Temporary Judge Program

Temporary Judge Program

Temporary Judges Policy

New Applications for Temporary Judges

Orange County recruits new temporary judges on 3-year cycle. The deadline to submit applications for the new cycle was December 31, 2009. Late applications will no longer be accepted. The Temporary Judge Committee is currently in the review process. Acceptance/rejection letters will be mailed by April 5, 2010.

As mandated by rules 2.812 and 2.813 of the California Rules of Court (“CRC”), you may not serve as a Temporary Judge unless you first attend 3 hours of training in each of the following two areas (i.e., 6 hours total): 1) Ethics and 2) Bench Demeanor & Fairness. This training is scheduled for May 4 & 5 (4 p.m. -7:30 p.m.) or May 15, 2010 (9 a.m. – 4 p.m.) at Central Justice Center (Registration Form with more information will be included with the acceptance letter). There will be a $25.00 fee for pre registration prior to April 23, 2010. A $35.00 fee will be charged on registrations received after April 23, 2010 or at the time of the training. Please note that this training is mandatory for all attorneys who serve as Temporary Judges in Orange County and online training will not be accepted as a substitute. Space will be limited, so register early for your preferred session.

If you are NOT training to be a temporary judge for the Superior Court of Orange County (i.e. Mediators/Arbitrators or out of county) your fee will be $50.00 in advance by April 23, 2010.

In addition, CRC 2.812, CRC 2.813, and section 116.240(b) of the California Code of Civil Procedure mandate that temporary judges also take a course on specific substantive law topics. You may be required to complete additional training, dependent upon approved panel assignment(s).

Make checks payable to: Orange County Superior Court

Click here to access the registration form for Ethics and Bench Conduct.

Traffic Court Trials: Training is offered via an online course available from the California Center for Judicial Education and Research (CJER) at: http://www2.courtinfo.ca.gov/cjer/pro_tem.htm.

Traffic Arraignments: Onsite training is required. More information will be distributed to qualified candidates.

Small Claims Court: Training is offered via an online course available from the California Center for Judicial Education and Research (CJER) at: http://www2.courtinfo.ca.gov/cjer/pro_tem.htm.

Family Law: Onsite training is required. More information will be distributed to qualified candidates.

Probate: Onsite training is required. More information will be distributed to qualified candidates.

Juvenile: Onsite training is required. More information will be distributed to qualified candidates.

All certificates of completion for online courses (Traffic cases and/or Small Claims Court substantive training) must be submitted by Friday June 4, 2010. Please contact Patti Welch at (657) 622-7143 if you have questions

New Temporary Judge E-mail Address

Please use the following address for questions, notifying staff of changes regarding information such as telephone numbers, address, and e-mail addresses, or any other issues that you consider important to our Temporary Judge Program.

Temporaryjudgeprogram@occourts.org

Online Training Link

Required substantive training for Small Claims and Traffic Trials is available online from the California Center for Judicial Education and Research (CJER) at: http://www2.courtinfo.ca.gov/cjer/protem.htm.

Court Contact Information

Temporary Judge Program

For any additional information, concerns or questions, please contact Patti Welch, Program Coordinator Specialist at (657) 622-7143.