Cal. Rules of Court, rule 7.2230 · Article 2. Beginning of Proceedings
Counsel for respondent (§§ 5976(c), 5977(a)(3)(A), (a)(5)(C) & (b)(1))
Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
(a) Appointment
If the court finds that the petitioner has made a prima facie showing that the respondent is or may be a person described by section 5972, the court must:
(1) Appoint a qualified legal services project as counsel to represent the respondent; or
(2) If no qualified legal services project has agreed to accept CARE Act appointments from the court, appoint a public defender or an attorney acting in that capacity to represent the respondent.
(b) Copy of petition
On appointment, the court must provide to counsel a copy of the petition.
(c) Substitution (§ 5977(b)(1))
(1) The court may relieve appointed counsel:
(A) At the request of counsel or the respondent, on substitution of the respondent's own chosen counsel or appointment of substitute counsel; or
(B) For cause, on appointment of substitute counsel.
(2) The respondent must make arrangements for the compensation, if any, of chosen counsel.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
History
(Subd (a) amended effective September 1, 2024.)
(Subd (b) amended effective July 1, 2026.)
Rule 7.2230 amended effective July 1, 2026; adopted September 1, 2023: previously amended effective September 1, 2024.
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/seven/rule7_2230
- Text hash
- sha256 c78026517de664a4df1e01049f4c91a77d81e4dd130a2f511148204004e3a2f2
- 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 7 (last modified April 8, 2026) prints this rule differently: this page prints “to counsel”, which the PDF does not; the PDF also prints “packet to appointed counsel”. The rule page's text is shown.
BenchPath cards that rely on this text
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.