Notice of Posting Jury Fees in Los Angeles: $150 Fee and Deadlines

In a Los Angeles civil case, preserving your right to a jury trial takes two steps: pay a nonrefundable $150 jury deposit to the Los Angeles Superior Court by the deadline in California Code of Civil Procedure section 631, then file and serve a Notice of Posting Jury Fees so the court and every other party have a clean record that you paid. CCP 631 requires the payment; the notice itself is a practice convention rather than a statutory filing, but it is standard in Los Angeles and worth doing.¹ Miss the deadline or skip the fee and the case proceeds as a bench trial.

What Goes in the Notice

There is no Judicial Council form for a Notice of Posting Jury Fees. Attorneys draft their own. A workable notice includes the case caption and number, the name of the party who posted the fee, the date of payment, and a plain statement that the $150 jury fee has been deposited with the court. Attach a proof of service showing the notice went to every other party.

The notice exists to create a paper trail. If a question ever comes up about whether fees were timely posted, a file-stamped notice with a proof of service answers it in one page.

The $150 Fee and What “Each Side” Means

Each side of a civil case that wants a jury must pay a nonrefundable $150 deposit. All plaintiffs together count as one side; all other parties count as the other. Only one party per side needs to pay to preserve that side’s jury right, but the payment does not carry across the aisle. Plaintiffs paying does not preserve the defendants’ jury right, and vice versa. Each side pays independently or risks waiver.¹

The fee really is nonrefundable. Settlement, continuance, or a later waiver of the jury does not get you the $150 back. CCP 631.3 excludes this fee from its refund provisions.²

When the Fee Is Due

CCP 631 sets different deadlines depending on the case type and when a party appears:

Standard civil cases: on or before the date of the initial case management conference.
Cases with no case management conference scheduled: within 365 calendar days of the initial complaint being filed.
Unlawful detainer (eviction) cases: at least five days before the trial date.
Parties who first appeared after the case management conference, or more than 365 days after the complaint was filed: at least 25 calendar days before the trial date.¹

The unlawful detainer and late-appearance deadlines catch people out most often. If you have been served with an eviction complaint and want a jury, calendar the deadline the day the papers arrive.

How to Pay and File in Los Angeles

Attorneys in Los Angeles Superior Court civil cases must file electronically through an approved electronic filing service provider. Self-represented litigants are exempt and can file in person or by mail.³ E-filing generates a confirmation receipt when the $150 fee is paid through the provider. If you file in person, keep a court-stamped copy. If you mail it, use certified mail with return receipt.

Whatever method you use, keep the receipt. If timeliness ever becomes an issue, the party who paid has to prove it, and the electronic confirmation, stamped copy, or certified mail receipt is that proof.

Serving the Notice on Other Parties

After you file the Notice of Posting Jury Fees, serve it on every other party under California’s standard rules for legal documents. Personal delivery, mail, and electronic service are all available. Electronic service applies when the opposing party has consented, either by filing a notice accepting it or by agreeing to an e-filing provider’s terms. In Los Angeles Superior Court, parties required to e-file must also accept electronic service from other e-filing parties.⁴

If you serve by mail within California, add five calendar days to any deadline tied to service. Out-of-state mail service adds ten calendar days. File the proof of service with the court; without it, service can be challenged.

Daily Juror Deposits During Trial

The $150 up-front fee is only the entry cost. Starting on the second day of trial and continuing every day after, the party demanding the jury must deposit daily juror fees and mileage with the clerk. In Los Angeles County, that runs $15 per juror per day plus $0.34 per mile one way for each juror’s travel.⁵ When more than one side demanded a jury, the court divides the daily cost among them by stipulation or order.

Skipping a daily deposit is its own waiver. Show up on day three without it and the judge can dismiss the jury and convert the case to a bench trial.¹ Budget for these costs before you demand a jury in a case that could run for weeks.

If You Can’t Afford the $150

California’s fee waiver program covers the jury fee along with other court costs. You qualify automatically if you receive benefits from Medi-Cal, CalWORKs, SSI/SSP, CalFresh, General Assistance, IHSS, CAPI, WIC, or unemployment compensation.⁶

You also qualify if your monthly household income is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. The Judicial Council publishes an annually updated income table by household size on form FW-001. Even above that threshold, you can qualify by showing the court that paying fees would take money you need for basic living expenses like food, housing, and medical care.⁶

File a Request to Waive Court Fees (Judicial Council Form FW-001) with the court. If the court denies it, you can request a hearing. The court can also revisit a granted waiver later if your financial situation improves and can require payment of fees that were previously waived.⁷

Other Ways to Lose the Jury Right

Missing the fee deadline is the most common waiver, but CCP 631(f) lists six independent ways to give up a jury:

Failing to pay the fee on time, unless another party on your side already paid.
Failing to appear at trial.
Filing a written waiver with the clerk.
Stating an oral waiver on the record in court.
Not announcing a jury demand when the case is set for trial, or within five days of receiving notice of the setting.
Not making daily juror deposits once trial begins.¹

Any one of these ends your jury right on its own. One party’s waiver does not bind the opposing side; if you waive but your opponent paid and demanded a jury, the case still goes to a jury.

Asking the Court to Undo a Waiver

CCP 631(g) gives the court discretion to allow a jury trial even after a waiver, on “just terms.”¹ The language is broad. In practice courts weigh whether the failure was inadvertent, whether relief would prejudice the other side, and whether the request is timely. If the opposing party can show it prepared for a bench trial in reliance on the waiver, relief becomes much harder.

Don’t count on this. Judges take jury waivers seriously because switching to a jury late disrupts scheduling and changes how both sides prepare. Paying the fee early and filing the notice promptly is the safer route.

If the Case Is Removed to Federal Court

Removal changes the rules. A party who expressly demanded a jury in state court before removal does not need to file a new demand in federal court. If state law did not require an express demand, or if all pleadings were served at the time of removal, any party wanting a jury must serve a demand within 14 days of filing or being served with the notice of removal.⁸ Federal court does not charge the $150 state-court jury deposit, and daily juror costs are handled differently at the federal level.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 631
2
Judicial Branch of California. Nonrefundable Jury Fee FAQ
3
Los Angeles Superior Court. General Order Re Mandatory Electronic Filing for Civil
4
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1013
5
Los Angeles Superior Court. 2026 Fee Schedule
6
California Legislative Information. California Government Code Section 68632
7
California Legislative Information. California Government Code Section 68631
8
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 81