Kings Superior Court Document Format Requirements

Handwriting and hand printing on all papers filed with the court must use black or blue-black ink.

A. Handwriting and hand printing on all papers filed with the court must be in black or blue-black ink. (Cal. R. Ct., rule 2.106)

Applies to

Electronically filed document

Electronically filed documents must contain searchable text.

All electronically filed documents must be formatted in a manner that allows the court and its judicial officers to conduct word searches of the text.

Conventionally filed documents must be scan-ready and comply with California Rules of Court 2.100 et seq.; light pencil, physical objects, non-8½-by-11-inch pages, and excessively folded or creased pages generally cannot be entered electronically.

1. All documents must comply with the requirements of California Rules of Court, rule 2.100, et seq., and be in a condition which allows them to be scanned into the court’s electronic case management system. Light-colored pencil writings, physical objects, pages measuring more or less than 8 ½” x 11” and, without limitation, pages which have been excessively folded or creased, are generally unable be entered into the court’s electronic system.

Each exhibit must be individually designated and separated by one 8½-by-11-inch page bearing the exhibit designation centrally in type of at least 12 points.

2. To facilitate the easy cross-referencing of exhibits, all pleadings, motions, declarations, and other documents filed with the court must individually designate and separate each exhibit using a single 8 1/2” by 11” page with the exhibit designation set forth in the middle of the page in type not smaller than 12 points. For example: EXHIBIT 1

Documents with attached exhibits must use continuous sequential page numbering beginning on page 1 and continuing through the final exhibit, including exhibit-designation pages.

3. All pleadings, motions, declarations, and other documents filed with the court which include attached exhibits must be numbered sequentially beginning on page 1 of the motion, declaration or pleading, and continuing in order until the last page of the last exhibit attached thereto. Exhibit designation pages shall be included in the sequential numbering.

Documents filed electronically with the court must comply with all requirements stated in Local Rule 126.

E. Documents electronically filed with the court must comply with the requirements set forth in Local Rule 126.

Documents may not be amended by interlineation, and absent specific judicial-officer authorization, changes must be made by filing an amended pleading or document.

No complaint, information, petition, application, or other document may be amended by interlineation. Unless specifically allowed by a judicial officer, changes to documents must be made via the filing of an amended pleading or document.

Any proposed order submitted to the court must be a stand-alone document, except that Judicial Council Forms are exempt from this rule.

A. Any proposed order submitted to the court must be submitted as a stand-alone document. This rule does not apply to Judicial Council Forms.

Format

PDF

An emailed legal research copy must be a PDF labeled with the case number, submitting party, document title, and hearing date.

Legal research copies submitted to this address must be in PDF format and be labeled as follows: Case No., Submitting Party, Document title, hearing date.

Evidence directed for a motion in limine hearing must be placed in a binder and lodged with the clerk at the filing window.

evidence is directed. The binder shall be lodged with the clerk of the court at the filing window.

Trial exhibits must include at least four accurate copies, Bates-stamped pages, and a USB flash drive containing all documents for the court, with copies at counsel table, the witness stand, and for the court.

There shall be made available for use at trial, at least four (4) true and correct copies of all exhibits to be referenced during trial. The parties must have the pages of all exhibits Bates stamped. A USB flash drive containing all documents shall be provided to the court. Each party shall have a copy of the exhibits at counsel table. A copy of the exhibits shall be located at the witness stand, and the court shall be provided with a copy of all exhibits for its own reference during testimony.

Each party must seek identification marking before referencing an exhibit, include only one document per exhibit, and use the exhibit designation in later references.

Each party shall request that an exhibit be marked for identification before referencing it. Each exhibit shall only be made up of one (1) document per exhibit. Any subsequent reference to the exhibit shall mention the exhibit designation so the appellate record is clear.

A stay-of-execution application not using Form UD-10 must include the quoted landlord/owner notice on the first or last page in at least 12-point type.

Any Applications submitted without the use of Form UD-10 must on either the first or last page, include the following advisement in at least 12-point type: NOTICE TO LANDLORD/OWNER: You are being served with a copy of this Application because the Defendant in this case has sought an order staying execution of a Judgment and Writ of Possession previously issued. If you wish to oppose the Application, you should immediately file and serve your written opposition. If a hearing is set in regard to the Application, you will be mailed notice by the court. Please see Kings County Superior Court Local Rule 404 for more information about this process.

Relief requests not submitted on the optional forms or formatted as a motion or petition will not be forwarded, and letters or notes requesting relief will not be considered.

B. Requests for relief which are not on the optional form(s) and/or otherwise formatted as a motion/petition will not be forwarded for judicial action. Letters or notes requesting relief under California Penal Code section 1170.18 and California Health & Safety Code section 11361.8 may not be considered by the court.

The clerk will not file a pleading that cannot be fully scanned into the electronic case management system and remain readable by the assigned judicial officer or public.

The court clerk will not file any pleading which is unable to be fully scanned into the court’s electronic case management system in a form which will thereafter be readable by the assigned judicial officer and/or public.

Each party must file and serve an exhibit list at least ten days before trial, using letters for petitioners and other parents and numbers for respondents to designate exhibits consecutively.

B. No later than ten (10) days before trial, each party shall file and serve an Exhibit List which identifies each exhibit a party expects to introduce at trial. Petitioners (and any party identified as an “Other Parent”) shall designate each exhibit consecutively with letters, i.e., A, B, C; and respondents shall designate each exhibit consecutively with numbers, i.e., 1, 2, 3.

Every page of an exhibit containing ten or more pages must be consecutively numbered in the bottom-right corner.

All pages of any exhibits that are ten (10) pages or more shall be consecutively numbered on the bottom-right corner.

An attorney introducing more than ten exhibits must premark each exhibit sticker in the back bottom-right corner with its designation, case number, and trial date.

Any attorney intending to introduce more than ten (10) exhibits on behalf of a party shall pre-mark each exhibit sticker on the back, bottom-right corner which includes the exhibit alphabetic or numeric designation, the case number and date of trial.

Exhibit stickers must be typed, or they must be handwritten and legible.

All exhibit stickers must be typed or, if handwritten, be legible.

Trial exhibits may not be filed with the court and must be brought to trial as an original plus three copies, for four total sets.

D. Trial exhibits shall not be filed with the court. The parties shall bring to trial an original plus three (3) copies of each exhibit (a total of 4 sets).

Exhibit stamps should not be used to create exhibit designations.

Exhibit stamps should not be used to create the exhibit designation.

Each exhibit in a pleading, motion, declaration, or other court document must have a separate letter-sized designation page with the designation typed in at least 12-point type.

all pleadings, motions, declarations, and other documents filed with the court must individually designate and separate each exhibit through the use of a single 8 1/2” by 11” page with the exhibit designation set forth thereon in type not smaller than 12 points.

A filing with attached exhibits must be sequentially paginated from page 1 through the last exhibit, including exhibit-designation pages.

All pleadings, motions, declarations, and other documents filed with the court which include attached exhibits must be numbered sequentially beginning on page 1 of the motion, declaration or pleading, and continuing in order until the last page of the last exhibit attached thereto. Exhibit designation pages shall be included in the sequential numbering.

Exhibit tabs should not be used to separate exhibits from pleadings, motions, declarations, or other documents because they cannot be easily scanned into the court’s electronic case-management system.

Since they cannot be easily scanned into the court’s electronic case management system, exhibit tabs should not be used to separate exhibits from pleadings, motions, declarations, or other documents.

Electronically filed documents must, to the extent practicable, follow the formatting rules applicable to paper pleadings and any additional format required by the court.

All electronically filed documents, to the extent practicable, must be formatted in accordance with the applicable rules governing formatting of paper pleadings, and in such other or further format as the court may require.

The title entered in the electronic filing system must match the document caption title.

The document title entered on the e-filing system must be the same as that reflected in the caption of the document.

Exhibit stamps should not be used; exhibit designators must be typewritten or handwritten so they can be searched by OCR.

4. Exhibit stamps should not be used to create the exhibit designation. Exhibit designators must be typewritten or handwritten, as stamps are not able to be searched by optical character recognition (OCR).

Oversized exhibit tabs or dividers that make a page exceed 8½ by 11 inches should not be used because they are difficult to scan.

5. Since they cannot be easily scanned into the court’s electronic case management system, exhibit tabs or other dividers which cause the page to exceed 8½” x 11” should not be used to separate exhibits from pleadings, motions, declarations, or other documents.

The exhibit index should appear immediately before the first exhibit-designation page and should be included in the document’s sequential page numbering.

7. The index should be located immediately before the first exhibit designation page and included in the sequential numbering provided for in paragraph (3).

An order or judgment must include some text on the signature page so the signature page is connected to the remainder of the document.

B. It is the policy of the Kings County Superior Court not to sign orders or judgments unless some portion of the text of the order or judgment appears on the page to which the judicial officer’s signature is affixed, so that the connection between the signature page and the remainder of the order or judgment is apparent.

An order or judgment must include some of its text on the page bearing the judicial officer's signature so the signature page is connected to the remainder of the document.

D. It is the policy of the Kings County Superior Court not to sign orders or judgments unless some portion of the text of the order or judgment appears on the page to which the judicial officer’s signature is affixed, so that the connection between the signature page and the remainder of the order or judgment is apparent.

Documents must be typewritten or mechanically or electronically printed to produce clear, permanent, letter-quality copies, while pro per defendants may file legible handwritten documents.

All documents shall be typewritten or mechanically or electronically printed in a manner, which produces clear and permanent copies equally legible as letter quality printers. Pro per defendants may file handwritten documents provided the documents are legible.

All documents must be hole-punched according to the clerk’s directions.

All documents shall be hole punched in accordance with directions from the clerk.

The court will not sign an order or judgment unless some text appears on the signature page so the signature page's connection to the remainder is apparent.

It is the policy of the Kings County Superior Court not to sign orders or judgments unless some portion of the text of the order or judgment appears on the page to which the judicial officer’s signature is affixed so that the connection between the signature page and the remainder of the order or judgment is apparent.

The court prefers signatures to be made in permanent blue ink using non-gel pens.

B. To avoid uncertainty as to the original nature of any signature on a document presented for filing, it is the preference of the court and its judicial officers that signatures be scribed in blue ink of a permanent nature. It is also the preference of the court and its judicial officers that signatures be written using non-gel pens.