The Superior Court of Alameda County (Court) announced today that it adopted the following Local and emergency Local Rules, effective Monday, February 8, 2021:

  • Local Rule 1.10 [Composition of jury panels], which adopts the June 5, 2020, emergency amendments to the rule maintaining countywide jury pools for all case types in compliance with Code of Civil Procedure section 198.5;
  • Local Rule 1.12 [Juror questionnaires], which replaces emergency Local Rule 1.10a, requires juror questionnaire completion in connection with jury service, and encourages remote, electronic submission in advance of the jury summons date;
  • Local Rule 1.90 [Remote proceedings], which replaces emergency Local Rule 1.8b and provides that the Court may conduct all proceedings, including trials, remotely, where permitted by law; and
  • Emergency Local Rule 1.8a, amended to extend the stay of execution on writs of possession to June 30, 2021, to align with California’s statewide eviction moratorium.

These Local Rules all embody changes that the Court previously enacted through emergency Local Rules pursuant to the authority conferred by Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye in her March 23, 2020, Statewide Order. Though initially passed on an emergency basis due to the urgent nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Court, after review and consideration of the public comments concluded that Local Rules 1.10, 1.12, and 1.90 should be formally adopted into its non-emergency Local Rules. Each aligns with the current state of the law and offers improvements to benefit Alameda County residents and court users over the long term, particularly through facilitating remote access to the Court and recognizing the ongoing countywide nature of court operations across all case types.

The Court looks forward to continuing our work with our community partners, including collaborating on further Local Rule and Forms revisions, as we build upon the emergency operational changes of the last year to better serve Alameda County residents for years to come.

View the full notice here.

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