COVID-19, Waiver of Appearance Info

On March 19, 2020, the Stanislaus County Superior Court issued a general order. Certain statutory timeframes are extended and all courtrooms will be closed for judicial business in criminal cases (as though it were a court holiday), except for Arraignments, no-time-waiver (NTW) Preliminary Hearings, and NTW jury trials. On March 23, 2020, the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court issued a statewide order, further extending those timeframes. All other hearings are vacated and will be reset. This includes all pretrials and motion hearing dates, and other miscellaneous matters.

  • Arraignments for those who are out of custody will continue to occur daily in Department 12 of the Superior Court. For those who are in custody, arraignments will occur within seven days of arrest.
  • Miscellaneous hearings for those who are in custody will occur in Department 10 of the superior court.
  • NTW preliminary hearings for those who are in and out of custody will be conducted within fifteen court days (so, not calendar days) from the date of arraignment.
  • NTW jury trials for those who are in and out of custody will be continued for sixty calendar days from the current date set.

On March 19, 2020, the Governor also issued a statewide Shelter in Place order.The Order does not contain an exception for attendance at court hearings or conducting judicial business.

To protect your safety and the safety of the community during this time, we are urging all Public Defender clients who are out-of-custody to authorize our attorneys to appear for your next hearing without you being present, for the limited purpose of continuing your scheduled hearing and then notifying you of your future hearing date. Legally, we cannot do this without an express request and a waiver signed by you. You can make such a request by emailing us at moc.ytnuocnats@779fedbup. You can make such a request by emailing us at pubdef977@stancounty.com or calling us at 209-525-4200.

For information about clearing warrants or modifying surrender dates, please review the Public Defender’s Covid-19 CCR policy .