§ 491.130.Powers of Referee Conducting Proceedings
Title 6.5. Attachment · Chapter 11. Attaching Plaintiff's Miscellaneous Remedies · Article 1. Examination of Third Person · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 491.130 allows a court-appointed referee, who must be a member of the State Bar, to conduct the third-person examination and exercise most of the court's powers over it, while reserving contempt punishment, attorney's fee awards, and third-party claim determinations to the court itself.
(a)The examination proceedings authorized by this article may be conducted by a referee appointed by the court. The referee may issue, modify, or vacate an order authorized by Section 491.190, may make a protective order authorized by Section 491.180, and may issue a warrant authorized by Section 491.160, and has the same power as the court to grant adjournments, to preserve order, and to subpoena witnesses to attend the examination, but only the court that ordered the reference has power to do any of the following:
(1)Punish for contempt for disobeying an order of the referee.
(2)Make an award of attorney's fees pursuant to Section 491.160.
(3)Determine a third-party claim under Section 491.170.
(b)Only a member of the State Bar of California is eligible for appointment as a referee pursuant to this article.
(c)Nothing in subdivision (a) limits the power of a court to appoint a temporary judge pursuant to Section 21 of Article VI of the California Constitution.
Plain-English Summary
Examination proceedings can be time-consuming, and § 491.130(a) lets the court delegate the day-to-day work to a referee. The referee can issue, modify, or vacate orders under § 491.190, make protective orders under § 491.180, issue arrest warrants under § 491.160, grant adjournments, keep order, and subpoena witnesses -- running the proceeding much as the court would.
Three powers stay with the court alone: punishing contempt for disobeying the referee's order, awarding attorney's fees under § 491.160, and deciding a third-party claim under § 491.170. Those are the decisions with the sharpest consequences for the parties, and the statute keeps them with a judge rather than a referee.
Subdivision (b) limits who can serve as a referee under this article to members of the State Bar of California, and subdivision (c) clarifies that none of this displaces the separate, constitutional path of appointing a temporary judge under Article VI, Section 21 of the California Constitution.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a referee run the entire third-person examination?
Largely, yes. Section 491.130(a) lets a referee issue, modify, or vacate orders, make protective orders, issue warrants, grant adjournments, preserve order, and subpoena witnesses.
What can only the court do, not the referee?
Section 491.130(a) reserves three things to the court: punishing contempt for disobeying the referee's order, awarding attorney's fees under § 491.160, and determining a third-party claim under § 491.170.
Who is eligible to be appointed as a referee for these examinations?
Section 491.130(b) limits eligibility to members of the State Bar of California.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1198, Sec. 57. Operative July 1, 1983, by Sec. 70 of Ch. 1198.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as:referee attachment examination californiastate bar referee debtor examination