Court Filing in Sacramento, CA

Under Code of Civil Procedure section 1010.6, a document the court receives electronically before 11:59:59 p.m. on a court day is deemed filed that day. Sacramento’s Local Rule 1.21 still treats 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. as the clerk’s hours for acceptance, so we submit inside that window when the date matters. Paper filings have to reach the courthouse window during business hours, so send those as early as you can.

Not in most civil cases. The court’s eFiling page says eFiling at the Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye Courthouse is optional for all parties until further notice. The exception is a limited unlawful detainer at the Carol Miller Justice Center, where Local Rule 2.99.06 requires attorneys to eFile unless the court grants an exemption; self-represented parties are exempt. We file both ways and tell you which applies.

The Sacramento County Superior Court routes cases by type: general civil goes to the Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye Courthouse, evictions up to $35,000 to the Carol Miller Justice Center, and family law to the Ridgeway courthouse on Power Inn Road. Filing in the wrong one is a common cause of rejection. Give us the case number and the case type, and we confirm the correct venue before filing.

Clerks reject filings for a missing signature, a fee that does not match the document, formatting that breaks the rules, or the wrong venue. When that happens, we contact you with the reason and the correction, then refile once it is fixed. Because we submit early rather than at the deadline, there is usually time to correct and refile.

Yes. We file electronically through an approved Electronic Filing Service Provider, and we file on paper at the courthouse counter when a document has to go that way, whether the filer is exempt, an exhibit is oversized, or the portal will not take the document. One call covers whichever route your document needs.

A conformed copy is your document stamped with the court’s file date once the clerk accepts it, and it is your proof the filing is on record. We return the conformed copy after acceptance. If your courtroom also wants a paper courtesy copy in chambers, we deliver that as well.

Motion notice periods run off the filing and service date under Code of Civil Procedure section 1005, and when you serve by mail, section 1013 extends the other side’s response window based on the mailing date. Tell us your hearing date and we work the filing backward from it, then flag any window that looks too tight before we submit.

Yes. When an exhibit is oversized or a document type is one the e-filing portal will not accept, we file it on paper at the correct courthouse and get it to the clerk during counter hours. If a case qualifies for a fee waiver, tell us and we file the waiver request alongside the document.

Yes, in most cases. The court’s department information page says a noticed motion in a Civil Home Court needs a hearing date from the Court Reservation System, or from the clerk, before the moving papers are submitted, and that a motion submitted without a reserved date may be rejected. Some motions skip the online system: motions to compel discovery, and demurrers or motions for judgment on the pleadings in Song-Beverly lemon law cases, get their date by calling the clerk. The court also warns that a reservation made through the system can be canceled without notice, so the date is worth confirming before filing.

In the Civil Home Courts, the tentative ruling is issued at 2:00 p.m. on the court day before the hearing and posted on the court’s Public Portal. A party who wants to argue has to request oral argument by 4:00 p.m. that same day. Order to show cause hearings in the Case Management Program are different: no tentative ruling is posted and an appearance is required. Complex departments 8A and 8B follow the same 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. timing for their motions and case management conferences.

Documents in public cases filed after November 13, 2007, can be viewed and printed from the court’s Public Portal. Anything filed before that date is not available digitally; those files sit at an off-site retention facility and are brought to the downtown courthouse on request. Certified or exemplified copies come from the civil front counter or through a mailed Request for Copies of Civil Records (CV\E-300). The court charges $0.50 a page for copies, $40 per certification and $15 for a search that runs longer than ten minutes, and viewing a file in person requires a picture ID.

The Civil Division handles lawsuits over money, title or possession of real property and civil tort claims. Small claims, which cover damages up to $12,500, have their own division, and unlawful detainer cases asking for less than $35,000 are handled by the landlord and tenant division at the Carol Miller Justice Center, 301 Bicentennial Circle. Family law files at the William R. Ridgeway Family Relations Courthouse on Power Inn Road. A general civil case, including an eviction asking for more than $35,000, is filed with the Civil Division at the Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye Courthouse.