Cal. Rules of Court, rule 10.953 · Chapter 13. Trial Court Management of Criminal Cases
Procedures for disposition of cases before the preliminary hearing
Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
(a) Disposition before preliminary hearing
Superior courts having more than three judges must, in cooperation with the district attorney and defense bar, adopt procedures to facilitate dispositions before the preliminary hearing and at all other stages of the proceedings. The procedures may include:
(1) Early, voluntary, informal discovery, consistent with part 2, title 6, chapter 10 of the Penal Code (commencing with section 1054); and
(2) The use of superior court judges as magistrates to conduct readiness conferences before the preliminary hearing and to assist, where not inconsistent with law, in the early disposition of cases.
(b) Case to be disposed of under rule 4.114
Pleas of guilty or no contest resulting from proceedings under (a) must be disposed of as provided in rule 4.114.
Chapter 14 adopted effective July 1, 2008.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
History
(Subd (a) amended effective January 1, 2007; previously amended effective June 6, 1990, and January 1, 1991.)
(Subd (b) amended effective January 1, 2007; previously amended effective July 1, 2001.)
Rule 10.953 amended and renumbered effective January 1, 2007; adopted as rule 227.10 effective January 1, 1985; previously amended effective June 6, 1990, January 1, 1991, and July 1, 2001.
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_953
- Text hash
- sha256 aac6b922943ce68a9e5b75e5205933fdcd45c69affa15e0b9d7e718c850b9e46
- 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
- The Judicial Council's PDF of Title 10 (last modified June 1, 2026) prints this rule differently: the PDF also prints “Management of Self-Help Centers Chapter 14”. The rule page's text is shown.
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.
California Rules of Court
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.