Contra Costa Superior Court – Urgent Release: Court Reopening

URGENT RELEASE: COURT REOPENING

ALL COURT LOCATIONS WILL REOPEN TO THE PUBLIC ON MAY 26, 2020 AT 8:00 A.M.

Click here to download the original news release from the Contra Costa Superior Court website.

• IF YOU ARE SICK, DO NOT COME TO THE COURT. NO ONE WHO IS SICK OR WHO IS EXHIBITING COVID-19 SYMPTOMS WILL BE PERMITTED TO ENTER ANY COURT FACILITY.
• YOU MUST WEAR A MASK OR FACE COVERING TO ENTER ANY COURT FACILITY AND AT ALL TIMES WHILE INSIDE.
• ANYONE ENTERING ANY COURT FACILITY WILL HAVE THEIR TEMPERATURE TAKEN. IF YOU HAVE A TEMPERATURE OF 100 DEGREES OR HIGHER, YOU WILL BE DENIED ENTRY FOR THAT DAY.
• PLEASE EXPECT LONG LINES AND LONG WAIT TIMES. THE COURT WILL FOLLOW SOCIAL DISTANCING REQUIREMENTS AND BUILDING ACCESS WILL BE LIMITED. PLEASE OBEY ALL SIGNS. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.
• CLERK’S OFFICES ARE OPEN 8:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M., WITH PHONE HOURS FROM 10:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M., UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
• THE MARTINEZ COURT RECORDS OFFICE REMAINS CLOSED. SEE BELOW FOR INFORMATION CONCERNING RECORDS ACCESS.
• PLEASE READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS RELEASE FOR INFORMATION ABOUT SPECIFIC OPERATIONS.

Entrances and Exits. All buildings will operate a single entry/exit point. Please follow all signs carefully. The Court Street entrance for the Wakefield Taylor building in Martinez will not be open; use the Main Street entrance only.

• No Nonessential Parties. Due to social distancing limitations, individuals who are not essential to Court matters should not accompany parties to Court for any matter or case type.

• Drop Box Filings. Drop boxes will still be available from 9 A.M. – 3 P.M. (one hour after clerk’s office closure). Because clerk’s offices will experience high demand and significant wait times, the Court encourages you to file items by drop box. Items placed in the drop box before 3:00 p.m. will be file-stamped that day.

  Drop box locations are:

  Civil: Main Street entrance of the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez.
  Criminal: Main Street entrance of the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez.
  Family: Main entrance of Family Law building in Martinez.
  Juvenile: Main entrance of the Walnut Creek Courthouse.
  Probate: Main Street entrance of the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez.
  Pittsburg and Richmond courthouses: These drop boxes are available only for filings in case types heard at those locations.

• Jury Service. Jury service will resume. Be assured that we are working with the County Health Department to ensure your safety. Those summoned must follow the rules above for access to the Court, including wearing masks. To obey social distancing requirements, jurors will be called in two hour blocks. See your jury summons for call-in information. No more than 50 jurors will be present in a jury assembly room at any time. If you are sick, exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, or are a high-risk individual (e.g., over 60 years of age, immunocompromised, etc.), the Court will excuse you from service upon proof. Please call 925-608-1000 and follow the prompts for Jury Services.
• Emergency Local Rules. All Emergency Local Rules remain in effect unless otherwise noted or as superseded by effect of the Court’s reopening. Rules are available at:  http://www.cc-courts.org/local-rules/local-rules.aspx
• Filing Holidays. The Court is open for filing as of May 26, 2020. Filing holidays under this Court’s Implementation Orders and/or Emergency Local Rules expire as of the Court’s reopening. Judicial Council Emergency Rules of Court and/or orders of the Chief Justice, available on the Court’s website, may further extend filing holidays in certain cases. Review these carefully.
• Records. The Court Records office in Martinez remains closed. The Court will only accept records requests and requests for background checks via drop box or mail, subject to all legal confidentiality exceptions. Do not wait in line or come to a clerk’s window with a records request.

           Request forms may be downloaded from the appropriate Court Records webpage:

           For Criminal matters and background checks: http://www.cccourts.org/criminal/records.aspx. Submit by mail or use the Criminal drop box.

           For any other matters: http://www.cc-courts.org/civil/records.aspx. Submit by mail or use the drop box for the appropriate case type.

• Specific Matters

  Restraining Orders. The Court continues to accept applications for domestic violence, civil harassment, and gun violence restraining orders. For civil restraining orders, please review the Civil Emergency Local Rules. For domestic violence restraining orders and emergency protective orders, please review the Family Emergency Local Rules.

  Traffic. The Court is in the process of rescheduling all traffic matters and you will receive a notice of new dates. Read your notice carefully: The location of your matter may differ from your original notice. All traffic matters have been granted a 120-day extension which also applies to payment deadlines as well as deadlines for traffic school and community service completion.

  Small Claims. The Court will reschedule all small claims matters and provide notice of new dates. Read your notice carefully: The location of your matter may differ from your original notice.

  Unlawful Detainer. The Judicial Council’s Emergency Rules of Court prohibit the Court from issuing a summons on any new unlawful detainer complaints, with limited exceptions for urgent public health and safety matters. For matters involving violence, threats of violence, and/or health and safety issues, parties should provide documents with the filing, such as a declaration under oath, relating facts supporting the urgency on those grounds.

  Civil Limited and Unlimited.

  Hearings and filings will proceed under the Civil Emergency Local Rules. Hearings from May 18, 2020 through May 27, 2020, will go forward on fully-briefed matters. Briefs for hearings on May 28, 2020, or thereafter must be filed under normal statutory timeframes even if that requires a filing during the closure period. Review the Civil Emergency Local Rules for further information.

  The CourtCall process in the Civil Emergency Local Rules will be used for all hearings until further notice. Do not come to Court for your hearings.

  Review the Complex Emergency Local Rules for procedures for Complex cases.

• Probate. All matters should be submitted via drop box. The Probate File Examiner Office will not be open to accept ex parte submissions until further notice. Review the Probate Emergency Local Rules for information on hearings and use of remote technology. The Probate department will be providing additional guidance separately.
• Criminal Virtual and Emergency Courtrooms. These courtrooms will close as of May 26, 2020, except by written stipulation of the parties approved by the Presiding Judge.

Keep up to date with our Court Closure Calendar we will be updating this daily as court updates come in.

As always should you have any questions or require immediate assistance contact Direct Legal Support at (213) 483-4900 and you will be able to speak to a live person.

With offices statewide, Direct Legal Support, Inc. remains open to assist you with your legal support needs including California court e-filing and service of process in California. All of our California process servers are bonded and registered.

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