“Ten days” and “ten court days” can be two weeks apart. The difference is not a matter of style: legislatures and rule committees choose the unit deliberately, and a deadline counted in the wrong one is simply wrong.
Definitions
A calendar day is every day, including Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. When a rule says only “days,” it almost always means calendar days, though the general computation rule still moves a last day that lands on a weekend or holiday.
A court day is a day the court is open for business — not a Saturday, not a Sunday, and not one of that court’s holidays. California’s statutes use the term constantly. Other rules say “business days” or exclude weekends and holidays from short periods; the effect is the same.
Court days never include weekends. Whether a particular weekday is a court day depends on the court’s holiday list, which is why the same count can give different answers in a state court and the federal court across the street.
Who counts which way
| Court system | General unit | Where court-day counting applies |
|---|---|---|
| Federal courts | Calendar days | Nowhere since (FRCP 6(a)) |
| California | Calendar days (Code Civ. Proc. § 12) | Wherever a statute says “court days” — motion notice (16), opposition (9) and reply (5) under § 1005(b) — and the 2-court-day extensions for fax and overnight delivery |
| Texas | Calendar days (TRCP 4) | Every period of five days or less, except the three days added for mail |
Florida and New Jersey also convert short periods — under seven days — to business-day counts. We have not yet built calculators for those states.
What “10 court days” means in practice
Count only days the court is open, starting the day after the trigger (or the day before the hearing, when counting back). Every closed day inside the period is passed over, not just a closed last day. A single court day forward from the Wednesday before Thanksgiving in California is the following Monday:
- Wed, Nov 25Starting dayNot counted
- Thu, Nov 26Thanksgiving DayCourt closed
- Fri, Nov 27Day after ThanksgivingCourt closed in California
- Sat–SunWeekendNever a court day
- Mon, Nov 30Court day 1
Counting back works the same way:
Hearing date: · 1 days
- Count 1 court day before , skipping 2 weekend days, Farmworkers Day (observed) (): .
Deadline:
Judicial holidays are not state holidays
A court-day count depends on the court’s holiday list, which is often narrower or different from the government’s general list. California is the clearest case: the state declares Columbus Day, Admission Day, Lunar New Year and other holidays, but the courts stay open on them (Code Civ. Proc. § 135), while they close on the day after Thanksgiving, which is not in the state’s general list. A court-day count that used the state list would skip days the court is open.
Federal courts close only on federal holidays, but for periods counted forward they also treat the state’s declared holidays as legal holidays when deciding whether the last day stands. That affects only the last day, because federal periods are counted in calendar days.
The 2009 federal change
Before , federal rules excluded weekends and holidays from periods of less than eleven days — a court-day count in all but name. The amendments made every period a calendar-day count and lengthened short periods to compensate (most 10-day periods became 14 days). Older cases, treatises and forms that describe “10 days excluding weekends” describe the old rule.
Texas: five days is a business-day count, six is not
Texas Rule 4’s short-period clause makes the unit depend on the length. A period of five days or less skips every Saturday, Sunday and legal holiday; a period of six days or more counts them all and adjusts only the last day.
Hearing date: · 8 days
- Count 8 calendar days before (that day is not counted): .
- is not a court day (Sunday), so the deadline moves back to , passing (Saturday).
Deadline:
Four mistakes that shift a court-day count
- Counting the hearing day. When counting back from a hearing, the hearing day itself is never one of the court days; California’s § 12c says so expressly.
- Skipping only a closed last day. In a court-day count every closed day inside the period is passed over. Only calendar-day counts look at the last day alone.
- Using the wrong holiday list. A state’s general holiday list, a federal list and a court’s judicial list can all differ in the same week. Use the list for the court that will receive the filing.
- Mixing units inside one deadline. A California motion notice is 16 court days, but the two days added for fax or overnight service under § 1005(b) are calendar days, while the same two days under § 1013 are court days. Read the unit for each part of the deadline separately.
Tools for each unit
- Count court days in California with the court days calculator.
- Count a period in calendar days with any of the deadline calculators.
- Check which days are holidays for each court on the 2027 court holidays page.
Questions about court days
What is a court day?
A day the court is open for business: not a Saturday, not a Sunday and not one of that court’s holidays. When a rule counts in court days, every closed day inside the period is skipped, not only a closed last day (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 12a, 135).
Is a court day the same as a business day?
Almost. Both skip weekends and holidays, but a court day uses the court’s own holiday list, which can differ from the general business calendar. California courts are open on Columbus Day and Admission Day, which state offices observe, and closed on the day after Thanksgiving, which many businesses are not.
Are federal deadlines counted in court days?
No. Since , every federal period is counted in calendar days, and a last day on a weekend or legal holiday moves to the next court day. Older authorities describing periods under eleven days that excluded weekends describe the rule before that amendment (Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a)(1)).
How are 16 court days before a hearing counted in California?
Start with the day before the hearing and count back only days the court is open; the hearing day itself is never counted. Mail service adds five calendar days counted back from the result, and a notice served electronically adds two court days through 2026 (Code Civ. Proc. §§ 12c, 1005(b)).
Which Texas periods skip weekends?
Periods of five days or less under Rule 4, except for the three days added for service by mail, which are counted as calendar days even inside a short period. A six-day period counts every day and moves only a weekend or holiday last day (Tex. R. Civ. P. 4, 21a(c)).