Which California Courts Accept E-Filing?

"Can I e-file in my court?" has no single statewide answer in California. Each superior court decides for itself whether to accept electronic filing, in which kinds of cases, and whether it is optional or required. Below: where those rules come from, how to read our court list, and the counties you can e-file in through Legal Hub Group today.

If you already know your court accepts e-filing and want the steps, start with How to E-File Court Documents in California.

Why the answer is different from court to court

The statewide framework is in California Rules of Court, rule 2.253. It gives each court choices rather than one statewide switch:

Permissive e-filing by local rule. Under rule 2.253(a), a court may permit parties, by local rule, to file documents electronically in any types of cases, subject to Code of Civil Procedure section 1010.6, Penal Code section 690.5 and the e-filing rules.
Mandatory e-filing by local rule. Under rule 2.253(b), a court may require e-filing in civil actions, directly with the court or through approved electronic filing service providers. The court must specify which types or categories of civil actions the requirement covers.

Because each of these is a choice a court makes, the answer depends on the county, the kind of case and sometimes the courthouse. The court's own local rules and e-filing page are where its choices are written down.

Who has to e-file, and who doesn't

Where a court makes civil e-filing mandatory, rule 2.253(b) builds in two protections:

Self-represented parties are exempt from mandatory e-filing and service requirements (rule 2.253(b)(2)). In a case with both represented and self-represented parties, the represented parties may be required to e-file, while each self-represented party files and is served by non-electronic means unless that party affirmatively agrees otherwise (rule 2.253(b)(3)).
Hardship. A party required to e-file must be excused if it shows undue hardship or significant prejudice, and a court that requires e-filing must have a process to apply for that relief and a way for excused parties to file conventionally (rule 2.253(b)(4)).

Rule 2.253(b)(6) adds that a document received electronically still has to meet every other legal filing requirement before it is filed as an official court record. For the reasons clerks send filings back, see Why Was My E-Filing Rejected?

How to read our court list

Our California courts e-filing list shows all 58 counties and, for each one, eight kinds of case: civil, family, probate, juvenile, mental health, criminal, traffic and appeals. Each kind of case carries one of four labels:

New and existing cases — you can start a new case through us, or file in a case that is already open.
Existing cases only — you can file in a case that is already open, but not start a new one.
Not available yet — we can't e-file that kind of case in that county yet.
Not e-filed by the court — the court itself does not take that kind of case by e-filing. Today the list shows this for criminal and traffic in Los Angeles and Madera.

Under each available county, the list also names its individual courts. The rule of thumb is simple: if your county and kind of case aren't listed as available, you can't e-file it through us yet.

Counties you can e-file in through Legal Hub Group today

As of today, the list shows e-filing through Legal Hub Group in 26 counties. Each county name links to that county's page, with its courthouses and fees:

Alameda County: new and existing cases in juvenile; existing cases only in criminal.
Butte County: new and existing cases in civil, family, probate, juvenile, criminal, and traffic.
Calaveras County: new and existing cases in civil, family, probate, and juvenile; existing cases only in criminal and traffic.
Colusa County: new and existing cases in civil, family, probate, and juvenile; existing cases only in criminal and traffic.
Contra Costa County: new and existing cases in civil, family, probate, and appeals; existing cases only in juvenile and criminal.
Glenn County: new and existing cases in civil, family, probate, juvenile, criminal, and traffic.
Los Angeles County: new and existing cases in civil, family, probate, juvenile, and mental health; existing cases only in appeals.
Madera County: new and existing cases in civil, family, and probate.
Mariposa County: new and existing cases in civil, family, probate, and juvenile; existing cases only in criminal and traffic.
Mendocino County: new and existing cases in civil, family, probate, and juvenile; existing cases only in mental health, criminal, and traffic.
Merced County: new and existing cases in civil, family, probate, juvenile, and criminal; existing cases only in traffic.
Napa County: new and existing cases in civil, family, juvenile, and mental health; existing cases only in criminal and traffic.
Orange County: new and existing cases in family and juvenile.
San Bernardino County: new and existing cases in civil, family, and probate; existing cases only in mental health and appeals.
San Diego County: new and existing cases in civil, family, and probate; existing cases only in criminal and traffic.
San Luis Obispo County: new and existing cases in civil, family, juvenile, mental health, and criminal; existing cases only in traffic.
San Mateo County: new and existing cases in civil, family, probate, and juvenile; existing cases only in mental health, criminal, traffic, and appeals.
Santa Barbara County: new and existing cases in civil, family, probate, mental health, and criminal.
Santa Clara County: new and existing cases in civil, family, juvenile, mental health, and criminal.
Santa Cruz County: new and existing cases in civil, family, probate, juvenile, mental health, criminal, and appeals; existing cases only in traffic.
Sonoma County: new and existing cases in civil, family, probate, and juvenile; existing cases only in criminal.
Stanislaus County: new and existing cases in civil, family, probate, juvenile, and mental health; existing cases only in criminal, traffic, and appeals.
Sutter County: new and existing cases in civil, family, and probate; existing cases only in criminal.
Tehama County: new and existing cases in civil, family, probate, and juvenile; existing cases only in mental health, criminal, and traffic.
Yolo County: new and existing cases in civil, juvenile, and criminal.
Yuba County: new and existing cases in civil, family, probate, juvenile, and criminal.

This list changes as courts are added, so check the live court list on the day you file. For Los Angeles civil cases in particular — courthouse selection, filing times and what the court will not take electronically — see How to E-File in Los Angeles Superior Court (Civil Cases).

Checking your own court

Find your county and kind of case on the court list. If a county shows "Existing cases only" for your kind of case, you can file only into a case that is already open there.
Read the court's own rules. Whether e-filing is optional or required for you, and which documents the court will not take electronically, comes from that court's local rules and e-filing page.
Pick the right court and case. If a case you are filing into does not come up when you search for it, see Can't Find Your Case When E-Filing in California?

Say a fictional landlord, Harbor Lane Properties, has an open civil case in Sonoma County and needs to file a declaration. The list shows Sonoma civil as "New and existing cases," so the declaration can be e-filed into the open case. Sonoma criminal is different: the list shows it as "Existing cases only," so a filing into an open criminal case works through us, but starting a new one does not.

E-filing through Legal Hub Group

Legal Hub Group is a certified e-filing service provider for California courts. With our California e-filing you upload your documents and submit them yourself, at $14.99 per filing plus court fees; Los Angeles civil and Madera filings also carry a $3.50 e-filing system fee and a card processing fee, and every fee is shown before you pay. Before you file, Lexary by Legal Hub Group, free with every filing, with no limit, flags missing signatures, dates, addresses and case details, and fixes file formats.

This is general information, not legal advice.