Federal time computation has been uniform since , when Civil Rule 6, Appellate Rule 26, Criminal Rule 45 and Bankruptcy Rule 9006 adopted the same method. Most errors now come from three places: where Rule 6(d)’s three days go, which holidays count, and which direction a deadline moves when it is measured before an event.
How Rule 6(a) counts days
For any period stated in days, FRCP 6(a)(1) says:
- exclude the day of the event that triggers the period;
- count every day, including intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays;
- include the last day — but if it is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the period continues to the end of the next day that is not.
Before 2009, periods under 11 days skipped weekends and holidays. That rule is gone; “days are days.” The 2009 amendments also changed most periods to multiples of seven (7, 14, 21, 28), so a period usually ends on the same weekday it started.
Unless a different time is set, the last day ends at midnight in the court’s time zone for electronic filing, and when the clerk’s office is scheduled to close for filing by other means (FRCP 6(a)(4)).
The three extra days of Rule 6(d)
Rule 6(d) adds three days when a party must act within a period after being served and service was made by:
- mail (Rule 5(b)(2)(C));
- leaving the paper with the court clerk (Rule 5(b)(2)(D)); or
- other means the person consented to in writing (Rule 5(b)(2)(F)).
Electronic service has not added three days since . Registering for CM/ECF is consent to electronic service, not consent to “other means,” so service through the court’s system adds nothing.
The rule says the three days “are added after the period would otherwise expire under Rule 6(a).” That ordering matters: first compute the period and move it off a weekend or holiday, then add three days, then check the new last day again. Adding the three days to the period up front gives an earlier — wrong — date whenever the original last day falls on a weekend.
Date of service: · 26 days · Mail
- Count 26 calendar days after (that day is not counted): .
- is not a court day (Saturday), so the deadline moves forward to , passing (Sunday).
- Mail adds time. Count 3 calendar days after (that day is not counted): .
Deadline:
Date of service: · 14 days · Mail
- Count 14 calendar days after (that day is not counted): .
- Mail adds time. Count 3 calendar days after (that day is not counted): .
- is not a court day (Saturday), so the deadline moves forward to , passing (Sunday).
Deadline:
Counting backward from a hearing
Some periods run before an event: Rule 6(c)(1) requires a written motion and notice of the hearing to be served at least 14 days before the hearing. For these, Rule 6(a)(5) defines the “next day” as the next day earlier. A last day that lands on a weekend or holiday therefore moves back, never forward.
Hearing date: · 14 days
- Count 14 calendar days before (that day is not counted): .
- is not a court day (Thanksgiving Day), so the deadline moves back to .
Deadline:
State holidays in federal court
“Legal holiday” in Rule 6(a)(6) means the eleven federal holidays of 5 U.S.C. § 6103, any day declared a holiday by the President or Congress, and — for periods measured after an event — any day declared a holiday by the state where the district court is located. The state’s holidays never count for periods measured before an event.
California’s judicial holidays include several days that are not federal holidays: Lincoln Day (February 12), Farmworkers Day, Native American Day and the day after Thanksgiving (Code Civ. Proc. § 135). Texas declares Texas Independence Day, San Jacinto Day, Emancipation Day, LBJ Day and others (Tex. Gov’t Code § 662.003(b)). Choose the state under Where is the court? and the calculator applies them in the right direction.
Date of service: · 14 days · Electronic service (CM/ECF or consented e-mail) · court in California
- Count 14 calendar days after (that day is not counted): .
- is not a court day (Lincoln's Birthday), so the deadline moves forward to , passing (Saturday), (Sunday), (Washington's Birthday).
- Electronic service (CM/ECF or consented e-mail) adds no extra days.
Deadline:
Hearing date: · 14 days · court in California
- Count 14 calendar days before (that day is not counted): .
Deadline:
The Ninth Circuit has looked to California’s judicial holidays under Code of Civil Procedure § 135 rather than to the list of paid state-employee holidays. It held that the day after Thanksgiving — a judicial holiday but not a Government Code holiday — is a legal holiday in Dwyer v. Duffy (2005, under the bankruptcy rules) and Yepremyan v. Holder (2010, under the appellate rules), and applied the same reasoning to Rule 6(a) in Roe v. Rialto Unified School District (2023, unpublished), where that Friday made a Monday filing timely. No case decides the other § 135 days; the calculator applies them too, on their statutory dates, as the natural extension of those decisions. Two groups remain undecided: Government Code § 6700 holidays on which California’s own courts stay open (Lunar New Year, Genocide Remembrance Day, Admission Day and others) and Friday observances of Saturday holidays under rule 1.11 of the California Rules of Court. For those the calculator keeps the earlier date and warns you when a deadline lands on one.
Appeals under FRAP 4 and 26
In a civil case, the notice of appeal is due 30 days after entry of the judgment or order, or 60 days when the United States, a federal agency, or a federal officer or employee is a party (FRAP 4(a)(1)). Because the period runs from entry, not service, nothing is added for the way the judgment reached you. Appellate Rule 26(a)(6)(C) counts the holidays of two states: the state where the district court sits and the state of the circuit clerk’s principal office.
Date the judgment or order was entered: · The United States, a federal agency, officer or employee is a party (60 days)
- Count 30 calendar days after (that day is not counted): .
- The United States, a federal agency, officer or employee is a party (60 days) adds time. Count 30 calendar days after (that day is not counted): .
- is not a court day (New Year's Day), so the deadline moves forward to , passing (Saturday), (Sunday).
Deadline:
A timely motion listed in FRAP 4(a)(4) — for example under Rule 59 — resets the time to appeal. The notice of appeal calculator counts the 28-day motion deadline, the criminal appeal periods and the FRAP 4(a)(5) extension window.
Periods stated in hours
A few deadlines are set in hours: a temporary restraining order’s duration, a judge’s order to respond within 48 hours. Rule 6(a)(2) starts the count at the moment of the event, counts every hour including nights, weekends and holidays, and if the period ends on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, lets it run until the same time on the next day that is not one. Choose Federal civil: period stated in hours and enter the time of the event.
Date of the event: · at 2:00 p.m. · 72 hours
- Count 72 hours after at 2:00 p.m., counting every hour including weekends and holidays: at 2:00 p.m..
- is not a court day (Saturday), so the deadline moves forward to at the same time (2:00 p.m.), passing (Sunday).
Deadline:
Closures and inaccessible clerk’s offices
If the clerk’s office is inaccessible on the last day, Rule 6(a)(3) extends the time to the first accessible day that is not a weekend or holiday. Courts also close by order. In December 2025, Executive Order 14371 closed federal executive offices on December 24 and 26; the Federal Circuit and several other courts treated those days as legal holidays, but not every court did. The calculator does not assume either way: it warns you when such a day falls inside your period. Some courts also announce their own closures — the Southern District of Texas, for example, will close on November 27 and , and at noon on December 31. Choose the district under Which court? to see the closures we have confirmed for it; because electronic filing usually stays available, they are flagged on the day they matter rather than applied. Enter any other closure as a closed day.
Deadlines the court cannot extend
Rule 6(b)(2) forbids extending the time to act under Rules 50(b) and (d), 52(b), 59(b), (d) and (e), and 60(b). A computed date for any of them is final: if it passes, the court has no power to grant more time.
Questions about federal deadline rules
Does electronic service add three days in federal court?
No. Since , the three extra days apply only to service by mail, by leaving the paper with the clerk, or by other means the person agreed to in writing. Service through CM/ECF or by consented e-mail adds nothing, and registering for CM/ECF is not consent to other means (FRCP 6(d)).
Are the three mail days added before or after the weekend rule?
After. Find the last day under Rule 6(a), move it off any Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, and only then add the three days, testing the resulting date once more. Adding them up front produces a date that is too early whenever the original period ends on a weekend (FRCP 6(d)).
Are federal court deadlines counted in calendar days or business days?
Calendar days. Since , a federal period counts every Saturday, Sunday and legal holiday along the way, and only a last day that falls on one moves to the next day that is not. The older rule that skipped weekends in periods under 11 days no longer exists (FRCP 6(a)(1)).
Is the day after Thanksgiving a holiday in California federal courts?
Yes, for periods counted forward. The Ninth Circuit treats that Friday as a legal holiday because California makes it a judicial holiday under Code of Civil Procedure § 135, as in Dwyer v. Duffy, Yepremyan v. Holder and, for Rule 6(a), the unpublished Roe v. Rialto Unified School District. Periods counted back from an event ignore it (FRCP 6(a)(6)(C)).
What time is a federal filing due on the last day?
Midnight in the court’s time zone for electronic filing, unless a rule or order sets another time. A paper filed by other means is due when the clerk’s office is scheduled to close for filing that day (FRCP 6(a)(4)).
Can a federal court extend the time to file a Rule 59 motion?
No. The court may not extend the time to act under Rules 50(b) and (d), 52(b), 59(b), (d) and (e), or 60(b), so the 28-day deadline for a new-trial motion or a motion to alter or amend the judgment is fixed, and once it is missed no order can add time (FRCP 6(b)(2)).
Rule changes that affect older calculations
Three amendments change results for older dates: the 2009 switch to counting every day, the removal of the three days for electronic service, and the addition of Juneteenth National Independence Day to the list of legal holidays. The calculator applies the current rules to service on or after . No amendment to Civil Rule 6, Civil Rule 12, Appellate Rule 4 or Appellate Rule 26 is scheduled to take effect through .