Shasta County trial binder and trial document requirements

All limited and unlimited civil cases will be assigned a settlement conference date and trial date at the time the complaint is filed. At the time that the summons is issued the court shall prepare a LF-CIV-100, Notice of 1) All Purpose Assignment, 2) Mandatory Settlement Conference and 3) Trial which shall include the name of the judge to whom the case has been assigned and the dates of the mandatory settlement conference and trial. No case management date will be assigned and no case management statements will be accepted for filing.

Verified verbatim in the July 1, 2026 edition. The MSC is the only pretrial conference the Shasta civil rules create, so it is the anchor for this county by default rather than by design. The rules state no interval between the MSC and trial and hang no trial document deadline off it. Both dates come off the clerk's calendar at filing, which on a long construction defect case means the original trial date is usually stale before it arrives. Separately, both civil departments calendar a Civil Resolution Review Monday at 9:00 a.m., which the rules do not create and do not explain.

Statements. Mandatory settlement conference statements must be filed as required by Rule 3.1380(c) of the California Rules of Court. In addition to the requirements of Rule 3.1380(c), the mandatory settlement conference statement also must include the following: (1) whether a jury is demanded or waived and whether jury fees have been posted; (2) time estimate for trial; and (3) whether the case is ready to proceed to trial as assigned.

Verified verbatim. The local rule sets content, not timing. It borrows the deadline from CRC 3.1380(c) and states none of its own, so count the filing deadline off the state rule. This statement is the closest thing Shasta publishes to a trial readiness filing. It does not ask for witnesses, exhibits, instructions or a trial brief.

Attendance by Insurance Carrier Representative. Pursuant to California Rules of Court, Rule 3.1380(b), good cause is deemed to have been shown to excuse from the attendance at the settlement conference insurance claims persons whose offices are more than 100 miles from the courthouse, provided those persons are available by telephone during the settlement conference.

Verified verbatim, and the identical finding is preprinted on LF-CIV-100, so it applies by court order in every case without anyone asking. Redding is well over 100 miles from Sacramento and far more from Los Angeles or San Diego, so a carrier representative on a Shasta defect case is almost always phone eligible. The rule says available by telephone during the conference, not on standby.

(H) Trial Notebook. Petitioners shall prepare a trial notebook in a three-ring binder that shall be filed with the court no later than fifteen (15) days prior to the date of the hearing. The trial notebook shall contain the petition, the answer(s), the memoranda of points and authorities, any motions previously filed and set to be heard at the trial of the action, the statement(s) of issues required by Public Resources Code 21167.8, and any other document(s) agreed upon by the parties. Each document in the trial notebook shall be separately tabbed with a table of contents at the front of the notebook. The notebook shall also contain an index to evidence cited in the briefs by document title, record page number, and the volume and tab number in the administrative record.

Verified verbatim. Anchor note: the rule's literal anchor is "the date of the hearing," meaning the merits hearing the court sets tentatively at the status conference under Rule 5.19(A)(3)(b) and confirms or revises at the record certification hearing under Rule 5.19(G). In a CEQA writ that hearing is the trial, so trial_date is the right token, but the date is court set and moves. Scope is narrow: Rule 5.19(A)(1) applies this rule only to actions under Public Resources Code section 21000 et seq. and carves out streamlined CEQA actions under CRC 3.2220 et seq. It does not reach an ordinary civil jury trial. Three drafting points: the rule says filed, not lodged; it says 15 days, not 15 court days; and the burden falls on petitioners alone, not jointly. Paper is assumed throughout and nothing addresses an electronic set or a courtesy copy.

(2) Volume designation. The administrative record shall be lodged in one or more volumes of loose-leaf three-ring binders, tabbed by document number and prominently titled "ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD VOL. 1", etc. Each volume shall consist of not more than three hundred (300) pages and shall be numerically tabbed by the document number in the volume. Each volume shall have a cover-page listing each document in the volume by the number of the tab at which it appears, the full title of the document, and the page number of the record of the first page of the document. The volume number shall also be printed on the spine of each binder.

Verified verbatim, including the hyphenated "cover-page," which breaks across a page in the PDF. Timing lives in Rule 5.19(E). Rule 5.19(D)(3) also fixes the internal order of the record: notice of determination, then the approving resolution or ordinance, then the draft EIR and initial study, then comments and responses, then the remainder of the final EIR, then staff reports, then hearing transcripts or minutes, then the remainder chronologically. CEQA only.

The briefs shall contain specific references to the administrative record, by record page number and the document title, in support of any factual contentions asserted by a party in its brief. A reference to "the whole file" is not a specific reference. Each brief shall have a separate appendix page that lists the page number of each page of the administrative record cited in the brief.

Verified verbatim. Filed under Trial brief because in a CEQA writ the merits brief is the trial brief, but read the limit: this is the only brief in the Shasta civil rules carrying any content requirement, and it does not reach a trial brief in a jury case. Timing is set case by case. Rule 5.19(A)(3)(a) makes petitioner request a status conference within 50 days of filing the petition, and Rule 5.19(A)(3)(b) has the court set a tentative hearing date and briefing schedule at that conference, confirmed or revised at the record certification hearing under Rule 5.19(G). Length follows CRC 3.1113 unless the court orders otherwise.

Shasta County Superior Court does not conduct case management conferences. All limited and unlimited civil cases are exempt from case management rules as allowed by Rule 3.720 of the California Rules of Court. This constitutes Shasta County Superior Court's alternative procedure for case processing and trial setting as required by Rule 3.720(b).

Verified verbatim. This is why the county rules are thin on trial preparation. In most California courts the case management conference is where the trial date and the pretrial document schedule get set. Shasta sets the dates at filing and sets no document schedule at all. Do not file a CM-110 here.

General civil cases shall be assigned to a judge for all purposes at the time of filing.

Verified verbatim. On the current assignments sheet, effective April 13, 2026, the civil departments are Department 63 (Hon. Benjamin Hanna) and Department 64 (Hon. Ryan Birss). Do not use the October 22, 2025 sheet, which still shows Hon. Stephen H. Baker in Department 64. Because one judge holds the case from filing through verdict, any trial document requirement past what the rules print comes from that department, and the court publishes nothing telling you what it is. Call the judicial assistant.

Plaintiffs must serve all named defendants with the LF-CIV-100; Notice of 1) All Purpose Assignment, 2) Mandatory Settlement and 3) Trial and file proof of service within 60 days after the complaint has been filed. Plaintiffs must serve the notice on any intervenor or interpleader within 10 days of being served with the complaint in intervention or interpleader. All cross-complainants must serve the notice upon each cross-defendant at the time the cross-complaint is served.

Verified verbatim. Offset token defined: +60_days_from_complaint_filing means 60 calendar days measured forward from the date the complaint was filed, not from any conference or trial date. The form and the rule do not match on the service trigger. LF-CIV-100 itself orders that plaintiff serve the notice on each defendant at the time of service of the complaint, which is earlier than the rule's 60 days. Follow both: serve with the complaint, file proof within 60 days of filing. This belongs in a trial answer because LF-CIV-100 is the only document that puts a defendant on notice of the trial date, and in a defect case with defendants added over time each cross defendant has to get it with the cross complaint.

Upon completion and preparation of the record, it must be certified by the agency before it is filed with the court. If the agency has prepared the record, it shall make the required certification and shall personally serve the record and lodge it with the court no later than sixty (60) days after the request. If the petitioners have elected to prepare the record, the petitioners must transmit it to the agency for certification. After certification, petitioners shall then personally serve the record and lodge it with the Court no later than sixty (60) days after service of the notice of election to prepare the record.

Verified verbatim. Offset token defined: +60_days_from_request_or_election means 60 calendar days forward from the request to prepare the record when the agency prepares it, or from service of the notice of election when petitioners prepare it. The rest of Rule 5.19(E) requires a partial certification specifying alleged defects if the agency refuses to certify in full, and it requires any extension to be stipulated and approved, or noticed, before the 60 days expire. Record disputes go on noticed motion under Rule 5.19(F), heard on a date before the writ hearing, with CCP 1005 notice.

Proposed orders. The moving party shall submit a proposed order at the time of filing any demurrer, motion or other application for order.

Verified verbatim. Re-filed from ruleArea "Motions in limine" to "Other" because the rule does not name in limine motions and labeling it that way implies a local in limine rule that does not exist. If the assigned department wants in limine motions in writing by a set date, that direction comes from the department. The criminal side does have rules, 9.02 (Motions at Trial) and 9.05(C) (trial briefs and in limine motions no later than the beginning of the pre voir dire conference), but both sit in Section 9, Criminal Rules, Trial, and do not reach civil.

Law and Motion Calendars. All demurrers, motions and other applications for orders (except ex parte applications), and any other matters in connection with "general civil actions" as defined in California Rules of Court, Rule 1.6(4), customarily heard and determined as law and motion matters shall be set on each Monday in the department to which the action has been assigned for all purposes. However, when Monday is a court holiday such matters shall be set for the following court day, absent other or further order of court.

Verified verbatim. Matters for pretrial motion practice because it fixes the only available hearing day. The local rules set no notice period of their own, so count backward under CCP 1005(b), add the CCP 1010.6(a)(3)(B) electronic service days, then land on a Monday. The current assignments sheet puts Civil Law and Motion at 8:30 a.m. Monday in both Departments 63 and 64. Rule 5.17(B) requires a notice of continuance or withdrawal, with a declaration that all parties agreed and a proof of service, at least two court days before the originally scheduled hearing date.

Tentative rulings. This Court does not follow the procedures described in Rules of Court, Rule 3.1308(a). Tentative rulings are available online no less than 12 hours in advance of the time set for hearing.

Verified verbatim. The rest of the subdivision says a party is not required to give notice to the court or other parties of intent to appear to present argument, that the tentative does not become the final ruling until the hearing, and that nothing requires a judge to issue a tentative at all. So no 4:00 p.m. call in deadline, which is the opposite of most counties. Tentatives post at shasta.courts.ca.gov under the Tentative Rulings link.

Civil Cases. Official court reporters are not normally available in civil cases. Requests for court reporting services in civil cases shall be made in accordance with California Rules of Court, Rule 2.956, which may be submitted on Judicial Council form FW-020, Request for Court Reporter by Party with a Fee Waiver. Where the request is timely submitted and granted, a clerk will notify the requestor as soon as possible if no court reporter will be available. Given the limited availability of official court reporters, notice of the unavailability of a court reporter may not be given until the day of the hearing or trial.

Verified verbatim. The rule sits in Section 2, General Administration, but subdivision (B) is captioned "Civil Cases" and governs civil trials on its face. Rule 2.06(A) lists both civil departments, 63 and 64, as "No reporter supplied unless directed by the Court." Budget a private reporter for any Shasta civil trial and arrange it early. The last sentence is the trap: you can be told on the morning of trial that there is no reporter, and without one there is no verbatim record for appeal. The electronic recording fallback in the rest of the subdivision applies only to a fee waiver party in a limited civil case.

A violation of these Rules of Court constitutes a violation of a lawful court order, as that term is used in Code of Civil Procedure 177.5, and may subject the party and/or counsel to sanctions thereunder, or under Code of Civil Procedure 575.2, or as otherwise provided by law.

Verified verbatim. Rule 5.09 sits in Section 5, Miscellaneous Rules, Civil, but by its own terms reaches "these Rules of Court," so it is the general enforcement provision for the whole book. It is the only consequences rule in the civil sections. There is no rule striking a witness or an exhibit for late disclosure, because there is no disclosure deadline to be late on. Caution on the citation: the extracted front table of contents prints Sanctions at Rule 5.10. The body heading and the alphabetical index at the back both say 5.09. Cite 5.09.