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Effective May 1, 2025, search warrant applications and search warrant returns must be submitted electronically through the court's eSW Portal, and judges and court personnel no longer accept them at any courthouse: magistrates review submissions at all hours; peace officers flag exigent circumstances in the portal; sealing is requested at submission; electronic signatures comply with California Rules of Court, rule 2.257; and in a technical failure officers may seek in-person review.
California > Second Appellate District > Los Angeles County > Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles
2025-GEN-018-00 FILED Superior Court of California County of Los Angeles APRIL 21, 2025 David W. Slayton, Executive Officer/Clerk of Court By: R. Mina, Deputy SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES IN RE MANDATORY ELECTRONIC FILING OF SEARCH WARRANT APPLICATIONS AND SEARCH WARRANT RETURNS GENERAL ORDER In order to promote the orderly and efficient review of search warrant applications and returns, the Superior Court of Los Angeles County has implemented an electronic Search Warrant (eSW) Portal for the electronic submission of such documents. Following an initial period during which use of the eSW Portal was optional, the Court now mandates that all search warrant applications and returns submitted for judicial review or filing be transmitted exclusively through the eSW Portal. Mandatory Submission 1. Effective May 1, 2025, all search warrant applications and search warrant returns submitted to the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles, must be transmitted electronically via the eSW Portal. 2. Law enforcement agencies seeking the signature of a magistrate on a search warrant or filing a warrant return with the Court must submit all documents, including supporting affidavits, electronically through the eSW Portal at https://eSW.lacourt.org/eSearchWarrant/SignIn. Law enforcement agencies with access to the Court’s Justice Partner Portal (JPP) can access the eSW Portal using the same credentials. 3. Effective May 1, 2025, judges and court personnel will no longer accept search warrant applications or warrant returns at any courthouse location. Review of Search Warrant Applications 4. Magistrates are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to review search warrant applications and returns via the eSW Portal. Submissions are actively monitored for timely review. 5. In the event of an exigent circumstance, peace officers must clearly indicate the exigency in the eSW Portal at the time of submission to alert the reviewing magistrate. 6. Peace officers may track the status of their search warrant application and retrieve signed search warrants directly from the eSW Portal. 7. If a search warrant application is rejected by a magistrate, the peace officer may contact the District Attorney’s Command Center for assistance and guidance. Sealing 8. If a search warrant application or return contains confidential information requiring sealing, the submitting peace officer is responsible for requesting that the document be sealed at the time of submission through the eSW Portal. Electronic Signatures 9. All electronically submitted search warrant applications and returns must comply with California Rules of Court, rule 2.257. The eSW portal permits compliance with the rule. Technical Failure 10. In the unlikely event of a technical failure that prevents submission of a search warrant application or return through the eSW Portal, peace officers may seek in-person review by a magistrate. 11. Notices regarding scheduled outages for routine maintenance will be provided to law enforcement agencies in advance. This General Order is to remain in effect until rescinded or superseded. IT IS SO ORDERED. DATED: April 21, 2025 ____________________________________ SERGIO C. TAPIA II Presiding Judge GENERAL ORDER RE MANDATORY ELECTRONIC FILING FOR SEARCH WARRANTS AND WARRANT RETURNS
2025-GEN-018-00 FILED Superior Court of California County of Los Angeles APRIL 21, 2025 David W. Slayton, Executive Officer/Clerk of Court By: R. Mina, Deputy SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES IN RE MANDATORY ELECTRONIC FILING OF SEARCH WARRANT APPLICATIONS AND SEARCH WARRANT RETURNS GENERAL ORDER In order to promote the orderly and efficient review of search
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-09-29 (California T3 Los Angeles build 2026-09-29) from BenchPath custody ca/t3/ca-los-angeles/general-orders/LIBSVCExecutiveSupport-370-2025-GEN-018-00_MandatoryEFilingOfSearchWarrantApplicationsAndReturns_042125.pdf (453888 bytes, sha256 eed7b24217ffd093410baebed08010c1c6324aa6f5798dd282af1a787d342323; 2 pages) with the shared verbatim composer (v2 reflow), reading the glyphs drawn on the page: page numbers, pleading line numbers, the order number and running footer titles removed as chrome; the two-column pleading caption set left cell, then right cell (the “)” column and the box's rule left out); lines reflowed into the order's paragraphs; proof 1 (whitespace-only), proof 2 (same character multiset as the text layer minus chrome) and proof 3 (same characters as the glyphs drawn on the page) all pass.
A 2013 standing order requiring attorneys to e-file family-law and civil documents (no paper filings accepted) as the court began compliance with the Supreme Court's e-filing mandate; criminal filing unchanged.
A 2013 standing order requiring attorneys to e-file family-law and civil documents (no paper filings accepted) as the court began compliance with the Supreme Court's e-filing mandate; criminal filing unchanged.