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Trial by declaration under Vehicle Code § 40902, a person who fails to appear deemed to have elected a trial by written declaration under Vehicle Code § 40903 (20.1); exhibits no larger than a standard sheet of paper, 8 ½ by 11 inches (20.2); and the clerk's ability-to-pay determinations under Government Code § 68645.3(e), with review by a judicial officer and the criteria posted on the court's website (20.3).
California > First Appellate District > Sonoma County > Superior Court of California, County of Sonoma
RULE 20 RULES APPLICABLE TO TRAFFIC INFRACTIONS 20.1 TRIAL BY DECLARATION The Court adopts the trial by declaration process defined in Vehicle Code § 40902. Additionally, pursuant to Vehicle Code § 40903, any person who fails to appear as provided by law may be deemed to have elected to have a trial by written declaration upon any alleged infraction, as charged by the citing officer, involving a violation of the Vehicle Code or any local ordinance adopted pursuant to the code. In eligible cases the Court will conduct the trial in absentia and it will be adjudicated on the basis of the notice to appear issued pursuant to Vehicle Code § 40500 and any business record or receipt, sworn declaration of the arresting officer, or written statement or letter signed by the defendant that is in the file at the time the trial by declaration is conducted. If there is a guilty finding, the conviction shall be reported to the DMV and the defendant notified of the disposition of the case, the amount of imposed fines, and fees, and the defendant’s right to request a trial de novo within a specified period of time. The defendant may request a trial de novo by timely submitting the Judicial Council TR220 form, or the local TR221 form. If the defendant has been found guilty pursuant to VC § 40903, bail must be posted when the request is submitted. If there is no timely request for a trial de novo and the fines and fees are not paid by the due date, the case will proceed to civil assessment pursuant to Penal Code § 1214.1. 20.2 EXHIBITS Whether in a trial by declaration or a live in court trial exhibits such as: diagrams, pictures, charts, graphs, maps, images, or similar type evidence shall be limited to no larger than a standard sheet of paper 8 ½ by 11 inches for each separate item of evidence. (Eff. 7/1/2013; Renumbered 1/1/2023- formerly Rule 23) 20.3 ABILITY TO PAY: CLERK DETERMINATIONS A. The clerk of the court may make ability-to-pay determinations in the Superior Court of California for the County of Sonoma as authorized in Government Code § 68645.3(e) when the following criteria have been met: 1. The litigant submits that they receive public benefits, including those listed in subdivision (a) of § 68632; or 2. The litigant submits that their household income is equal to or below 500% of the federal poverty level. B. The clerk of the court shall not modify the reduction rate recommended by the MyCitations online tool consistent with Court-established administrative settings for calculating reduction rates. C. The defendant has the right to a review of the decision by a judicial officer in the trial court if the clerk of the court denies the reduction portion of the request. D. Criteria for reductions made by the clerk of the court are posted on the court’s website. (Effective 7/1/2025)
RULE 20 RULES APPLICABLE TO TRAFFIC INFRACTIONS 20.1 TRIAL BY DECLARATION The Court adopts the trial by declaration process defined in Vehicle Code § 40902. Additionally, pursuant to Vehicle Code § 40903, any person who fails to appear as provided by law may be deemed to have elected to have a trial by written declaration upon any alleged infraction, as charged by the citing officer, involving a v
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.
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.