(a) The presiding judge of each superior court may prepare, with the assistance of appropriate committees of the court, proposed local rules designed to expedite and facilitate the business of the court. The rules need not be limited to those actions on the civil active list, but may provide for the supervision and judicial management of actions from the date they are filed. Rules prepared pursuant to this section shall be submitted for consideration to the judges of the court and, upon approval by a majority of the judges, the judges shall have the proposed rules published and submitted to the local bar and others, as specified by the Judicial Council, for consideration and recommendations.
§ 575.1.Adoption of Local Rules
Title 7a. Pretrial Conferences · Last amended 2004 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 575.1 lets the presiding judge of each superior court prepare local rules to expedite court business -- covering cases from filing onward, not just those on the civil active list -- for adoption by a majority of the judges after publication and comment, then filing with the Judicial Council.
Full Text of § 575.1
(b) After a majority of the judges have officially adopted the rules, they shall be filed with the Judicial Council as required by Section 68071 of the Government Code and as specified in rules adopted by the Judicial Council. The Judicial Council shall prescribe rules to ensure that a complete current set of local rules and amendments, for each county in the state, is made available for public examination in each county. The local rules shall also be published for general distribution in accordance with rules adopted by the Judicial Council. Each court shall make its local rules available for inspection and copying in every location of the court that generally accepts filing of papers. The court may impose a reasonable charge for copying the rules and may impose a reasonable page limit on copying. The rules shall be accompanied by a notice indicating where a full set of the rules may be purchased.
(c) If a judge of a court adopts a rule that applies solely to cases in that judge's courtroom, or a particular branch or district of a court adopts a rule that applies solely to cases in that particular branch or district of a court, the court shall publish these rules as part of the general publication of rules required by the California Rules of Court. The court shall organize the rules so that rules on a common subject, whether individual, branch, district, or courtwide appear sequentially. Individual judges' rules and branch and district rules are local rules of court for purposes of this section and for purposes of the adoption, publication, comment, and filing requirements set forth in the Judicial Council rules applicable to local court rules.
Plain-English Summary
Section 575.1 is the machinery behind local court rules. Subdivision (a) lets the presiding judge, with the assistance of appropriate court committees, prepare proposed rules aimed at expediting and facilitating the court's business -- not just cases already on the civil active list, but any action from the date it's filed. Once drafted, the rules go to the judges of the court for consideration, and once approved by a majority, they're published and submitted to the local bar and others the Judicial Council specifies, for consideration and recommendations.
Subdivision (b) picks up after that: once a majority of judges officially adopts the rules, the court files them with the Judicial Council under Government Code § 68071 and any rules the Judicial Council itself has adopted. The Judicial Council then has to prescribe rules ensuring a complete, current set of every county's local rules is available for public examination, and each court has to make its local rules available for inspection and copying wherever it generally accepts filings -- charging, at most, a reasonable fee and page limit for copies.
Subdivision (c) reaches down to an even more granular level: rules that apply only to one judge's courtroom, or only to a particular branch or district of the court, count as local rules of court too, and have to be published alongside the courtwide rules, organized so rules on a common subject appear sequentially regardless of whether they're individual, branch, district, or courtwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who prepares proposed local rules for a superior court?
The presiding judge, with the assistance of appropriate committees of the court.
Do local rules only apply to cases already set for trial?
No, § 575.1(a) lets the rules provide for supervision and judicial management of actions from the date they are filed, not just those on the civil active list.
What happens once local rules are officially adopted by a majority of judges?
They're filed with the Judicial Council under Government Code § 68071, published for general distribution, and made available for public inspection and copying.
Can a single judge's courtroom have its own local rule?
Yes, and under § 575.1(c) it must be published as part of the general publication of local rules required by the California Rules of Court.
Amendment History
Amended by Stats 2003 ch 149 (SB 79),s 9, eff. 1/1/2004.
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: local court rules california civil procedurehow are local rules adopted california superior court