California Jury Fee Deposit: Amount, Due Date, and Waivers

In a California civil case, each side that wants a jury must pay a nonrefundable $150 jury fee deposit, and the money is generally due on or before the initial case management conference. Miss that deadline and you waive your right to a jury trial. The dollar amount is small; the consequence is not.

How Much the Deposit Is

The fee is a flat $150 per side. It does not scale with case complexity, trial length, or the number of parties. Multiple plaintiffs count together as one side, and at least one of them must pay the $150; the same rule applies to defendants. Payment by one party on a side satisfies the requirement for that side, but it does nothing for the opposing side.¹

The $150 is nonrefundable. California treats the fee as an offset for the cost of providing juries in civil cases, and no portion comes back regardless of what happens next in the case.² It also doesn’t cover every trial-related cost. Courts may assess additional charges for extended trials, juror food and lodging during deliberation, or accommodations like interpreters.

When the Deposit Is Due

The default deadline is on or before the initial case management conference. Because that conference is usually scheduled early in the litigation, the jury fee typically comes due months before trial. If you want a jury, treat the case management conference date as your hard deadline.¹

Three exceptions change the timing:

Unlawful detainer (eviction) cases: the fee is due at least five days before the trial date.
No case management conference scheduled: the fee is due no later than 365 calendar days after the initial complaint was filed.
Late-appearing parties: if a party first appears 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 eviction rule catches people off guard. Unlawful detainer trials get scheduled quickly, and five days is not much lead time. If you’re a tenant or landlord in a disputed eviction and you want a jury, pay the moment you know the trial date.

Who Pays

Each side demanding a jury must pay its own $150. If the plaintiff wants a jury, the plaintiff pays. If the defendant also wants a jury, the defendant pays separately. One side’s payment does not protect the other side from waiving its jury right through nonpayment.¹

This structure matters more than the price tag suggests. If only the plaintiff posts the fee and the plaintiff later settles or drops the jury demand, a defendant who never paid has no fallback and no jury. For that reason, both sides usually post the deposit early as inexpensive insurance.

How You Can Lose the Right to a Jury

California law identifies specific actions that waive the jury trial right. You waive by:

Failing to pay the fee on time.
Failing to appear at trial.
Filing a written waiver with the clerk or judge.
Consenting orally in open court, with the statement entered in the court minutes.

The missed-deadline waiver is the one that generates the most regret. Parties frequently assume they can pay late without consequence, only to discover the court now treats the case as a bench trial.¹

Getting the Jury Right Back

If you’ve waived, whether by missed payment or another method, you can ask the court to restore the jury right. The statute gives judges discretion to allow a jury trial even after waiver, on terms the court finds just.¹

In practice, this is harder than it sounds. Courts look at whether the waiver was inadvertent rather than tactical, whether the opposing party would be prejudiced by a late request, and whether granting relief would disrupt the trial calendar. A party that simply forgot has a better chance than one that appeared to be waiting strategically. If the opposing side objects and can show it built its case around a bench trial, the court is less likely to reverse course.

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 retain broad discretion. If your fee deadline is approaching, don’t count on a second chance.

What Happens to Money You Deposit

The $150 itself is nonrefundable regardless of what happens with the case. Even if the case settles the day after payment, that money does not come back.²

If a party waives the jury, obtains a continuance, or settles and the court finds there wasn’t enough time to notify summoned jurors, any additional fees deposited beyond the $150 are also forfeited. And if a party doesn’t request a refund of any additional deposited fees in writing within 20 business days of the waiver, settlement, or dismissal, those funds are forfeited too.²

Fee Waivers for Financial Hardship

If you can’t afford the $150, California allows you to request a waiver of court fees, jury fee included. You file a Request to Waive Court Fees (Form FW-001) and meet one of three criteria:³

You currently receive public benefits such as SSI, CalWORKs, Medi-Cal, CalFresh, IHSS, county general assistance, or unemployment compensation.
Your gross monthly household income falls below the published thresholds. For 2026, a single person qualifies at $2,660 per month or less, and a family of four at $5,500 or less; each additional household member beyond six adds $946.67 to the threshold.
Even if your income is higher, you can show that paying court fees would keep you from covering basic household needs like rent, food, or medical care.

Under the basic-needs category, you can ask the court to waive all fees, waive some fees, or let you pay in installments. The court reviews the application and may grant it in whole or in part.⁴

Government entities and certain public officials acting in an official capacity are also exempt from jury fees. Some guardianship and conservatorship cases may qualify. File the waiver request early so an approval is in place before the jury fee deadline arrives.

Recovering the Fee if You Win

The prevailing party in a California civil case can recover jury fees as part of taxable costs. Filing fees, jury fees, and juror food and lodging during deliberation are all allowable costs the winning side can seek from the losing side after judgment.⁵

So the $150 isn’t necessarily a sunk cost if you prevail. You include it in your memorandum of costs after trial. The losing party can challenge specific cost items, but jury fees are explicitly authorized by statute and rarely disputed.

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