Fresno Ex Parte Deadlines: 2:00 p.m. or 9:00 a.m., Depending on the Hearing
Not legal advice. Rules checked against the code on August 20, 2026. Verify every date yourself. Read the full disclaimer
Core CCP rules were checked against Westlaw (via CoCounsel legal research) on August 20, 2026. County local rules are paraphrased summaries; individual department standing orders are NOT included. Verify every date against the operative code sections and your court’s rules before relying on it. Using this site creates no attorney-client relationship.
No other county on this site has two filing deadlines. Fresno has two, and the hearing picks which one you are on. Morning hearing: the application and supporting papers are due not later than 2:00 p.m. the court day before. Afternoon hearing: not later than 9:00 a.m. on the date of the hearing itself. Rule 2.7.1(B), effective January 1, 2024. The papers do not change. The date does, and so does the hour, which is why the calculator on this page asks you something no other county page asks.
Read this before researching the county yourself, because the court’s own FAQ page publishes only half the rule. It gives the 9:00 a.m. on the date of the hearing prong and leaves the 2:00 p.m. prong out. A lawyer with a morning hearing who reads that FAQ and files at 9:00 a.m. that morning is a full day late. Follow Rule 2.7.1(B). One more thing bites at the window: Fresno rejects e-filed ex parte applications that arrive without a calendared hearing date, department and time, so the reservation is not a step you can clean up afterward.
Your dates
The rule, before you enter anything
Notify all parties no later than 10:00 a.m. on the court day before the ex parte appearance. CRC 3.1203(a). That is a clock deadline, not a date deadline. It is not extended by mail or electronic service, and if the day before the hearing is not a court day the deadline moves to the preceding court day, never the following one.
Then there is the county filing deadline, which is usually the one that bites. Enter a date and pick your county.
The Fresno rule, in full
- Filing
- Split by whether the hearing is morning or afternoon. Not later than 2:00 p.m. the day preceding the hearing if the hearing is in the MORNING; not later than 9:00 a.m. the date of the hearing if the hearing is in the AFTERNOON (Rule 2.7.1(B), eff. Jan 1 2024).
- Reservation
- Required. Obtain a date and time from the law and motion clerk, or at the civil filing counter on presentation of moving papers and payment of fees. Rule 4.1.5(C): "E-filed motions or ex parte applications without a calendared hearing date, department, and time will be rejected." No lead time published.
- Notice
- Rule 2.7.1(A) enforces CRC 3.1200-3.1207 on pain of rejection: applications "failing to comply ... will be rejected."
- Opposition
- Nothing recorded. This site holds no finding either way on a county-wide opposition deadline here, which is not the same as a finding that none exists.
- When heard
- Not published as a set time. The rules distinguish only morning from afternoon settings and assign scheduling to the law and motion clerk.
- Decided without a hearing
- Rule 2.7.2 lists nine categories decided WITHOUT a hearing, among them an application to exceed the page limit, a stipulated order, guardian ad litem, extension of time to serve a pleading, service by publication, trial continuance, and a Doe substitution under CCP § 474.
- Trap
- The court FAQ page states only the "9:00 a.m. on the date of the hearing" half of the rule and omits the 2:00 p.m. prong. Follow Rule 2.7.1(B), not the FAQ.
- E-filing
- Represented parties must e-file in all civil, family law and probate (Rule 4.1.2(A)(1)).
- Department variation
- Fresno centralizes ex parte scheduling in the law and motion clerk and does not direct you to a general civil department standing order. A trial-continuance ex parte must be presented to the assigned civil judge at least 5 court days before trial (Rule 2.1.9(D)).
- Rules relied on
- FSC Rule 2.7.1 (format and filing), Rule 2.7.2 (cases in which hearings not required)
- Edition read
- Local rules Jan 1 2026 publication; Rule 2.7.1 eff. Jan 1 2024. Court source
FAQ
What is the Fresno ex parte filing deadline?
There are two, and the hearing decides which one governs. If the ex parte is set in the morning, the application is due not later than 2:00 p.m. the court day before. If it is set in the afternoon, it is due not later than 9:00 a.m. on the date of the hearing. Both come from Rule 2.7.1(B), effective January 1, 2024, and this site treats both as hard deadlines.
My hearing is in the afternoon. Do I really file on the morning of the hearing?
Yes. Rule 2.7.1(B) sets the afternoon prong at not later than 9:00 a.m. on the date of the hearing. Notice is a separate question and it does not move with the filing deadline. Fresno applies the statewide rule for notice, so notice is still due by 10:00 a.m. the court day before the appearance under California Rules of Court rule 3.1203. On an afternoon setting that means you give notice a full day before the papers are due in.
The Fresno court FAQ says 9:00 a.m. Can I rely on that?
No, and this is the trap the page exists for. The FAQ page states only the 9:00 a.m. on the date of the hearing half of the rule and omits the 2:00 p.m. prong entirely. If your hearing is in the morning and you calendar off the FAQ, you will file at 9:00 a.m. on the hearing date when you were due at 2:00 p.m. the previous court day. Follow Rule 2.7.1(B), not the FAQ.
Do you have to reserve a Fresno ex parte hearing?
Yes, and it is enforced at intake rather than at the hearing. Obtain a date and time from the law and motion clerk, or at the civil filing counter on presentation of the moving papers and payment of fees. Rule 4.1.5(C) states that e-filed motions or ex parte applications without a calendared hearing date, department and time will be rejected. No lead time is published, so the reservation has to happen early enough to clear whichever of the two filing deadlines you are on.
What notice does Fresno require to the other side?
The statewide rule, with a local enforcement hook attached. Rule 2.7.1(A) enforces California Rules of Court 3.1200 through 3.1207 on pain of rejection, stating that applications failing to comply will be rejected. So the notice deadline is rule 3.1203, no later than 10:00 a.m. the court day before the ex parte appearance, and Fresno has tied rejection to noncompliance with the statewide ex parte rules.
Which Fresno ex parte applications are decided without a hearing?
Rule 2.7.2 lists nine categories decided without a hearing. Among them are an application to exceed the page limit, a stipulated order, appointment of a guardian ad litem, an extension of time to serve a pleading, service by publication, a trial continuance, and a Doe substitution under Code of Civil Procedure section 474. No other county on this site publishes a list like it.
When are Fresno ex parte matters heard, and does it vary by department?
No set time is published. The rules distinguish only a morning setting from an afternoon one and assign the scheduling to the law and motion clerk. Fresno centralizes that scheduling and does not send you to a general civil department standing order, which makes it one of the few counties here where no department-by-department variation is recorded. One carve-out sits outside that channel: a trial-continuance ex parte must be presented to the assigned civil judge at least 5 court days before trial under Rule 2.1.9(D).
Related: Ex parte deadlines, all counties · County ex parte rule sheet · California court holidays
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