective January 1, 1993; relettered effective July 1, 1999; previously amended effective July 1, 2001.)
(j) Limitation
Except for (i), this rule does not apply to local rules that relate only to the internal management of the court.
(Subd (j) amended effective January 1, 2007; adopted effective July 1, 1999; previously amended effective July 1, 2001.)
Rule 10.613 amended effective January 1, 2009; adopted as rule 981 effective July 1, 1991; previously amended effective January 1, 1993, July 1, 1999, July 1, 2001, and January 1, 2003; previously amended and renumbered effective January 1, 2007.