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Sacramento County trial document templates

Not legal advice. Rules attested September 29, 2026; last full pass August 17, 2026. Verify every date yourself. Read the full disclaimer

Each verified rule carries its own date on the methodology page, all of them September 29, 2026: the date the maintaining attorney last attested it. The last full pass, signed off on August 17, 2026, checked the rules against their official sources (the code, the California Rules of Court, or for court holidays the Judicial Council calendar), with the exceptions listed on the about page. Rules still awaiting sign-off are listed on the methodology page as not yet verified. County local rules are paraphrased summaries. Individual department and judge standing orders are included only where the court publishes them and we have read the document, so assume your own department has requirements beyond what you see here. Verify every date against the operative code sections, your court's rules and your department's own order before relying on it. Using this site creates no attorney-client relationship.

12 documents, 20 required sections, taken from Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento's own published rules and read September 14, 2026. Each one downloads as California pleading paper with this court's required sections already placed, so the document cannot silently omit one.

A blank template is easy to find anywhere. What is hard to find is which sections this court requires inside the document, because that lives in a local rule nobody indexes. Every heading below is cited to the subdivision it came from, and the rule's own sentence prints beside it in the reference sheet so you can check your work.

Download these as templates

Every document below comes out on California pleading paper, 28 numbered lines down the left, with this court's own required sections already placed as headings. Take the Word version to draft in and the PDF to print. Fill in your details once and they carry across every template on the site.

Your details optional, blanks print as ruled lines

These stay in this browser. They are not sent anywhere, and the file is built on this machine, so a case name never reaches our server.

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  • Declaration in Support of Exemption from the Mandatory Settlement Conference ProgramEach party, 1 required section. At least 20 days before the scheduled Mandatory Settlement Conference.
  • Settlement Conference StatementEach party, 1 required section. Not less than 10 days before the scheduled settlement conference, received by the clerk of the Supervising Settlement Judge and received by every other party.
  • Trial Exhibits Submitted Before a Short Cause TrialEach party, 1 required section. At least 7 calendar days before the scheduled trial date if emailed, or postmarked at least 14 calendar days before the scheduled trial date if mailed.
  • Motions in Limine, Oppositions, and List of Disputed MotionsEach party, 3 required sections. Exchanged with the other parties at least seven days before trial, filed at least two court days before the first day of trial, with a courtesy hard copy to the assigned department on the first day of trial.
  • Jury InstructionsPrepared jointly, 3 required sections. On the first day of trial, in electronic Word form to the assigned trial judge (the assigned department expects it at the first pretrial conference instead).
  • Trial Exhibit BindersPrepared jointly, 1 required section. Prepared prior to the first day of trial (the assigned department expects the binders at or before the first pretrial conference).
  • Joint Exhibit ListPrepared jointly, 3 required sections. At or before the pretrial conference with the assigned trial department.
  • Joint Witness ListPrepared jointly, 1 required section. On the first day of trial (the assigned department expects it at the first pretrial conference instead).
  • Trial BriefEach party, 1 required section. On the first day of trial (the assigned department expects it at the first pretrial conference instead).
  • Joint Statement of the CasePrepared jointly, 2 required sections. On the first day of trial (the assigned department expects it at the first pretrial conference instead).
  • Highlighted Deposition Testimony and Written Discovery ResponsesEach party, 1 required section. At or before the pretrial conference with the assigned trial department, so that objections can be heard.
  • Transcripts of Audio, Video and Computer Animation ExhibitsEach party, 2 required sections. At the pretrial conference, with notice to the court and opposing counsel before trial if a transcript is requested for the jury.

Everything this court requires in one editable document, with each rule quoted and cited.

What each document has to carry

Declaration in Support of Exemption from the Mandatory Settlement Conference Program

Prepared by each party. Lodged, at least 20 days before the scheduled Mandatory Settlement Conference. Applies to parties who have participated in mediation and want out of the Mandatory Settlement Conference Program. SSC Rule 2.80

  1. Grounds for the requested exemption
    • the grounds for exemption from the Mandatory Settlement Conference Program
    • submission to the Supervising Settlement Judge

Settlement Conference Statement

Prepared by each party. Delivered to the clerk, not less than 10 days before the scheduled settlement conference, received by the clerk of the Supervising Settlement Judge and received by every other party. Applies to all civil cases set for a Mandatory Settlement Conference. SSC Rule 2.94(D)(1)

  1. Copies delivered to the clerk and to every other party
    • an original and one copy of the Settlement Conference Statement received by the clerk of the Supervising Settlement Judge
    • a copy received by every other party

Trial Exhibits Submitted Before a Short Cause Trial

Prepared by each party. Lodged, at least 7 calendar days before the scheduled trial date if emailed, or postmarked at least 14 calendar days before the scheduled trial date if mailed. Applies to short cause civil trials only. Sacramento Superior Court, Presiding Judge Civil Department Information page, "Short Cause Trial Assignment," Submission of Exhibits Before Short Cause Trial

  1. Copies of all trial exhibits for the court and the opposing party
    • scanned exhibits emailed at least seven calendar days before the scheduled trial date to CivilTrialExhibits@saccourt.ca.gov
    • a copy to the opposing party
    • or exhibits sent by mail, postmarked at least fourteen calendar days before the scheduled trial date

Motions in Limine, Oppositions, and List of Disputed Motions

Prepared by each party. Filed and served, exchanged with the other parties at least seven days before trial, filed at least two court days before the first day of trial, with a courtesy hard copy to the assigned department on the first day of trial. Applies to all civil trials. SSC Rule 2.95(A)-(B)

  1. The motions in limine
    • each party's motions in limine, exchanged with the other parties at least seven days before trial
    • the motions filed at least two court days before the first day of trial
  2. Oppositions, if any
    • any opposition to a motion in limine, filed with the motions
  3. List of disputed motions
    • the motions identified as contested during the meet and confer
    • the list filed with the motions and the oppositions

Jury Instructions

Prepared jointly. Lodged, on the first day of trial, in electronic Word form to the assigned trial judge (the assigned department expects it at the first pretrial conference instead). Applies to jury trials only. SSC Rule 2.97(A)-(B)

  1. A fully completed set of agreed upon jury instructions
    • every instruction the parties agree on, in one fully completed set
    • the agreed set sorted from the disputed set through the parties' meet and confer
    • electronic Word form
  2. All jury instructions the parties cannot agree upon
    • each instruction the parties cannot agree on
    • electronic Word form
  3. Authority for pinpoint or special instructions
    • the case or statutory authority for the instruction, printed after the text of the instruction

Trial Exhibit Binders

Prepared jointly. Brought to the conference, prepared prior to the first day of trial (the assigned department expects the binders at or before the first pretrial conference). Applies to all civil trials. SSC Rule 2.98(B)

  1. Copies of the agreed exhibits
    • copies of the agreed exhibits
    • a binder for the trial judge
    • a binder for the clerk
    • a binder for counsel

Joint Exhibit List

Prepared jointly. Lodged, at or before the pretrial conference with the assigned trial department. Applies to all civil trials. SSC Rule 2.98(A); Sacramento Superior Court, Presiding Judge Civil Department Information page, "Assigned Trial Department / Pretrial Conference," Exhibits (Local Rule 2.98)

  1. Exhibits that may be admitted without objection
    • those exhibits that may be admitted without objection, identified through the parties' meet and confer
  2. Exhibits as to which admissibility is contested
    • those exhibits as to which admissibility is contested
  3. Form of the list
    • the joint exhibit list in Word format

Joint Witness List

Prepared jointly. Lodged, on the first day of trial (the assigned department expects it at the first pretrial conference instead). Applies to all civil trials. SSC Rule 2.99(A)-(B)

  1. Alphabetized joint witness list
    • a joint witness list prepared by the parties after a meet and confer
    • the list alphabetized

Trial Brief

Prepared by each party. Lodged, on the first day of trial (the assigned department expects it at the first pretrial conference instead). Applies to all civil trials. SSC Rule 2.99.01

  1. Trial brief
    • one trial brief from each party

Joint Statement of the Case

Prepared jointly. Lodged, on the first day of trial (the assigned department expects it at the first pretrial conference instead). Applies to all civil trials. SSC Rule 2.99.02(A)-(B)

  1. Joint statement of the case
    • a statement of the case the parties have agreed on through a meet and confer
    • submission to the assigned judge
  2. Separate proposed statements where the parties cannot agree
    • each party's own proposed statement of the case, submitted separately

Highlighted Deposition Testimony and Written Discovery Responses

Prepared by each party. Filed and served, at or before the pretrial conference with the assigned trial department, so that objections can be heard. Applies to any civil trial where a party will use deposition testimony or written discovery responses in its case in chief. Sacramento Superior Court, Presiding Judge Civil Department Information page, "Assigned Trial Department / Pretrial Conference," Testimony through Discovery

  1. Deposition testimony or written discovery responses to be used in the case in chief
    • copies of the relevant documents, filed by the offering party
    • the transcript or the portions of it to be used, highlighted
    • a brief explanation of the intended use
    • the same marked documents exchanged with counsel

Transcripts of Audio, Video and Computer Animation Exhibits

Prepared by each party. Brought to the conference, at the pretrial conference, with notice to the court and opposing counsel before trial if a transcript is requested for the jury. Applies to any civil trial where electronic sound, video or audio recordings, or computer animations will be presented. Sacramento Superior Court, Presiding Judge Civil Department Information page, "Assigned Trial Department / Pretrial Conference," Transcripts of Recordings

  1. Transcript for the Court and counsel
    • a transcript of each recording or animation for the Court
    • a transcript for counsel
  2. Notice and copies for the jury
    • notice to the court and opposing counsel before trial if a jury transcript is requested
    • 20 copies available

Start with the joint documents

5 of these are prepared jointly: Jury Instructions; Trial Exhibit Binders; Joint Exhibit List; Joint Witness List; Joint Statement of the Case. A joint document needs a meet and confer before it can be filed, so it sets the real deadline even though the filing date is the same as everything else.

When each one is due

Most of these do not run off the trial date. They run off the pretrial conference with the assigned trial department, which the court sets. Work out that date first, because counting back from the wrong date is the commonest way one gets missed. The full rule list for Sacramento County carries every rule with its quoted text, and the trial countdown calculator computes the statewide CCP chain.

How these were built

Every rule was researched from the court's own published text, then checked a second time by a reader told to assume a rule had been invented. Grouping those rules into the documents a court actually wants was a further pass, and an adversarial check corrected it: the commonest error was a document whose contents the first pass left empty while the rule enumerated them. Templates are generated in your browser, so nothing you type is sent anywhere. See methodology.

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