California Jury Fee Deposit: Amount, Deadline, and Waivers

The California jury fee deposit is a flat $150 that each side of a civil case must post if it wants a jury trial, and in most cases it is due on or before the initial case management conference. The money is nonrefundable. Missing the deadline waives the right to a jury, and getting that right back depends on the judge’s discretion rather than any automatic rule.¹

How Much You Pay and Who Pays It

The deposit is $150 per side, flat. It does not scale with case complexity, trial length, or the number of parties. All plaintiffs together count as one side; all defendants together count as the other. One party on a side can pay the $150 and satisfy the requirement for everyone on that side, but that payment does nothing for the opposing side.¹

Each side that wants a jury has to post its own deposit. If the plaintiff pays and the defendant does not, the case can still go to a jury because at least one side preserved the right. But a defendant who never paid is exposed: if the plaintiff later settles, drops the demand, or waives, the defendant has no fallback and the trial becomes a bench trial. For that reason, lawyers on both sides commonly post the fee early as cheap protection.

The $150 is not the ceiling on jury-related costs. Courts can assess additional charges for extended trials, juror food and lodging during deliberation, and accommodations such as interpreters.

When the Deposit Is Due

The default rule is that the fee is due on or before the initial case management conference. That conference is usually scheduled early in the litigation, so in practice the jury fee comes due months before any trial date is set. Treat the case management conference as the hard deadline.¹

Three exceptions change the timing:

Unlawful detainer (eviction) cases: the fee is due at least five days before the trial date.
Cases with no case management conference scheduled: the fee is due no later than 365 calendar days after the initial complaint was filed.
Parties who first appear after the initial case management conference, or more than 365 days after the complaint was filed: the fee is due at least 25 calendar days before the trial date.

The unlawful detainer rule catches people off guard. Eviction trials move fast, and five days gives very little room. If you are a tenant or landlord in a contested eviction and you want a jury, post the deposit the moment the trial date is set.¹

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline

Missing the deposit deadline waives your right to a jury. California law lists four ways a party can waive a civil jury trial: failing to pay the fee on time, failing to appear at trial, filing a written waiver with the clerk or judge, and consenting orally in open court with the statement entered in the minutes. The missed-deadline waiver is the one that trips parties up most often, because many assume a late payment will be accepted without consequence. Once the deadline passes, the court treats the case as a bench trial.¹

Asking the Court to Restore the Jury Right

A party that has waived the jury right, whether by missed payment or another method, can ask the court to allow a jury trial anyway. The statute gives judges discretion to grant relief on just terms.¹

Judges typically weigh three things: whether the waiver was inadvertent rather than tactical, whether the opposing party would be prejudiced by granting a jury now, and whether the court’s trial calendar can absorb the change. A party who simply forgot to pay has a stronger case than one who seemed to be waiting strategically. If the other side has prepared the case around a bench trial and objects, relief is harder to get.

California appellate courts have generally held that the right to a jury trial is fundamental and that doubts should be resolved in favor of granting relief. That principle has limits, and trial courts keep broad discretion. If your deadline is close, do not count on a second chance.

Fee Waivers for People Who Cannot Afford the Deposit

If paying the $150 would be a hardship, you can ask the court to waive it. You file a Request to Waive Court Fees (Form FW-001) and qualify under one of three paths:²

Public benefits: you currently receive SSI, CalWORKs, Medi-Cal, CalFresh, IHSS, county general assistance, or unemployment compensation.
Low income: your gross monthly household income is at or below the published threshold. For 2026, a single person qualifies at $2,660 per month or less, and a household of four qualifies at $5,500 or less. Each additional household member beyond six adds $946.67 to the threshold.
Basic-needs hardship: even if your income is above the threshold, you can show that paying court fees would keep you from covering necessities like rent, food, or medical care.

Under the basic-needs path, the court can waive all fees, waive some fees, or allow installment payments.³ Government entities and certain public officials acting in an official capacity are also exempt from jury fees, and some guardianship and conservatorship matters may qualify. File the waiver request early so an approval is on record before your jury fee deadline arrives.

Refunds and Recovering the Fee If You Win

The $150 deposit itself does not come back, no matter what happens with the case. Even if you settle the day after you pay, the fee is gone. If you deposited additional jury-related fees beyond the $150 and the case waives, continues, settles, or is dismissed, you have 20 business days to request a refund of those additional amounts in writing. Miss that window and the extra funds are forfeited too.⁴

The deposit is not necessarily a sunk cost if you win. California lists filing fees, jury fees, and juror food and lodging during deliberation as allowable taxable costs that the prevailing party can seek from the losing side after judgment. You include the $150 in your memorandum of costs after trial. The losing party can challenge specific cost items, but jury fees are expressly authorized by statute and rarely disputed.⁵

1
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 631
2
California Courts. Request to Waive Court Fees Form FW-001
3
California Courts. FW-001-INFO Information Sheet on Waiver of Superior Court Fees and Costs
4
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 631.3
5
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 1033.5