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Small claims cases (2.1): identification of a business defendant's authorized agent for service when the clerk serves under Code of Civil Procedure §116.340(a)(1); law and motion; trial setting; submitting evidence where the Court has granted a remote appearance - evidence sent to all other parties and submitted to the court at least 10 days before the hearing with Local Form SC-10, exhibits of no more than 10 pages by e-mail to SCtrials@sonomacourt.org; exhibits after trial, destroyed sixty (60) calendar days after the final determination unless their return is requested with a self-addressed stamped envelope; and appeals. Unlawful detainer cases (2.2): trial setting by a request to set the time of the trial; an unlawful detainer that becomes an ordinary civil case; default and compromise; attorney's fees; and stipulations for entry of judgment.
California > First Appellate District > Sonoma County > Superior Court of California, County of Sonoma
RULE 2 RULES APPLICABLE TO SMALL CLAIMS CASES AND UNLAWFUL DETAINER CASES 2.1 SMALL CLAIMS CASES A. Identification of Authorized Agent for Service If plaintiff requests, and pays for, the clerk to provide service upon defendant(s) pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure §116.340(a)(1) and one or more of the defendants is a business, plaintiff shall include the names(s) and address(es) of the authorized agent(s) for service, identified as such, in parentheses beneath the name of each defendant business. B. Law and Motion All law and motion matters in small claims actions shall be scheduled as designated by the Civil Division Supervising Judge. Hearing dates may be obtained as indicated in Rule 5.1.B herein. C. Trial Setting A trial date will be assigned by the clerk upon the filing of the Plaintiff’s Claim. Small Claims matters are heard by judges pro tempore pursuant to stipulation of the parties. Where parties are unwilling to so stipulate, the matter will be reassigned for hearing, on a different date and at a different time, before a judge or court commissioner. D. Submitting Evidence This provision is only applicable to those cases where the Court has granted an order permitting a remote appearance prior to the time of the small claims hearing or trial. Pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure §116.520, parties in a Small Claims matter have the right to present evidence and witnesses at the hearing in support of their respective positions. If an order has been issued in advance of a small claims trial or hearing, to permit a remote appearance the party appearing remotely shall send a copy of any evidence they want the Court to consider to all other parties at least 10 days in advance of the hearing date. The party who sent the evidence must be prepared to provide proof of sending the evidence if the court requests proof. The party must also submit any evidence to be considered by the Court to the court at least 10 days prior to the hearing. All evidence shall be submitted with the Exchange and Submission of Evidence Local Form SC-10. A party who has been permitted to appear remotely by advance order of the Court, may send the exhibits to the court electronically by e-mail at SCtrials@sonomacourt.org. Exhibits that are delivered via e-mail may not exceed 10 pages, including any exhibits. This e-mail address is for the sole purpose of the submission of exhibits. Unauthorized e-mails will not be read and will be deleted without any further action being taken. Ex Parte communications shall not be sent to the above e-mail address and any such communications will not be read or considered by the assigned judge hearing the matter. A party’s failure to exchange and submit evidence to the court with proof of compliance and mailing, may result in the evidence not being considered by the court. E. Exhibits after Trial Upon the conclusion of the trial, the Clerk’s Office will not accept additional exhibits for the Court’s consideration unless specifically requested by the Court at the time of trial. Exhibits introduced in a small claims case will be destroyed in sixty (60) calendar days following the final determination of the action unless return is personally requested by the litigant and a self-addressed stamped envelope with enough pre-paid postage is submitted at the time of submission of evidence to the court or at the time of hearing. F. Appeals Small claims appeals will be heard as designated by the Supervising Judge of the Civil Division. Upon the filing of a notice of appeal and payment of the required filing fees, the Clerk’s Office will schedule a trial de novo. (Eff. 1/1/1997; Rev. 1/1/2005, 1/1/2021, Rev and Renumbered 1/1/2023) 2.2 UNLAWFUL DETAINER CASES A. Trial Setting 1. When a case is ready for trial any party to the action (by and through their attorney of record if represented) may file and serve a request to set the time of the trial which shall include the following trial information: a. Time estimate for trial in hours or days; b. Whether or not a jury is requested; c. Whether there has/have been any previous request(s) for trial and the file date(s), if any; and Whether or not an official court reporter is requested at trial. Note: court reporters can only be requested by a party whose fee waiver has been previously granted and is on file (see Local Rule 3.4). 2. Any party may (by and through their attorney of record, if represented), following notice of a request to set the time of the trial and not less than five (5) calendar days prior to the date set for trial, separately demand trial by jury. Such demand shall state whether there has been a previous request for trial and the file date (if known), whether or not an official court reporter is requested at trial and may include a separate time estimate for trial. Failure to deposit jury fees at least five (5) days prior to the date set for trial shall constitute a waiver of jury trial pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure § 631. 3. Unlawful Detainer actions shall be assigned directly for trial by the clerk and without the appearance of counsel. B. When an unlawful detainer becomes an ordinary civil case and plaintiff has filed an amended complaint, the clerk shall re-designate the case and it shall proceed as a general civil case in either the limited or unlimited jurisdiction, as appropriate. C. Default and Compromise 1. Presentation of Default Judgment Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure § 585(d), any default judgment may be proven upon proper presentation of declarations or affidavits without appearance of the party seeking default judgment or the necessity of scheduling a hearing, unless after reviewing the application the Court requests otherwise. 2. Time Frames for Presentation of Defaults Requests to enter default and default judgments are to be presented to the Court or the clerk when applicable no later than 90 calendar days from the filing of the complaint. If no default judgment or order granting an extension of time is on file by the 90th day from the filing of the complaint, the unlawful detainer action will be dismissed, upon the Court’s own motion, without prejudice. 3. Disposition of Fictitious Defendants (Cross-Defendants) All unnamed parties (unknown defendants as described in Code of Civil Procedure § 474) must be disposed of, i.e., dismissed with or without prejudice, prior to entry of final judgment. Failure to comply may result in any judgment being returned unsigned or in the issuance of an order to show cause entailing possible sanctions. Law and Motion All law and motion matters in unlawful detainer actions shall be scheduled on the Unlawful Detainer Law & Motion Calendar as designated by the Supervising Judge of the Civil Division. Hearing dates may be obtained as indicated in Rule 5.1.A herein. No tentative rulings will be made available for matters on this calendar. E. Attorney’s Fees For default unlawful detainer actions, the default amount for attorney fees shall be $600.00. Any party seeking attorney fees in excess of those provided for herein shall submit a declaration for submission to the court, substantiating the extraordinary fees. To recover attorney fees following trial of an unlawful detainer action, the prevailing party or parties must file a post-trial motion for an award of attorney fees under the applicable contract or statute. F. Stipulations for Entry of Judgment Any stipulation between parties that sets terms and conditions for settlement of an unlawful detainer action must include: 1. A statement, pursuant to California Rules of Court, Rule 3.1385, that plaintiff will file a Request for Dismissal, Entire Action, either within 45 days of the date of the filing of the stipulation or upon some other specified date; 2. A place for the Court to set a review date at which the parties may appear if the terms and conditions are not met and upon which the Court may dismiss if the parties fail to appear and the plaintiff has not filed a Request for Dismissal as required by F(1) above; 3. If the stipulation is presented for Court approval prior to the trial date and the parties do not intend to appear at trial, an order dropping the case from the trial calendar; 4. A clear and concise statement of the ex parte application, opposition, and order process by which remedies are available to either party in the event of a default on any of the terms and conditions of the stipulation. The clerk will not enter judgment upon declaration of the judgment creditor. The use of Judicial Council Form UD-115 entitled “Stipulation for Entry of Judgment” may be used. (Eff. 1/1/1997; Rev. 7/1/2004, 1/1/2007, 7/1/2008, 1/1/2021, 1/1/2023, 7/1/2024)
RULE 2 RULES APPLICABLE TO SMALL CLAIMS CASES AND UNLAWFUL DETAINER CASES 2.1 SMALL CLAIMS CASES A. Identification of Authorized Agent for Service If plaintiff requests, and pays for, the clerk to provide service upon defendant(s) pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure §116.340(a)(1) and one or more of the defendants is a business, plaintiff shall include the names(s) and address(es) of the authorize
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: The court's Civil and Small Claims FAQ page (held) still points parties to the Standing Order Re: Small Claims Trials filed January 11, 2021 (held, superseded: seven days); Rule 2.1(D) sets ten days and Local Form SC-10.
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.