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Proceedings with a fee waiver - reasonable copies (17.1); conformed copies, a maximum of two at filing (17.6); prepaid, self-addressed envelopes (17.7); the hearing date and time in the caption, and in the e-filing description (17.8); local forms (17.9); restrictions on over-the-counter filings (17.11); background checks (17.14); voluntary e-service by the court's Stipulation and Order (17.16); the $5.00 fee for retrieving a file from storage (17.17); the appointment of an elisor (17.19); electronic records - paper filings scanned as the official record (17.20); the format of documents submitted for filing (17.21); mandatory electronic filing for represented parties, self-represented parties exempt (17.22); the limitations on electronic filings in civil, criminal, probate and family law (17.23); electronic filing service providers (17.24); electronic filing dates and times - documents received between 12:00 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on a court day deemed filed that day (17.25); electronically filed proposed orders and orders after hearing (17.26); and electronic service (17.27).
California > First Appellate District > Sonoma County > Superior Court of California, County of Sonoma
RULE 17 RULES APPLICABLE TO FILING AND GENERAL PROCEDURE This rule applies to all civil proceedings, including family law and probate. 17.1 PROCEEDINGS WITH A FEE WAIVER A. “Reasonable” Copies Defined Where the court has granted a party’s application for an initial fee waiver, this court interprets “reasonably necessary…copying” (California Rules of Court, Rule 3.55) to exclude copying of papers that were (1) filed by that party, (2) served on that party, or (3) previously copied by the clerk for that party, unless the copies are for making reasonably necessary certified copies. 17.2 USE OF NAMES IN PAPERS [Repealed] Rule 18.2 repealed effective January 1, 2011, adopted effective January 1, 1997, previously amended January 1, 2001. (Fromerly Rule 18.2) 17.3 FORMAT OF ORDERS [Repealed] Rule 18.3 repealed effective January 1, 2011, adopted effective January 1, 1997, previously amended July 1, 2003. (Formelry Rule 18.3) 17.4 STIPULATIONS FOR ENTRY OF JUDGMENT [Repealed] Rule 18.4 repealed effective January 1, 2011, adopted effective July 1, 2003, previously amended January 1, 2007. (Formerly Rule 18.4) 17.5 JUDGMENTS AND DECREES [Repealed] Rule 18.5 repealed effective January 1, 2011. (Formerly Rule 18.5) 17.6 CONFORMING COPIES The Superior Court Clerk will conform a maximum of two copies of any document at the time of filing. Additional copies will be provided by photocopying and the standard Superior Court Clerk fee for copies will be charged. (Eff. 1/1/1997; Rev. 7/1/2003, 1/1/2011, 7/1/2011, Renumbered 01/01/2023) 17.7 PREPAID, SELF-ADDRESSED ENVELOPES REQUIRED To receive conformed copies of papers submitted in person, by mail, or by drop box, you must include a self-addressed envelope that is appropriately sized and has sufficient postage affixed. Alternatively, copies can be ordered online at: https://sonoma.courts.ca.gov/online-services. (Eff. 1/1/1997; Rev. 7/1/2001, 7/1/2003, 1/1/2011, 7/1/2011, 7/1/2022, 7/1/2025) 17.8 TIME AND DATE MUST BE SHOWN [Reinstated] When the date of the hearing for any motion, order to show cause, law and motion or probate matter is known, all papers filed for consideration at the hearing shall contain the hearing date and time in the caption of the case below the action number. When e-Filing please add the hearing date in the filing description (HRG MMDDYY). Failure to comply with these rules may result in documents not being before the Court at the time of the hearing. (Eff. 1/1/1997; Rev.7/1/2003, 1/1/2007; Repealed 1/1/2011; Reinstated 7/1/2015; Rev. 7/1/2022) 17.9 LOCAL FORMS All local forms are available at the clerk’s office and can be downloaded from: www.sonoma.courts.ca.gov. (Eff. 1/1/1997; Rev. 7/1/2003, 1/1/2007, 1/1/2011, 7/1/2011; 7/1/2015) 17.10 SAMPLE DOCUMENT CAPTIONS [Repealed] Rule 17.10 repealed effective January 1, 2011. (Formerly 18.10) 17.11 RESTRICTIONS ON OVER-THE-COUNTER FILINGS Only the following types of documents will be filed over-the-counter: A. Pleadings 1. Initial documents such as Complaints, Petitions, Applications, limited to one per customer, except as to Plaintiff’s Claims (Small Claims) and Unlawful Detainer Complaints. 2. Responsive Pleadings; Answers (including Disclaimers); General Denials, Responses; Cross-Complaints; Complaints-in-Intervention; and Defendant’s Claims (Small Claims). 3. Peremptory Challenges pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure §170.6. B. Calendaring documents [those documents which meet the requirements of California Rules of Court, Rule 3.1110(b), in that the date, time and location of the scheduled hearing and the name of the assigned judge is specified on the first page of the paper immediately below the case number]. C. Proofs of service of summons in unlawful detainer actions. D. Requests for Entry of Default. E. Appellate documents and fees. F. Judicial arbitration papers. G. Proof of Service on any document which relates to a hearing calendared within thirty (30) days. H. Orders signed by any judge or commissioner. I. Default judgments in unlawful detainer when presented in conjunction with the Request for Entry of Default. (The Clerk will also issue Writs of Possession on such judgments). J. Writs of Attachment and Writs of Sale will be issued when submitted in conjunction with the signed order for filing. K. Initial jury fee deposits; fines; sanctions. L. One (1) Abstract of Judgment and one (1) Writ of Execution per day per party. All other documents shall be left in the routine processing basket, located in the lobby of the Clerk’s Office or the outside drop box. For return of a filed, stamped copy, either a self-addressed stamped envelope must be attached to the documents or the attorney’s box number must be written in the upper right-hand corner of each copy. If applicable, the corresponding court date shall also be written in the upper right-hand corner of each document. Documents left in the routine processing basket shall be stamped using the date/time clock in the lobby of the Clerk’s Office. The stamp should not obscure any writing on the document. Normally, the document should be stamped on the back of the first page if it does not contain any writing. If it does contain writing, the document should be stamped on the back of the last page provided it is blank. If all pages contain writing on both sides, the face of any cover letter may be stamped. If there is no cover letter, the upper right-hand corner of the first page of the document itself, should be stamped. (Eff. 1/1/1997; Rev. 7/1/2004, 1/1/2007, 1/1/2011, 7/1/2011, 7/1/2012, 7/1/2022) 17.14 PROCEDURE FOR BACKGROUND CHECKS All requests for criminal or civil background information must be submitted in writing in person or by mail and must include a list of names to be checked a self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of the results. (Eff. 1/1/1997; Rev. 1/1/2005, 1/1/2011, 7/1/2011, 7/1/2014) 17.16 VOLUNTARY E-SERVICE It shall be the policy of the Sonoma County Superior Court to encourage the use of voluntary e-service in connection with any proceedings before the Court. To facilitate this policy, the Court has approved the use of a Stipulation and Order, a copy of which shall be published on the Sonoma County Superior Court’s website: http://www.sonoma.courts.ca.gov/index.php?v=forms/index. If the parties enter into a Stipulation and Order which modifies in any material way the aforementioned form, a redline version of the modified Stipulation and Order must be presented to the Court with the signed Stipulation and Order so that all of the modifications are readily discernable. (Eff. 1/1/2009; Rev. 1/1/2011, 7/1/2011) 17.17 FEE FOR RETRIEVING FILES FROM STORAGE Pursuant to California Rules of Court, Rule 10.815 (b), where a member of the public requests to review a Court file which must be retrieved from storage, the person requesting the file shall pay a fee at the time the order is placed. The fee for file retrieval shall be $5.00 per file per retrieval. Files retrieved from storage shall be held for two weeks following the date the person requesting the file is notified that the file is available for viewing. After the two-week period the file will be returned to storage. Fees paid for the retrieval of files from storage are non-refundable. (Eff. 7/1/2009; Rev. 1/1/2011, 7/1/2011, 7/1/2012) 17.18 FEE FOR CREATION OF COMPACT DISC FROM ELECTRONIC RECORDING [Repealed] Rule 17.18 repealed effective July 1, 2025 17.19 APPOINTMENT OF ELISOR A. Request for Order A court order for the appointment of an elisor must be made by a Request for Order. The Request for Order must include at least one (1) supporting declaration with a list of the exact documents the elisor is being asked to sign. The request must be accompanied by a proposed order. B. Mandatory Information in Supporting Declaration(s) The supporting declaration(s) must include all of the following: 1. The title, date, page(s), and line(s) of the court order upon which the request to appoint the elisor is based. 2. A description of the good faith efforts to meet and confer to resolve the issue informally. 3. Specific facts establishing the necessity of the appointment of an elisor, including the reason, by a person with personal knowledge, why each document requires the elisor’s signature. C. Mandatory Language in Proposed Order The proposed order must include all the following: 1. Designation of “The Clerk of the Court or Clerk’s Designee” as the elisor. The order cannot state a name or title of a specific court employee. 2. The party’s name for whom the elisor is being appointed; the exact title or a sufficient description that accurately identifies each document to be signed; and the capacity of the elisor who will be signing each document. D. Mandatory Additional Requirements 1. Copies of all documents to be signed must be attached to the proposed order. 2. The original documents presented to the elisor for signing must be identical to the copies of the documents attached to the proposed order. E. Order Granted 1. If the court grants the order, the party must contact the Court Executive Office to schedule an appointment for the actual signing of the documents. 2. If the elisor is signing documents that require notarization, the party must arrange for a notary public to be present when the elisor signs the documents. 3. There is a $15 fee per signature pursuant to Government Code 70629. (Effective 1/1/2018; Rev 7/1/2022) 17.20 ELECTRONIC RECORDS All documents filed in paper form with the Civil, Probate, Family Law, Juvenile, and Criminal Clerks will be scanned and entered into the Court’s case management system as a computerized court record. This electronic record is the official record of the court. This rule shall not apply to court reporters' transcripts or to specifications for electronic recordings made as the official record of oral proceedings. These records shall be governed by the California Rules of Court. This rule shall not apply to original wills and codicils delivered to the clerk of the court under § 8200 of the Probate Code. Original wills and codicils shall be retained as provided in Government Code § 26810. Unless electronically certified by the court, a trial court record available by electronic access is not the official record of the court. (Revised 7/1/2025) 17.21 FORMAT OF DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR FILING A. Original documents presented to the clerk for filing shall be submitted without staples and shall not be two-hole punched. All multi-paged copies of documents shall be stapled. B. Exhibit attachments to pleadings shall be separated by a standard 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper with a title identifying the sequence of the exhibit. No tabs shall be included in any original document submitted for filing. 17.22 MANDATORY ELECTRONIC FILING A. Subject to the exceptions in Local Rule 17.23, all represented parties, other represented persons, and all attorneys, including but not limited to consulting attorneys, mediator/attorneys, and document-preparer attorneys, are required to electronically file documents pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure, § 1010.6 and California Rules of Court, Rule 2.250 et seq for the following case types/categories: 1. All Civil Matters 2. All Probate Matters 3. All Family Law Matters (including Department of Child Support Services matters) 4. All Criminal Matters 5. All Juvenile Matters B. Self-represented parties, or other self-represented persons, are exempt from mandatory electronic filing requirements pursuant to California Rules of Court, Rule 2.253 subdivision (b)(2). (Adopted 1/1/2020, Rev 7/1/2023, 1/1/2025, 7/1/2025; 1/1/2026) 17.23 LIMITATIONS ON ELECTRONIC FILINGS Notwithstanding any other provision of law or these rules, the following items may not be electronically filed: A. Civil: 1. Subpoenaed documents; 2. Labor Commissioner deposit of cash or check; and 3. Payments for Bonds and Undertakings. B. Criminal: 1. Bail Bonds; 2. Jail Cites; and 3. Bail Bonds Motions. C. Probate: 1. Affidavit re: Real Property of Small Value; 2. Bonds; 3. Financial Documents submitted by Private Professional Conservator; 4. Subpoenaed documents; 5. Undertakings; and 6. Will/Codicils – originals for filing or safekeeping. D. Family Law: 1. Declaration for Default for Uncontested Judgment; 2. Judgments; and 3. Notice of Entry of Judgment. (Adopted 1/1/2020; Rev. 7/1/2022, 1/1/2024, 7/1/2024, 7/1/2025) 17.24 ELECTRONIC FILING SERVICE PROVIDERS Approved Electronic Filing Service Providers (EFSPs) are listed on the Court’s website at www.sonomacourts.ca.gov. (Adopted 1/1/2020) 17.25 ELECTRONIC FILING DATES AND TIMES Documents may be electronically transmitted to the Court seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Any document that is received electronically by the Court between 12:00 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on a court day shall be deemed filed on that same court day. Any document that is received electronically on a non-court day shall be deemed filed on the next court day. (Adopted 1/1/2020) 17.26 ELECTRONICALLY FILED PROPOSED ORDERS AND ORDERS AFTER HEARING A. Proposed Orders in Civil and Family Division Cases 1. Proposed orders (except in the case of ex parte or discovery motions, which shall include proposed orders with their filing) may not be submitted with moving papers before a hearing on a regularly-noticed motion unless ordered by the Court or if otherwise required by applicable statute or Rule of Court (such as motions to be relieved as counsel, petitions for compromise of minors’ claims, orders on objections to evidence in summary judgment motions, pro hac vice applications, applications for writs of attachment, etc.). 2. If required to include a proposed order, or instructed to prepare a proposed order, or order after hearing, orders shall be filed as Proposed Orders with the court electronically in PDF format attached to Judicial Council Form EFS-020. At the same time as the EFS-020 and the PDF proposed order are lodged with the court electronically, a version of the proposed order in a fully editable word processing format (preferably in MS Word format, and not PDF or PDF converted to a word format) shall be submitted to the Court by electronic mail using an address identified on the Court’s website. B. Proposed Orders in Probate Division Cases 1. Subject to any applicable exemptions, proposed orders submitted with moving papers before a hearing on a regularly noticed motion or orders after hearing shall be lodged with the court electronically in PDF format attached to Judicial Council Form EFS-020. At the same time as the EFS-020 and the PDF proposed order are lodged with the court electronically, a version of the proposed order in a fully editable word processing format (preferably in MS Word format, and not PDF or PDF converted to a word format) shall be submitted to the Court by electronic mail using an address identified on the Court’s website. 2. If instructed to prepare an order after a hearing, proposed orders after hearing shall be lodged with the court electronically in PDF format attached to Judicial Council Form EFS-020. At the same time as the EFS-020 and the PDF proposed order are lodged with the court electronically, a version of the proposed order in a fully editable word processing format (preferably in MS Word format, and not PDF or PDF converted to a word format) shall be submitted to the Court by electronic mail using an address identified on the Court’s website. (Adopted 1/1/2020) 17.27 ELECTRONIC SERVICE Please refer to California Rules of Court § 2.251. If you are required to file electronically, please refer to California Rules of Court § 2.251(c)(3). (Adopted 1/1/2020, Renumbered 1/1/2023- formerly Rule 18, Rev. 1/1/2025)
RULE 17 RULES APPLICABLE TO FILING AND GENERAL PROCEDURE This rule applies to all civil proceedings, including family law and probate. 17.1 PROCEEDINGS WITH A FEE WAIVER A. “Reasonable” Copies Defined Where the court has granted a party’s application for an initial fee waiver, this court interprets “reasonably necessary…copying” (California Rules of Court, Rule 3.55) to exclude copying of papers t
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-10-08 (California T4 Sonoma build 2026-10-08) from BenchPath custody ca/t4/ca-sonoma/docs/local-rules/local-rules-working-jul-2026-new-address-update.pdf (the court's rule book, “Local Rules of Court Effective July 1, 2026”, as fetched 2026-10-08; 1515969 bytes, sha256 e3a9b3a99af553adf4c33851ccbc58bbbfb1020ec74e105c1225b9e6d076c102; 204 pages) with the shared verbatim composer (v2 reflow) over Rules 1 to 21 (PDF pages 8 to 189), each rule composed alone from its first page to the page before the next rule's: each page's running header (“SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SONOMA”, two rules of underscores and the page number) removed as chrome; lines reflowed into the rules' paragraphs; eight breaks the reflow made before a citation or history note's “Rule N.N” at a line start rejoined and eleven paragraph, heading, history and list-line breaks it ran together set back (19 whitespace-only fixes, build/book-fixes.json; the vertical-gap audit finds no joined break left); four struck characters (tracked deletions on PDF pages 70, 98, 176 and 184; the strike report) left out; proof 1 (whitespace-only) and proof 2 (same character multiset as the text layer minus chrome) pass. The cover, the list of the court's judicial officers, the table of contents, the index, the forms listings and the list of currently effective rules belong to no rule. Review note: Rule 17.24 prints the court's website as "www.sonomacourts.ca.gov" (carded as printed); the court's site is sonoma.courts.ca.gov.
Division XI: information forms for data processing (Rule 11.2); required action - action taken on all calendared cases and a future date always set (Rule 11.19); and pro tem judges - an attorney named as a plaintiff in a civil or small claims case may not sit as a judge pro-tem during the case or within six months following its resolution, nor one named as a defendant in two or more such cases (Rule 11.22). Rules 11.1, 11.3 to 11.5, 11.7 to 11.18, 11.20 and 11.21 are repealed, and Rule 11.6 (voluntary arbitration; see Local Rule 10.2) was repealed and renumbered.
Duval County's indigent-defense and magistration rules under the Texas Fair Defense Act (S.B. 7): who may be booked into the county jail and on what paper; arrest-case numbering; presentment to a magistrate within 48 hours (art. 15.16); the magistrate's warnings, counsel inquiry, interpreter duty, indigence determination and appointment of counsel within 24 hours of a request; the alternative appointment plan under art. 26.04(g)-(h) with annual applications, seven attorney categories (capital, first and second degree, third degree/state jail/misdemeanor, competency, appeals, post-conviction, extradition), CLE and experience standards, random rotation within each category, written acceptance within 48 hours, first contact by the end of the next working day, replacement and suspension of counsel, fee applications within five days of completing services and the compensation attachment ($500 pleas; $175/$150 hourly; $1,400 per jury-trial day; appellate caps); bail schedules by offense class with a personal bond office (fee $20 or 3%), pre-trial supervision and revocation hearings within two working days; arraignment settings and notice; repeal of conflicting rules.