Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.904 · Chapter 1. Reference by Agreement of the Parties Under Code of Civil Procedure Section 638
Certification and disclosure by referee
Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
(a) Certification by referee
Before a referee begins to serve:
(1) The referee must certify in writing that he or she consents to serve as provided in the order of appointment and is aware of and will comply with applicable provisions of canon 6 of the Code of Judicial Ethics and with the California Rules of Court; and
(2) The referee's certification must be filed with the court.
(b) Disclosure by referee
In addition to any other disclosure required by law, no later than five days before the deadline for parties to file a motion for disqualification of the referee under Code of Civil Procedure section 170.6 or, if the referee is not aware of his or her appointment or of a matter subject to disclosure at that time, as soon as practicable thereafter, a referee must disclose to the parties:
(1) Any matter subject to disclosure under either canon 6D(5)(a) or 6D(5)(b) of the Code of Judicial Ethics; and
(2) Any significant personal or professional relationship the referee has or has had with a party, attorney, or law firm in the current case, including the number and nature of any other proceedings in the past 24 months in which the referee has been privately compensated by a party, attorney, law firm, or insurance company in the current case for any services. The disclosure must include privately compensated service as an attorney, expert witness, or consultant or as a judge, referee, arbitrator, mediator, settlement facilitator, or other alternative dispute resolution neutral.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
History
Rule 3.904 adopted effective January 1, 2007.
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/three/rule3_904
- Text hash
- sha256 fa85e524cd6f62dcfc3175b54c03a8ec60c0b2f282597b856cec134ed6805060
- 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.
Code of Civil Procedure
Cited by 3 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.904. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
California Rules of Court
- Cal. Rules of Court, rule 2.400Court recordsPrinted as rule 2.831(b), 3.904(a), or 3.924(a)
- Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.901Application for order appointing refereePrinted as rule 3.904(a)
- Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.931Open proceedings, notice of proceedings, and order for hearing sitePrinted as rule 3.904(a) or 3.924(a)
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.