California Criminal Motion Deadlines

Why CCP § 1005 does not apply

Section 1005’s catch-all reaches only proceedings “under this code” (CCP § 1005, subd. (a)(13)), it sits in Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure titled “Of Civil Actions,” and the Legislature wrote “in a civil action” into subdivision (a)(6), which is the one entry that could otherwise have reached criminal cases. Penal Code § 1102 imports civil evidence rules into criminal actions. Nothing does the same for civil motion procedure.

The 2020 Pitchess trap

Evidence Code § 1043 used to route criminal Pitchess motions through § 1005(b)’s 16 court days. Assembly Bill 1600, operative January 1, 2020, split the section: civil Pitchess still gets 16 court days under Evid. Code, § 1043(a)(1), but criminal Pitchess now gets 10 / 5 / 2 under subdivision (a)(2), with its own proof-of-service deadline five court days before the hearing. Forms and treatises published before 2020 still state 16 court days, which makes this the figure most often stated incorrectly in this area.

Local rules bind here, unlike civil

Rule 3.20(a) voids local rules on civil motions, which is why a civil calculator can ship one statewide number. Rule 3.20(b)(2) exempts “the Penal Code and all other criminal proceedings” from that preemption, so local criminal rules are not void on preemption grounds. That is the limit of what rule 3.20 establishes: a local rule still may not conflict with a statute or a Judicial Council rule, and rule 4.111(a)’s “unless otherwise ordered” clause permits a case-specific order, not a blanket departmental override. Always check the local rule and the department.

No mail extension

Rule 4.111 has no service-extension provision, and Pen. Code, § 1538.5 subdivisions (f)(2) and (i) require personal service. Code of Civil Procedure § 1013 does not extend a criminal deadline absent statutory language incorporating it. This calculator adds nothing for the method of service, and offers no mail option.

When a deadline lands on a day the court is closed

Every period on this page is counted backward from the hearing, so the direction of the roll decides the date, and the authority does not settle it. Read literally, CCP § 12a(a) and Cal. Rules of Court, rule 1.10(b) extend a deadline that falls on a weekend or judicial holiday forward, to the next day that is not a holiday. Both are written for periods that run forward from an event. Applied to a backward count they would push the filing date later and eat into the notice rule 4.111 requires.

This calculator rolls the other way, to the preceding court day, so the full 10, 5 and 2 court days survive in every case. That is a conservative convention rather than the literal text, and no published California decision resolves it. The civil calculator runs the same convention, and it is recorded with the rest of the verification trail on the methodology page.

Motions covered

Where the authority is unsettled

Most rows here are simply the statute. These are the ones where the authority does not resolve the question, stated with which way this calculator goes:

• Deadline to preserve pretrial writ review of a § 995 or § 1538.5 denial, FELONY (§ 1510). Pen. Code § 1510 does not say whether its 45 and 60 days are calendar or court days, and no published case construes it. Iverson v. Superior Court (1985) 167 Cal.App.3d 544 supplies the calendar-days default, and this calculator applies it.
• Deadline to preserve pretrial writ review of a § 995 or § 1538.5 denial, MISDEMEANOR (§ 1510). Pen. Code § 1510 does not say whether its 45 and 60 days are calendar or court days, and no published case construes it. Iverson v. Superior Court (1985) 167 Cal.App.3d 544 supplies the calendar-days default, and this calculator applies it.
• Special suppression hearing in superior court (§ 1538.5(i)). Pen. Code § 1538.5(i) requires "notice to the people" without specifying a method, and no published case decides whether mailing or receipt starts the 10 court days. This calculator counts forward from whatever date you enter as the date notice was given.
• Motion to compel criminal discovery (§ 1054.5(b)). Pen. Code § 1054.5(b) does not say whether its 15 days are calendar or court days, and no published case construes it. Iverson v. Superior Court (1985) 167 Cal.App.3d 544 supplies the calendar-days default, and this calculator applies it.
• Time to prepare for trial (§ 1049). Pen. Code § 1049 says "five days" without saying calendar or court days, and no published case construes it. Iverson v. Superior Court (1985) 167 Cal.App.3d 544 supplies the default, under which "days" means calendar days unless the Legislature says "court days." The § 1049 cases count weekend days, and this calculator applies calendar days on that basis.
• Information after a holding order (CRC 4.110). Rule 4.110 does not say whether its 15 and 7 days are calendar or court days, and no published case construes it. Iverson v. Superior Court (1985) 167 Cal.App.3d 544 supplies the calendar-days default, and this calculator applies it.

Where a statute sets its own period, this calculator uses the statute. Where none does, it falls back to rule 4.111's 10 / 5 / 2 court days and says so on the result. Rule 4.111 applies only "unless otherwise ordered or specifically provided by law" (People v. Seigler (2025) 116 Cal.App.5th 596), and local rules are not preempted in criminal, so a fallback figure is a floor to check rather than an answer to rely on.

What this does not cover

• Post-conviction motions (§§ 1172.6 [formerly § 1170.95], 1473.7, 1170.18, 1172.1 [formerly § 1170.03, renumbered eff. June 30, 2022, Stats. 2022, ch. 58 (A.B. 200), § 9]) and expungement (§§ 1203.4, 1203.41, 1203.42). Rule 4.111 governs “pretrial motions” by its title and its text, and sits in Title 4, Division 2, Chapter 1 (Pretrial Proceedings). It supplies no period for post-conviction motions. Post-conviction timing is governed by the specific statute creating the remedy. This calculator does not model post-conviction motions.
• Speedy-trial and custody clocks (§§ 825, 859b, 1381, 1382). These are not motion deadlines and several have unresolved unit questions.
• Appeal deadlines and the § 1237.5 certificate of probable cause. Rule 8.308: 60 days after rendition of judgment or the making of the order appealed from (felony). Rule 8.853: 30 days (misdemeanor, appellate division).
• Marsden (People v. Marsden (1970) 2 Cal.3d 118), Faretta (Faretta v. California (1975) 422 U.S. 806), and § 1018 motions to withdraw a plea.
• Juvenile delinquency. Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.10 provides only that “The Civil Rules apply to all civil cases in the superior courts, including general civil, family, juvenile, and probate cases.” A Welf. & Inst. Code § 602 delinquency proceeding is not a civil case, and rule 3.20(b)(2) separately exempts Welfare and Institutions Code proceedings. Rule 3.10 therefore does not supply the answer. The open question is instead whether a § 602 proceeding is a “criminal action” within Evid. Code § 1043(a)(2). Before AB 1600, City of Tulare v. Superior Court (2008) 169 Cal.App.4th 373 applied CCP § 1005 notice to a Pitchess motion in a § 602 case. No published post-2020 case construes § 1043(a)(2) in juvenile court. Juvenile delinquency is out of scope.
• Racial Justice Act motions (§§ 745, 1473(f)) and diversion (§§ 1000, 1001.36, 1001.95).

For civil motions, including demurrer, anti-SLAPP, motions to compel further, and summary judgment, use the civil calculator.

This page computes deadlines and assumes you already know which motion you are bringing. If you are the defendant rather than counsel, calcriminalguide.com explains California criminal procedure in plain English.