General Jurisdiction COVID-19 Updates

COVID-19 Update

With the ongoing concerns pertaining to COVID-19, please be sure you are following the Center for Disease Control’s recommendations to keep yourself and your family healthy.  Please also follow the State of California’s safety recommendations to keep yourself and your family safe, which can be found here: Current safety measures - Coronavirus COVID-19 Response (ca.gov). Remember that there may be federal, state, or local emergency orders that you will need to follow with respect to any in-person events at OAH.

Impact of COVID-19 on General Jurisdiction Division

In response to the pandemic caused by COVID-19 and local, state, and federal emergency orders, the following will apply concerning cases in the General Jurisdiction Division of the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH).

Until further notice, all hearing rooms at OAH facilities are closed and no in-person hearings will take place unless specifically ordered or noticed by OAH.

Absent further order or notice from OAH, all presently scheduled hearings, pre-hearing conferences, settlement conferences, mediations, and other calendared events will remain on calendar.

OAH will implement technology, when possible, to permit hearings, pre-hearing conferences, settlement conferences, and mediations to be conducted by telephone or by video conference. Any party may file a request with OAH to convert a currently calendared in-person event to a telephone or video conference, or to convert a currently calendared telephone or video conference to an in-person event. OAH encourages the parties to meet and confer and attempt to stipulate to the manner in which an event will be held, to consider ways to minimize the presence of people appearing in any matter in person, and to notify OAH of any agreement. OAH will notify parties in writing of any changes in the way a scheduled matter will proceed.

Until further notice, and in the absence of a contrary OAH order or granted accommodation based on a disability, any events scheduled to take place in person will require all persons entering the courtroom to comply with federal, state, and local public health requirements or guidelines.

Hearings on Interim and Temporary Suspension Orders will be held by telephone or video conference, with any exhibits filed electronically.

Department of Corrections KEYHEA program hearings will be held by telephone or video conference. Department of State Hospitals hearings will be held by telephone or video conference.

FAQs:

What is the OAH doing about the COVID-19 concerns?

OAH is coordinating with other governmental agencies to ensure we have the most current information and recommendations available. All OAH employees are required to follow all federal, state, and local emergency orders and workplace safety rules to stay healthy.

What if I am sick or a witness is sick and we have a hearing scheduled?

A request for continuance can be submitted. Please be sure to send the request to the other party as well. Continuance requests must be based on good cause, must state all of the reasons that a continuance is necessary, must state whether the other parties to the case oppose the continuance, and must provide proposed new hearing dates and unavailable dates for all parties. The Continuance for Unrepresented Respondents form (OAH 23) is designed to help self-represented parties provide information required when requesting a continuance and can be found at Other Helpful Forms.

What if a school district or other location closes and an OAH hearing or other event is scheduled for that location, or personnel who need to be present at a hearing or other event are affected by the closure?

A request for continuance can be submitted for each case that is affected in this instance. The reason for a continuance request can identify the circumstances and be submitted as any other case document would be submitted to OAH. A document simply stating that a location will be closed and not referencing specific cases will not be accepted. Joint requests for continuances are encouraged but not required.

What if there is a hearing location closure and the re-opening date is unclear?

A request for continuance can be submitted for each case that is affected in this instance. The reason for a continuance request can identify the circumstances and should propose new dates when all parties and witnesses are available. A new location may need to be selected.

Can I cancel a hearing or other event due to virus concerns?

No. Parties, attorneys, and witness are expected to appear at all scheduled events unless a continuance has been granted by OAH, or OAH has received adequate proof of case settlement.

Can a mediation or hearing go forward despite a location closure?

Alternative locations can be considered as part of a continuance request.