Trinity County trial binder and trial document requirements

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 against the July 1, 2021 PDF. The local rule sets no deadline of its own. It incorporates CRC 3.1380(c) without restating it, so the filing deadline comes out of the state rule. This is the only pretrial conference addressed anywhere in Section 3, Civil Case Management, and the three added items are the closest thing Trinity has to a trial readiness statement. Nothing in the rules says when the court sets the MSC relative to trial.

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. Weaverville is remote enough that this reaches essentially every carrier representative in a case tried from outside the county. It excuses physical attendance only. Telephone availability during the conference is still required, and good cause is deemed shown rather than left to discretion. Note that Rule 4.10(A) separately bars telephonic and video appearances at settlement conferences absent judicial approval, so the two rules should be read together before anyone plans to phone in.

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.

Verified verbatim. This is the only trial binder requirement Trinity publishes and it reaches CEQA writ actions only. Rule 4.16 sits in Section 4, Miscellaneous Rules - Civil, captioned Rules for Actions Arising Under the California Environmental Quality Act - Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq. Three points for a practitioner: it is filed, not lodged; the duty is petitioner's alone, not joint; and the hearing it counts back from is the hearing on the writ petition, which the rule itself calls the trial of the action. Fifteen days, not court days.

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. Same rule and same 15 day deadline as the row above, split out because it is the formatting spec rather than the contents list. The rule states no number of copies, says nothing about a courtesy copy for the judge, and says nothing about an electronic version.

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. The administrative record is the evidence at a CEQA writ trial, so in that case type this is the other half of the binder answer and it is more detailed than the trial notebook rule. Rule 4.16(D)(3) separately fixes the internal order of the record, beginning with the notice of determination, then the approving resolutions or ordinances, the draft EIR and initial study, comments and responses, the rest of the final EIR, staff reports, hearing transcripts or minutes, and the remainder in chronological order. The lodging deadline is in 4.16(E), not here.

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. An extension of the sixty (60) day period may be requested by filing a stipulation signed by all parties and obtaining court approval of the extension(s) prior to the expiration of the sixty (60) day period. Alternatively, an extension may be requested on noticed motion prior to the expiration of the sixty (60) day period.

Verbatim extended from the draft so the quote carries the certification rule and the extension mechanics the requirement asserts. This deadline runs off the request to prepare the record or the notice of election, not off the trial date, so it is not a trial countdown item. It matters to the binder question anyway because it is the deadline that puts the record in front of the judge. The hearing on the writ is set tentatively at the status conference the petitioner must request within 50 days of filing the petition under Rule 4.16(A)(2)(a). If the agency will not certify in full it must make a partial certification specifying the alleged defects.

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, and the subdivision checks out: Rule 4.16 opens with an untitled subdivision (A) containing (1) Where filed and (2) Status conference, which in turn contains (a) Request for status conference and (b) Briefing schedule and hearing on the petition. The court sets a tentative hearing date and a tentative briefing schedule at the initial status conference and confirms or revises both at the hearing to certify the record under Rule 4.16(G). Either can be advanced or continued by the court on its own motion or on noticed motion for good cause. Brief length follows CRC 3.1113 unless the court orders otherwise. This is the only brief requirement Trinity publishes on the civil side and it reaches CEQA only.

The hearing to supplement the record or to object to documents shall be separate from and heard on a date prior to the hearing on the writ.

Verified verbatim. This is the functional equivalent of an evidentiary cutoff before trial in a CEQA case, and it is the closest thing in the civil rules to an in limine deadline. The rule tells parties in capital letters to meet and confer before filing, and says such a motion should normally be filed as soon as possible after the record is lodged. No number of days is given, so the only fixed input is CCP 1005 notice counted back from whatever date the court gives.

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. Plan on retaining a certified shorthand reporter for any civil trial here. The last sentence is the trap: the court can tell you on the morning of trial that no reporter is available, which leaves no record unless you brought your own. In a limited civil case where the requesting party has a fee waiver, the court electronically records the proceeding instead under Gov. Code 69957 and CRC 2.952, which is the next sentence of the same subdivision. The court also posts a local form, Request for Court Reporter by a Party with a Fee Waiver.

In accordance with Code of Civil Procedure §190, et seq., there is hereby established one county-wide geographical selection area for the purpose of producing juror summons lists for the court. All jury trials shall be conducted in Weaverville, absent an order to the contrary by the Presiding Judge.

Verified verbatim. One courthouse, 11 Court Street, Weaverville, open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, (530) 623-1208. Anything filed, lodged or hand delivered before trial goes there. Worth knowing before scheduling a multi-week trial, since the county has roughly 16,000 residents and one jury pool.

General civil cases shall be assigned to a judge pursuant to the court's annual calendar at the time of filing.

Verified verbatim, and the requirement is now trimmed to what this one sentence says. The rule's caption is All Purpose Assignment Exemption From Case Management Conference. This row matters because it tells you where the real trial document answer comes from: the rules are silent on trial documents and every case has an all purpose judge from day one, so the operative requirements will be in that judge's trial setting order. The court's Court Calendars page shows two departments, Department 1 and Department 2, but does not name the judicial officer in either. The annual calendar the rule refers to is not published.

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 the appropriate civil day in the department to which the action has been assigned for all purposes. However, when the appropriate civil day is a court holiday, such matters shall be set on the next available civil day, absent other or further order of court.

Split out of the Rule 3.02 row so the routing carries its own quote. Together 3.02 and 4.14(A) are the structural delegation: one judge holds the case start to finish and everything is heard in that department. The rules never identify which day is the civil day in either department, so that is a call to Court Services at (530) 623-1208. Rule 4.14(B) separately requires a notice of continuance or withdrawal of a law and motion hearing, with a declaration that all parties agreed and a proof of service, filed and served at least two court days before the original hearing date.

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. Stated broadly enough on its face to reach any noticed civil motion. Whether it reaches motions in limine, which are customarily heard at trial rather than on the law and motion calendar, is not addressed anywhere in the rules, and Trinity publishes no civil in limine rule at all.

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. The only consequence provision on the civil side, and it is generic rather than tied to any trial document. Rules 1.07(F) and 1.08(C) both point back to it, for late or absent appearances and for failing to notify on unopposed or dropped matters. Rule 11.01 is the criminal twin. Nothing in the civil rules provides for evidence preclusion, witness preclusion, exclusion, an automatic continuance or vacatur of a trial date. The only preclusion provision in the book is Rule 14.03(B), in Section 14, Juvenile Court Rules, which does not reach civil cases. The one rule-specific civil consequence is in Rule 4.14(B) and it covers law and motion continuance and withdrawal notices, not trial documents: "Failure of the moving party to comply with this rule may result in the matter being taken off calendar or deemed to have been submitted for the Court's ruling, and/or the imposition of monetary sanctions."