eFiling

You may submit filing electronically 24 hours a day. Any eFiling received by the Court before midnight will be deemed received or filed on the same business day if accepted. Any eFiling submitted after midnight or on weekends/holidays will be deemed received or filed as of the next business day if accepted. 

Electronic filing of Court documents occurs through an electronic filing service provider (EFSP). The user creates and account and the eFiling system manages the flow of the documents and fees to and from the Court. The filer will submit the documents to the EFSP for submission to the Court. The Court will accept or reject the documents. The documents are returned to the EFSP for return to the filer through the EFSP's electronic filing portal. 

Registration as an electronic filer is required to establish an account for your electronically filed documents. Your account will allow you to check the status of our electronically filed documents and will provide a path for the Court to return your documents to you. 

Yes. The Judicial Council has mandated that all courts accepting electronically filed documents use independent EFSPs. Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure Section 1010.6(e) the court may not accept electronic filings directly. You can choose any approved EFSP listed on the court’s website.

Yes. You may choose any EFSP. You may change to a different service provider at any time. Selecting and using an EFSP is similar to using an “attorney service” for filings, except the types of filings processed are electronic.

The first point of contact for any question should be your EFSP. If the question cannot be resolved with the EFSP, you may contact the clerk’s office at 707-263-2374.

Every document that is eFiled must be in PDF format and documents must be text searchable. Judicial Council Forms saved to your computer and Word documents saved as PDF will remain text searchable.

Yes. Judicial Council forms are fillable and can be uploaded for eFiling.

Yes. Forms completed using third party software can be eFiled as an uploaded PDF. Documents submitted via eFiling must be text searchable.

No. Retention of original signed documents is governed by California Rules of Court, rule 2.257 and Code of Civil Procedure Section 1010.6.

No. Documents should not be password protected and will be rejected if the content cannot be viewed.

A Filing Document Name refers to the type of filing (e.g. answer, demurrer, motion, etc.) and is used by the EFSP to properly designate the document(s) upon submission. Using the correct Filing Document Name is extremely important as it determines the appropriate fee and court workflow. The court has made every effort to develop a comprehensive list of document names that closely match the type of document(s) that may be submitted.

If you are unable to identify the document you are filing in the list of document names, you must use the name of the document that most closely describes your filing. If you are unsure about the document name(s), please check that the filing fee(s) are correct before submitting your document(s). There is a “comments” field if you need to include any additional explanation for the filing staff.

Submissions cannot be cancelled after they have been completed in the EFSP. Please double check your documents and any data entry prior to completing your submission.

Contact the clerk’s office at 707-263-2374 as soon as possible.

Yes. See Local Rule 20.8.

Yes. You can use your personal computer to submit filings through an EFSP. You will use the internet to select the EFSP and submit your documents for filing. You will upload the document as an attachment. For instructions, refer to your EFSP’s website.

Yes, unless you have an approved fee waiver or valid government exemption (see Government Code Section 6103). The EFSP will charge the filing fee(s) for your documents and any applicable service or convenience fees. All fees are collected by the EFSP when the filing is submitted, but only the filing fees will be transmitted to the court. For court fees related to electronic filing, refer to the court’s official fee schedule.

Please check with the EFSP of your choosing for specific information regarding payment types.

Yes, the initiating document and fee waiver will be processed at the same time. A fee waiver request FW-001 and a proposed order FW-003 must be included in your submission; however, they must be added as separate PDF document entries.

A copy of your receipt should be available in your EFSP account. Please contact your EFSP if you are unable to locate your receipt. The court is unable to produce a receipt that includes any service or convenience fees that are paid to the EFSP.

Contact your EFSP. Fees for eFiled documents will be refunded to the EFSP pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure Section 411.20 and Government Code Section 6159.

Turnaround time will depend on the type of document filed. You should receive an immediate confirmation from your EFSP provider if the submission was successful and you will receive additional correspondence upon the filing or rejection of your document(s).

The transaction number is provided on your confirmation of filing. The transaction number may be called something different by your EFSP, but it will always be 12 digits long. You can use this number to locate your submission in your EFSP and court staff can use this number to locate your submission in its eFiling processing system.

In addition to failing to follow California Rules of Court rules 2.100 et seq, some common reasons a filing may be rejected by the Court include, but are not limited to:

•  Documents are incorrectly submitted as a single or separate PDF, e.g. multiple documents are submitted as a single PDF document when they should be separate entries.
• Information entered in data fields is incorrect or does not match the document image e.g. the incorrect Filing Document Name is selected, case number does not match, and the party’s name and/or address does not match.
• Incorrect payment type is selected, e.g. fee waiver or government exemption.
• Incorrect case type, case category, or party type is selected.
• Incorrect court location is selected.
• Duplicate submission.
• Document(s) do not meet California Rules of Court or Local Rule guidelines.

The proposed order marked “Received”, will be electronically transmitted back to the submitting party by the EFSP.

Requirements for courtesy copies vary by case type. Please refer to Local Rule 20.7 contact the clerk’s office for more information.

As the court transitions into eFiling, the cases “in flight” will need to be updated by the court to reflect the current fee status. However, if you have an active fee waiver and/or have paid your 1st Appearance fees, there are boxes to this effect in the EFSPs. Check the boxes that apply and the fees should calculate correctly. We cannot take authorizations for too high a payment and will need to reject if the amount authorized exceeds the true amount incurred.

Please note: For certain filings, such as Domestic Violence Restraining Orders, Termination of Parental Rights, Declare Free of Parental Control, or Minor to Marry, there is no monetary 1st Appearance fee. However, please check the box that you have “paid” these fees should the system try to assess the $435.00.

Please do not check this box if 1st Paper Fees are still outstanding or if the amount calculates correctly.

No. You will need to select the box that indicates you have a granted FW on file.

Yes, you will still be able to file your documents in person.