Mariposa County Superior Court Local Rules of Court (Effective January 1, 2019) — Section 1-General Rules (Rules 1.1 to 1.11)

Summary

Section 1-General Rules: the rules cited as “Local Rules for the Superior Court of California, County of Mariposa,” effective January 1, 2019, repealing all other rules previously adopted (1.1(a)); the Court open for judicial business from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on court days, the clerk’s office hours posted, which may be amended per Government Code section 68106 (1.1(b)); the Court may impose sanctions authorized by law, after notice and an opportunity to be heard, on a party or attorney failing to comply with these rules, the California Rules of Court or other rules or statutory requirements (1.2); court reporters scheduled for misdemeanor and infraction proceedings (subject to the official reporter’s availability), all felony proceedings, juvenile dependency and delinquency proceedings and family support proceedings (1.3(a)); in probate, family law and civil proceedings under one hour, the official reporter if available, on deposit of the fee in the court’s civil fee schedule (Government Code section 68086), reporters at trial and long cause hearings generally not at the Court’s expense, parties may arrange a certified shorthand reporter as official pro tempore reporter, and a party granted a fee waiver exempt from the requirement to pay (1.3(b)); no person to appear in Court in shorts, without a shirt, barefoot or wearing a tank top, bailiffs to remove any person violating this rule (1.4); any person who perceives he/she is the victim of, or witnesses, sexual harassment in the courthouse should immediately notify the Court Executive Officer, who may conduct an investigation (1.5); recording or transmission equipment prohibited in any courtroom (and recording equipment in any other part of the courthouse) without advance permission by the Judge, laptops and electronic devices included but regulated by each Judicial Officer, violators subject to contempt (rule 1.150) and/or confiscation, and cameras, photographers and media reporters not to block the courthouse ingress or egress (1.6); civil ex parte applications governed by California Rules of Court, Rules 3.1200-3.1207, Family Court ex parte requests by Rules 5.151-5.170 and Local Rule 4.3(d), and the party seeking an ex parte order to submit the application, papers and fees to the clerk by 3:00 p.m. on the court day preceding the hearing (1.7); no ex parte communications considered unless made as these Rules, the California Rules of Court or the laws of this State prescribe, lawyers and parties to avoid them on the substance of a pending case, and no letters between counsel copied to judicial officers (1.8); in all proceedings except juvenile or criminal proceedings, counsel or self-represented litigants to arrange any foreign language interpreter required for a party or witness prior to the hearing or trial (1.9(a)); in juvenile or criminal proceedings, written notice to the Court of the hearing date, the person’s name and role and the language spoken (and dialect), the court arranging the interpreter at its cost, counsel to immediately notify the Court in writing if the interpreter is not required, and failure to timely notify may result in an order to reimburse any cancellation fee (1.9(b)); parties to obtain, set up and operate all audio/visual and other equipment for hearings or trials, approved in advance by the Court (1.10); the assigned Judge’s permission before a party may bring dangerous, hazardous, or bulky exhibits into the courthouse, a photograph, technical report or dummy object substituted if possible for exhibits inherently dangerous (such as firearms, explosives, flammable liquids or controlled substances) or large and cumbersome (1.11(a)); an application in writing for an exhibit to be brought into the courtroom without substitution, describing the materials and the reason, the Court may consider viewing them at another location (1.11(b)); and when such an exhibit, marked and identified or received in evidence, poses a security, storage or safety problem, the Court may order it returned to the party that offered it (a prosecutor’s exhibits to the law enforcement agency involved) with a full photographic record substituted, the party or agency preserving it intact, exhibit tags in place, until final disposition and promptly delivering it to the appropriate court if further proceedings require it (1.11(c))