Trial by Written Declaration: Filing Checklist

A trial by written declaration is decided from paper. The court never hears you speak, so the packet you mail is the whole case, and the calendar around it is fixed by rule rather than by the clerk's mood.

This page is the checklist: the dates the rule sets, what goes in the envelope, which form does what, and the requirements that make a packet incomplete. It is not legal advice, and your court can have local instructions on top of these.

The calendar, from the date on your citation

What goes in the envelope

Assemble it in this order and keep a copy of everything. The court's copy is the only one that counts, and you cannot add to it later by phone.

1. Form TR-205, signed and dated. Request for Trial by Written Declaration. Use the current Judicial Council version from your court or from courts.ca.gov rather than a copy from a third party site.
2. Your citation number and the court's own case number if one has been assigned. They are not always the same, and a packet filed under the wrong one is hard for the clerk to match to a file.
3. Bail in the amount on the uniform schedule for the section you were cited under. Section 40902 requires it at the time you submit. It is refunded if you are found not guilty or the charge is dismissed.
4. Your written statement of the facts. Specific and factual: where you were, what the road and signs looked like, what the conditions were, what you observed the officer do. Not a character reference and not an apology.
5. Your evidence, as copies. Photographs, diagrams, maps, receipts, service records, a calibration or maintenance record you obtained. Label each one and refer to it by that label in your statement.
6. A current mailing address, on the form and on the envelope. The decision reaches you by mail, and the 20-day window to ask for a new trial starts when the clerk mails it, not when you read it.
7. Proof of mailing, kept by you. Certified mail or another dated receipt gives you a record that the packet arrived before the due date.

The five forms, and who fills in which

What makes a packet incomplete

These are requirements the rule and the forms state. We have no data on how often courts reject packets and do not claim any.

• The declaration arrives without the bail.
  Section 40902 requires bail at the time you submit the declaration. Send them together.
• The packet arrives after the due date and no extension was requested.
  The written request for more time has to reach the clerk on or before the due date. Asking afterwards is a different conversation with the court.
• The statement argues that the fine is unaffordable.
  That is a real request, but it belongs in an ability-to-pay request rather than in the declaration. A written declaration decides whether the violation happened.
• The statement admits the conduct and asks for leniency.
  A declaration is a trial. If your account concedes the elements of the violation, the decision follows from your own words.
• Evidence is described but not enclosed.
  The judge sees only what is in the file. A photograph you mention but do not send is not evidence in the case.
• The address on the form is out of date.
  The 20-day window for a new trial runs from the clerk's mailing. An old address can cost you the window entirely.