COVID-19 Notice (August 6, 2020)

The United States District Court for the Central District of California announces the following regarding the Court’s operations in light of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in the District.

Access to the Courthouses

• Effective immediately, all Courthouses of the Central District of California will be closed to the public, until further notice, and except as set forth below.
• All federal Pro Se Clinics in the district are closed.
  The Los Angeles and Santa Ana Clinics are providing remote assistance via telephone and/or email. Please contact them for more information:
  Los Angeles: (213) 385-2977, Ext. 270 or tinyurl.com/fedproseclinic
  Santa Ana: (714) 541-1010, Ext. 222

Court Hearings

• All appearances in civil cases will be by telephone or video conference.
• Hearings in any criminal matter may proceed in court when the defendant does not consent to appear by telephone or video conference. Members of the public will have access to such proceedings with a limit of 10 people present in the courtroom or in an overflow courtroom at one time at the discretion of the assigned judge.
• Criminal bench duty will continue to take place in the Roybal Courthouse in Los Angeles and the Santa Ana Courthouse, by video or telephonic conference with the defendant’s consent and in-court absent consent.

Jury Trials

• Until further notice, no jury trials will be conducted in civil cases. However, individual judges, at their discretion, may offer bench trials by video conference in lieu of postponement.
• Until further notice, no jury trials will be conducted in criminal cases.
• The Court has adopted gating criteria that will be used to inform when the Court resumes jury trials, which is Phase 3 of the Court’s Plan for Phased Resumption of Court Operations. The gating criteria is designed to determine local COVID-19 exposure risks based on 14-day trends of facility exposure, community spread, and community restrictions.

Filing Information

• The intake sections in each courthouse will be closed to the public. To post a bond or submit an emergency, time-sensitive filing such as a temporary restraining order, call the following telephone numbers:
  Los Angeles – (213) 894-8288
  Riverside – (951) 328-4450
  Santa Ana – (714) 338-3958 or (714) 338-4760
• All criminal duty matters handled by a district judge shall be filed in the appropriate division.
• All magistrate judge criminal bench duty matters shall be filed in the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Los Angeles and Santa Ana Courthouse.
• All criminal document duty matters handled by a magistrate judge shall be filed electronically.
• For all other intake and records questions, call the following telephone numbers:
  Los Angeles Civil Intake – (213) 894-3535
  Los Angeles Criminal Intake – (213) 894-8288
  Riverside Civil and Criminal Intake – (951) 328-4450
  Santa Ana Civil Intake – (714) 338-2886
  Santa Ana Criminal Intake – (714) 338-4786
  Archival records requests are suspended because the Federal Records Center is closed.
• The court’s CM/ECF system is available 24/7 for electronic filing of documents.
• Unrepresented litigants who cannot electronically file their documents and attorneys who are required to manually file documents pursuant to the local rules must mail their filings to the Clerk of Court at 255 E. Temple Street, Suite TS-134, Los Angeles, CA 90012-3332.
• Non-paper physical exhibits or other exhibits exempted from electronically filing shall be sent via U.S. Mail or other commercial delivery to the Clerk of Court at the above address.

Mandatory Chambers Copies

• Until further notice, all district judges and magistrate judges do not require mandatory chambers copies during the pandemic.
• Any judge can require a chambers copy in a particular case if desired. The chambers copy shall be mailed to the judge via Fed Ex. Chambers copy cannot be hand-delivered to the courthouse.

The Court continues to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic as it evolves and will provide updates concerning the Court’s operations as adjustments are made.

Kiry K. Gray
District Court Executive/Clerk of Court
August 6, 2020