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Santa Clara County, CA
Every published instrument scoped to Santa Clara County, newest effective date first. 0 circuit-wide and 13 statewide instruments also apply here — search all three layers together. Procedural information only; not legal advice.
Showing 1–42 of 42
Guidelines and protocols of the court's Complex Civil Litigation Departments: contact information, courtroom demeanor, general matters, ex parte applications, discovery and informal discovery conferences, law and motion and tentative rulings, case management conferences and orders, mandatory settlement conferences, mini-trials, pre-trial conferences, trials and trial exhibits; the plaintiff must serve the guidelines with the summons and complaint.
Rescinds the court's General Order of November 14, 2024 on operating electronic recording equipment for specified proceedings involving fundamental liberty interests when no court reporter is available; the court will follow Family Violence Appellate Project v. Superior Court of Contra Costa County (S288176), issued August 10, 2026.
The court's Appellate Rules (effective July 1, 2026; rules 1–3): applicability, rules for the Appellate Division, and rules in the superior court for appeals to the Court of Appeal.
The court's Civil Rules (effective July 1, 2026; rules 1–20): the differential civil case management system, alternative dispute resolution and the judges' ADR and civil early settlement conference programs, remote proceedings, format of documents, ex parte applications, pretrial motions, trial calendar and assignment and mandatory settlement conferences, non-CEQA writ petitions, sanctions, unlawful detainers, the schedule of reasonable attorney's fees, payment-of-money orders, interpreters, small claims, and court communication regarding restraining orders.
The court's Criminal Rules (effective July 1, 2026; rules 1–18): general provisions, appearances, courthouses and calendars, pleadings and filing, use of juvenile records, interpreters, calendar setting, proposed orders, writs, sound recordings, traffic trial by declaration, ancillary defense expenses, sealing of records, Proposition 47 requests and property bonds.
The court's Family Rules (effective July 1, 2026; rules 1–9): general information, custody and visitation, child, spousal and partner support, attorney's fees and costs, law and motion, case status conferences, settlement and trial, the family law facilitator, default or uncontested judgments, and counsel for minor children.
The court's General Court and Administration Rules (effective July 1, 2026; rules 1–11): juror lists for trials away from the county seat, recording devices in courthouse facilities, access, fairness and prevention of bias, temporary judges and settlement attorneys, food in court, electronic filing, privately retained court reporters, court security video recordings, remote proceedings, artificial intelligence (including disclosure of AI-produced ex parte material), and applications by vexatious litigants to file new litigation.
The court's Juvenile Rules (effective July 1, 2026; rules 1–4): general provisions of the juvenile court, rules for juvenile dependency proceedings, rules for juvenile justice proceedings, and the relationships among the divisions of the superior court.
The court's Probate Rules (effective July 1, 2026; rules 1–20): administration and general policies, pretrial motions and ex parte proceedings, ADR, appointment of executors and administrators, bonds, independent administration, sales, petitions for instructions, accounts, fees and distribution, spousal property petitions, conservatorships, guardianships, guardians ad litem and compromises, referees, emancipation, trusts, LPS accounts, quarantine habeas petitions, attorney fee disputes and privately retained court reporters.
No civil assessment is imposed in criminal cases where payments became delinquent between January 1 and May 31, 2026 (any imposed are commuted) or in traffic cases unadjudicated on June 15, 2026; from June 1, 2026 the imposition of civil assessments in criminal and traffic matters is suspended until further order.
The court's policy for privately retained court reporters in any courtroom without an official reporter: the case types in which the court endeavors to provide reporters, arranging and paying for a private reporter, appointment as official reporter pro tempore (form CV-5100), and the reporter's obligations.
No photographs, video or audio recordings may be taken in any courtroom, courthouse facility or courthouse entrance or exit, or of court proceedings over any audio or video platform, without a court order (except copying court records under Government Code section 68150); violations may be referred for prosecution (Penal Code § 632). Supersedes every prior order on recording devices in courthouse facilities.
Unless a judicial officer directs otherwise, custody matters set on Department 72's Thursday 11:00 a.m. calendar may be conducted remotely without prior court approval, on the Uniform Digital Courtroom (UDC) platform.
The Family Division's procedures for long cause hearings and trials: meet-and-confer duties, time estimates, in-person appearance, pre-trial submissions (trial briefs, exhibit and witness lists), exhibits, witnesses and experts, and trial conduct.
The complex departments' guidelines for preliminary and final approval of class action settlements: noticed motions under rule 3.769, claims-made settlements, class counsel's qualifications, reasonableness of the amount, tax allocation, releases, settlement administration, notice procedure and content, claim and exclusion forms, incentive awards, attorneys' fees, the proposed order, cy pres, court contact language for notices, and final approval.
Because traffic calendars moved to the Family Justice Center and South County courthouses when the Santa Clara traffic courthouse closed, the court waives for good cause the limitation of California Rules of Court, rule 2.818(b)(1) for temporary judges in all traffic matters.
Expressive activity at the court's courthouses and in remote proceedings: definitions (expressive activity, walkway, curtilage); prohibitions inside courthouses, on exterior court property and walkways, against obstructing or approaching people entering or waiting in line, in or near courthouses and in remote proceedings, and against amplification; exclusions; delegation; courtroom; compliance with law enforcement; posting and service; violations and penalties.
The Juvenile Justice Court's protocol implementing Welfare and Institutions Code section 709 as amended by AB 1214 (it supersedes all prior protocols): a process overview and flowchart; informal resolution; the legal standard for juvenile competence; expression of doubt and suspension of proceedings; appointment of evaluators from the Juvenile Competency Panel and separately retained experts; the method of evaluation and the report; the readiness hearing and the juvenile competency hearing (timing, judicial officer, burden of proof, capacity, trial procedure, findings, re-hearings); the competency planning hearing; placement; remediation review hearings every 30 days in custody and 45 days out; the 6- and 12-month remediation hearings; secure confinement up to 18 months; developmentally disabled minors; the minor's statements in later proceedings; and Appendix 1, a checklist for evaluators.
The Santa Clara County Bar Association's Code of Professionalism (1992, revised 2015 and 2022) serves as a guide to the court's judges when adjudicating disputes among attorneys; the order is appended to the Local Rules.
Under Welfare and Institutions Code section 208.5 as re-enacted by Senate Bill 823, a person under 25 whose case originated in juvenile court remains in a juvenile facility unless the person is 19 or older and the juvenile court, considering the section 208.5(c)(1)–(5) factors, orders adult housing — including youth transferred to criminal court, until sentenced; juvenile-court warrants mean the person is taken to Juvenile Hall unless 25 or older, absent an arrest not originating in juvenile court; a person released on an adult matter and held only on a juvenile matter is housed in Juvenile Hall; and the Sheriff's Office works with the Juvenile Probation Department on immediate return.
Defense counsel for a youthful offender parole–eligible defendant, or for an eligible inmate serving a sentence for a Santa Clara County conviction, may inspect, copy and use documents from the client's juvenile case file to prepare a Franklin mitigation packet without separately filing a Welfare and Institutions Code section 827 petition; counsel must redact identifying information of victims, siblings and co-participants who were under 18, may share the redacted documents with participating experts (who return them), must destroy the documents after the hearing, and may use the information for no other purpose.
On a party's request or the court's motion, a civil case may be sent to an early mandatory settlement conference before trial, conducted by experienced settlement attorneys (California Rules of Court, rule 2.812); the parties choose a settlement attorney from the court's list within 10 days and file a five-page statement five court days before the conference; the pre-trial MSC under Local Civil Rule 9 still proceeds.
Where the court's courtesy notices misstate the bail amount (fees due) on a traffic citation, effective March 12, 2019 the court accepts a lower stated amount as payment in full and collects only the actual amount due where the notice states more.
An order to seal made on form JV-590, JV-596 or JV-755 under Welfare and Institutions Code section 781, 786 or 793(c) after January 1, 2015 that directs the Department of Family and Children's Services to seal its records reaches the juvenile justice documents DFCS obtained through joint case work under the Dually-Involved Protocol; and under a JV-596 order DFCS may access a sealed record only to determine an appropriate court-ordered placement or service, sharing it only with the court and the parties (section 786(g)(1)(H)).
The Office of the County Counsel — attorneys, paralegals and investigators defending the County or its employees against litigation, claims or potential claims stemming from a dependency action — may inspect and copy the juvenile case file without filing a JV-570 petition; documents the court releases on a JV-570 petition relating to such a civil suit are also released to the Lead Deputy County Counsel; section 827(a)(4) privacy protection is unchanged and no party may further disseminate released documents without court approval.
From January 3, 2017, truancy matters are handled informally by the District Attorney's Office and/or the school site; non-traffic infractions and misdemeanors (except driving-under-the-influence cases, which the Juvenile Court judge handles) go to the Juvenile Probation Department's Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) Unit for informal handling; all traffic infractions are heard in the Adult Traffic Court; and the Informal Juvenile Traffic Court and its hearing officers are discontinued.
In juvenile justice cases, after a judicial officer signs a form JV-590 Order to Seal Juvenile Records, the Clerk's Office may amend the order on its face to add agencies inadvertently omitted, without a further signature or initials, and notifies every agency listed on the order.
Individuals with current or closed child welfare cases may use relevant documents from their juvenile court or child welfare case files to apply for DAPA or DACA relief, requesting copies under the local juvenile rule, and may request from the Department a letter stating the period in which they received child welfare services, which will not reference any juvenile court proceeding or case details.
Notwithstanding Welfare and Institutions Code section 827 or any related rule, a minor may share a psychological evaluation prepared by health care professionals while the minor was under the Juvenile Justice Court's jurisdiction with the minor's private, school-based, probation-referred or other health care provider, without a petition for disclosure.
No statement, admission or confession made by, or incriminating information obtained from, a youth participating in a Youth & Family Team Meeting (convened for dually involved youth, or youth at risk of becoming dually involved) may be admitted as substantive or impeachment evidence in any current or future juvenile justice or adult court adjudication proceeding (In re Wayne H. (1979) 24 Cal.3d 595).
Under California Constitution article I, section 28 (Marsy's Law), all monetary payments, monies and property collected in any criminal or juvenile justice case from a person ordered to pay restitution to a victim are applied first to the restitution ordered.
Licensed providers may give children in out-of-home placement supervised by Probation or DFCS the listed ordinary medical, mental health and dental services, and probation officers and social workers may sign the consent forms; immunizations require a reasonable attempt at parental consent and registry and pediatrician checks, none may be given over a parent's objection without a court order, and without a reachable parent only after seven days in custody; surgery, transfusions, general anesthesia, psychotropic or experimental medication, forensic psychological evaluations and any unlisted treatment need legal consent or a court order.
Wards and dependents of the juvenile court have the listed rights to reproductive health information, family planning services, pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease care, and privacy — court reports may not refer to protected reproductive health choices without the youth's consent; a social worker or probation officer who believes a specific court order is needed without the youth's consent must seek it by confidential application, with notice to the youth's attorney and a certification that the youth was given the chance to consult counsel.
No eleven- or twelve-year-old may be housed in Juvenile Hall unless accused of a Welfare and Institutions Code section 707(b) offense or approved by a Superior Court judge, and no minor ten or younger without a judge's approval; Probation seeks approval first from the Supervising Judge of the Juvenile Justice Court, then another juvenile justice judge, then a dependency judge; wards under section 602 are exempt. The order replaces the standing orders of October 27, 1986 and April 27, 2009.
DFCS may give counsel for a child in a delinquency proceeding relevant documents (investigation notes and reports, progress notes, summaries, prior placements, medical and psychological evaluations, court reports); such counsel must be given access to, and may copy, the child's dependency records held by the Juvenile Court Clerk — except confidential birth-family information of an adopted child, which needs a court order — and may disseminate the records only as Welfare and Institutions Code section 827 and the Rules of Court allow.
De facto parents are entitled to receive only the reports and materials from the legal file that the court designates; they keep them through the dependency proceedings or until further order, and may use them only in the dependency proceedings, without further dissemination.
No minor placed in Juvenile Hall by the court may be given “O.T.'s” from Juvenile Hall without the court's express approval, except for required medical treatment. The order does not define the abbreviation.
A defendant who receives notice of an arrest warrant may, through counsel, calendar an out-of-custody “Arraignment on Arrest Warrant” in Department 23 (2nd and 4th Mondays, 1:46 p.m.; request filed two court days ahead; 10 matters per calendar); counsel's notice to the Sheriff, District Attorney and Pretrial Services; informal booking at the Main Jail; proof of booking; appearance, failure to appear, warrant deactivation and booking updates.
The complex departments' guidelines for class certification motions: sequencing of certification and merits discovery (including double-staging), contents of the papers, trial management plans, and the factors to discuss in class certification briefing.
Judge Panteha E. Saban's orders regarding courtroom and trial conduct (general conduct, pre-trial matters, jury selection, exhibits and presentation of evidence) and her civil trial procedures for Department 3 (pre-trial conference and submissions, court reporters, motions in limine, jury instructions, statement of the case and voir dire, witnesses, exhibits, closing argument, jury deliberations and after trial), with the department's jury panel questionnaire.
Judge Frederick S. Chung's civil trial procedures for Department 5 (Downtown Superior Court): trial hours, the pretrial conference and required submissions, court reporters, motions in limine, jury instructions, jury selection and a neutral statement of the case, witnesses, exhibits, closing argument, jury deliberations and after trial, with the department's jury panel questionnaire.
The Santa Clara County protocol for youth involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, which Local Juvenile Rule 4(E)(1) directs the Juvenile Dependency and Juvenile Justice Courts to follow: terminology; the District Attorney's consideration of child welfare involvement before filing a section 602 petition; communication before the section 241.1 assessment, including commercially sexually exploited youth; custody considerations; the court process; application of the protocol (youth already dependents, section 602 youth at risk of abuse or neglect, transition jurisdiction, wards pending dismissal, youth who are parents); the Dually-Involved Youth Unit and its joint assessment, CFT meetings and dispute resolution; the section 241.1 recommendations, with the lead agency and lead court and each court's responsibilities; non-minor dependents under adult probation; out-of-county cases; information sharing; information keeping and record sealing; data; and youth pending competency.