Cal. Rules of Court, rule 10.821 · Chapter 9. Trial Court Budget and Fiscal Management
Acceptance of checks and other negotiable paper
Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
(a) Conditions for acceptance
A personal check, bank cashier's check, money order, or traveler's check tendered in payment of any fee, fine, or bail deposit under Government Code section 71386 or Vehicle Code section 40510 or 40521 must be accepted by the court:
(1) If the personal check is drawn on a banking institution located in California by a person furnishing satisfactory proof of residence in California, is payable to the court without a second party endorsement, and is in an amount not exceeding the amount of the payment and is not postdated or staledated, unless the person drawing the check is known to have previously tendered worthless checks; or
(2) If the bank cashier's check or money order is drawn on a banking institution located in the United States and is in an amount not exceeding the amount of the payment; or
(3) If the person presenting the traveler's check shows satisfactory identification.
(b) Requiring satisfactory proof of good credit
Except for checks tendered under the conditions specified in Vehicle Code section 40521(a), a court may require that a person drawing a personal check furnish satisfactory proof of good credit by showing a valid recognized credit card or by any other reasonable means.
(c) Written policy for acceptance or rejection
A court may accept or reject any check or money order not meeting the requirements of this rule, under a written policy adopted by the court under Government Code section 71386(a).
Notes and commentary — not rule text
History
(Subd (a) amended effective January 1, 2007.)
(Subd (b) amended effective January 1, 2007.)
(Subd (c) amended effective January 1, 2007.)
Rule 10.821 amended and renumbered effective January 1, 2007; adopted as rule 805 effective July 1, 1981.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
- Official file
- https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/ten/rule10_821
- Text hash
- sha256 0f81d28a5455c2e1cb447007db95d9ed203f41bb11324ce71ce42f0f9a6236ef
- Composed by
- compose_crc.py 2026-10-22: the Judicial Council's rule pages read paragraph by paragraph; verify_crc.py's second reading of the Council's per-title PDFs finds every paragraph
This rule cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.