Sacramento Ex Parte Deadlines: Reserve by 10:00 a.m., File by 4:00 p.m.
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.
Four in the afternoon reads like a comfortable deadline. Under Local Rule 2.35(A) the papers are filed and paid for by 4:00 p.m. one court day before the hearing, and the civil home court department pages add that they must be served by then too. The deadline that actually decides the application sits six hours earlier. Rule 2.35(A) closes the hearing reservation at 10:00 a.m. the court day before the hearing, and opens it no sooner than 5 court days out. The court routes the reservation through the Court Reservation System on the Public Portal before the moving documents are submitted, and says any motion submitted without a reserved hearing date is subject to rejection. A lawyer working to the 4:00 p.m. hour has already lost the day at ten.
Two other things carry in wrong from elsewhere. E-filing is not mandatory for general civil in Sacramento. The court affirmatively delayed mandatory e-filing past July 1, 2024 to an unspecified future date, so do not assume it is required. The exception is limited civil unlawful detainer at the Carol Miller Justice Center: since July 1, 2026, represented parties must e-file those documents under Rule 2.99.06(A). And the only briefing schedule Rule 2.35 publishes is not the ex parte one. Rule 2.35(C) governs what happens after an order shortening time: opposition five court days and reply two court days before the hearing, and in no event a paper filed later than 9:00 a.m. two court days before. Read that as an ex parte opposition deadline and you are counting toward the wrong hearing.
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 Sacramento rule, in full
- Filing
- Rule 2.35(A): ex parte applications and supporting documents "shall be filed pursuant to Rule 2.02 and paid for by 4:00 p.m. one court day prior to the hearing." The civil home court department pages add service: moving papers "must be served and filed by 4:00 p.m. the date before the hearing."
- Reservation
- Rule 2.35(A): hearings on ex parte applications "shall be reserved with the assigned Civil Home Court Department no sooner than 5 court days and no later than 10:00 a.m. the court day before the ex parte application hearing." The court's Civil Home Courts page routes the reservation through the Court Reservation System on the Public Portal before the moving documents are submitted, says a reservation cannot be made without an assigned case number, and warns that "Any motion submitted without a reserved hearing date will be subject to rejection."
- Notice
- Stated by the court on its Civil Home Courts page: notify the parties no later than 10:00 a.m. on the court day before the ex parte appearance, absent exceptional circumstances.
- Opposition
- For an order shortening time only: opposition 5 court days and reply 2 court days before the hearing, and in no event may the last paper be filed later than 9:00 a.m. two court days before the hearing (Rule 2.35(C)). That is the schedule for the motion heard on shortened time, not for the ex parte application.
- When heard
- By department: 9:00 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. Writ departments differ materially, and at least one will not reserve a date at all, instead reviewing the pleadings and advising the moving party only if a hearing is necessary. One writ department prefers at least 48 hours notice.
- E-filing
- Rule 2.02 lets civil documents be e-filed, mailed, brought in person or placed in the drop box, and the court delayed mandatory e-filing past Jul 1 2024 to an unspecified future date. One exception since Jul 1 2026: represented parties must e-file limited civil unlawful detainer documents at the Carol Miller Justice Center (Rule 2.99.06(A)).
- Department variation
- Strong department variation. Uncontested applications are usually ruled on without a hearing; contested ones may be set for hearing or ruled on the papers depending on the department.
- Rules relied on
- SSC Local Rule 2.35 (civil home court ex parte applications); Rule 2.02 (civil filings). Rule 1.07 is a separate rule for the Presiding Judge's department.
- Edition read
- Local rules eff. Jul 1 2026; Rule 2.35 adopted Jan 1 2013, last revised Jul 1 2026. Court source
FAQ
What is the Sacramento ex parte filing deadline?
4:00 p.m. one court day before the hearing. Local Rule 2.35(A) requires the application and supporting documents to be filed under Rule 2.02 and paid for by then, and the civil home court department pages add that the moving papers must be served by the same hour. Rule 2.35 dates from 2013 and was last revised July 1, 2026. Rule 1.07 is a separate rule for ex parte applications in the Presiding Judge's department.
Do you have to reserve a Sacramento ex parte hearing, and by when?
Yes, and the reservation is the earlier of the two deadlines. Rule 2.35(A) opens the window no sooner than 5 court days before the hearing and closes it at 10:00 a.m. the court day before. The court's Civil Home Courts page routes the reservation through the Court Reservation System on the Public Portal before the moving documents are submitted, says a reservation cannot be made without an assigned case number, and warns that any motion submitted without a reserved hearing date is subject to rejection.
When is ex parte notice due in Sacramento?
No later than 10:00 a.m. on the court day before the ex parte appearance, absent exceptional circumstances. The court states that affirmatively in its own materials, restating the statewide hour rather than changing it. It lands at the same hour as the reservation cutoff, so the two things that must happen by 10:00 a.m. are telling the other side and holding the date, while the papers themselves have until 4:00 p.m.
Is e-filing required for a Sacramento ex parte?
Not for general civil. Rule 2.02 lets civil documents be e-filed, mailed, brought in person or placed in the drop box, and the court delayed mandatory e-filing past July 1, 2024 to an unspecified future date. The exception, since July 1, 2026, is limited civil unlawful detainer at the Carol Miller Justice Center, where represented parties must e-file under Rule 2.99.06(A).
Does Sacramento publish an ex parte opposition deadline?
Not for the application itself. The schedule in Rule 2.35(C) applies to an order shortening time: opposition five court days before the hearing, reply two court days before, and in no event may the last paper be filed later than 9:00 a.m. two court days before the hearing. That is the schedule for the shortened motion, not for the ex parte that produced it.
When are Sacramento ex parte applications heard?
By department, at either 9:00 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. Department variation is strong. Uncontested applications are usually ruled on without a hearing, and a contested application may be set for hearing or ruled on the papers depending on the department.
Do the Sacramento writ departments follow the same procedure?
Not reliably, and this is where the county-wide reservation rule stops being county-wide. Writ departments differ materially. At least one will not reserve a date at all, and instead reviews the pleadings and advises the moving party only if a hearing is necessary. One writ department prefers at least 48 hours notice. Check the assigned writ department before working to a portal reservation.
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