Court Days Calculator: Legal Calendar Calculator and Court Day Calculator for Filing Deadlines
Count court days forward from an event, backward from a hearing, or between two dates. This court days calculator skips every Saturday, Sunday and judicial holiday as it counts, and it uses the holiday list your jurisdiction actually observes rather than a generic business day rule.
- Four holiday sets: California, Texas, Florida and the federal courts
- Counts forward, counts backward, or measures between two dates
- Names every day it skipped, so you can check the count by hand
Court days and calendar days are different units, and a rule always tells you which one it means. If the rule in front of you gives a plain number of days rather than court days, you want the calendar day method in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(a): use the court deadline calculator for that count instead.
Counting toward a California motion hearing under CCP 1005(b), with the service method extensions applied? The California court deadline calculator carries those presets. For the Texas Rule 99(b) answer date see the Texas court deadline calculator, and for Rule 2.514 counting see the Florida court deadline calculator. Interrogatory, production and admission response dates run in calendar days with a service extension instead, and the discovery deadline calculator handles those. A California unlawful detainer response is one of the few answer periods stated in court days, 10 of them under CCP 1167(a), and the answer deadline calculator counts it.
This day is never counted. The count starts the day after it, or the day before it when counting backward.
Counted if it is a court day.
Calendaring this by hand across a docket? Caseagent keeps every matter deadline current inside the case file.
Court day rules, local holidays and standing orders vary by county and by division. Confirm any computed date against the governing rule before you calendar it.
Dates you enter here are processed in your browser and never stored.
The short answer
A court days calculator counts only the days the courthouse is open, stepping over every Saturday, Sunday and judicial holiday instead of counting them. That makes it the opposite of a calendar day count, where weekends and holidays are counted normally and only the final day is adjusted. The practical consequence is that court day periods run much longer on the wall calendar than their number suggests: five court days spans 5 to 11 calendar days, and 16 court days spans 22 to 27. Which holidays get skipped is decided by jurisdiction, not by the federal list, so the same 16 court day period produces different dates in California, Texas and Florida.
Last updated
August 2026
Every span and holiday count on this page was computed from the statutory holiday definitions rather than estimated, and checked against two independent implementations of the counting rules.
Court days, business days and calendar days are three different units
Nearly every miscalculated deadline starts here, with a rule read in the wrong unit. The rule itself always tells you which one it means, and the words are not interchangeable.
| Unit | What gets counted | Weekend or holiday at the end | How a rule usually words it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calendar days | Every day, weekends and holidays included. | Rolls forward to the next open day. | "within 21 days", "not later than 30 days after" |
| Court days | Only days the court is open. Weekends and judicial holidays are skipped as you count. | Cannot happen. The count never lands on a closed day. | "at least 16 court days before the hearing" |
| Business days | Weekdays. Whether holidays are removed depends on how the drafter defined the term. | Cannot land on a weekend, but can land on a holiday if the definition is loose. | "within 5 business days of receipt" |
The business day row is the one that causes arguments. A contract that says "business days" without defining them leaves open whether Veterans Day counts, and reasonable people read it both ways. Court days do not have that ambiguity, because the judicial holidays are fixed by statute. If you are drafting rather than counting, say which holiday list governs.
How to count court days
The mechanics are the same everywhere court days are used. Only the holiday list changes.
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Step 1
Do not count the trigger day
The day of service, the ruling, or the hearing itself is day zero. It is excluded whichever direction you are counting.
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Step 2
Step one day at a time
Move forward, or backward if you are counting to a hearing. Do not jump a week at a time, because that is how holidays get missed.
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Step 3
Increment only on open days
A Saturday, Sunday or judicial holiday is stepped over without incrementing. Everything else is court day one, two, three.
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Step 4
Add the service extension last
Extensions for the method of service are applied after the base period, and some are court days while others are calendar days. Check the California service extensions if that is your jurisdiction.
The one thing worth doing by hand at least once is the backward count, because it is where intuition fails. People reach for "16 court days is about three weeks" and calendar the motion accordingly. It is not three weeks. It is closer to four, and in late November it is nearly four and a half.
A worked example that breaks the three week assumption
A California motion is set for hearing on Tuesday, December 1, 2026. Code of Civil Procedure section 1005(b) requires the moving papers to be served and filed at least 16 court days before the hearing. What is the last day to file?
Exclude December 1, the hearing day. Step backward. Monday, November 30 is court day one. Keep going, skipping every closed day, and you reach court day 16 on Wednesday, November 4, 2026.
That is 27 calendar days before the hearing, not 21. Eleven days inside the window are closed: four weekends, plus Veterans Day on Wednesday, November 11, plus Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26, plus the day after Thanksgiving on Friday, November 27, which California also treats as a judicial holiday. Twenty seven calendar days minus eleven closed days is exactly the 16 court days the rule requires.
Anyone who calendared "three weeks before the hearing" would have served on November 10, which is only 12 court days of notice. That is four court days short of the rule. The motion goes out on untimely notice, and November 10 is not an obviously wrong date to the naked eye. This is the failure mode the tool exists to prevent.
| Closed day in the window | Why it is skipped |
|---|---|
| Nov 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29 | Saturdays and Sundays, judicial holidays under CCP 133 |
| Wednesday, November 11 | Veterans Day |
| Thursday, November 26 | Thanksgiving Day |
| Friday, November 27 | The day after Thanksgiving, a California judicial holiday under CCP 135 |
Run the same hearing date through the calculator above with the California holiday set selected and you will get November 4, with all eleven skipped days listed. Switch the holiday set to federal and the answer moves forward to November 5, because the federal list has no day after Thanksgiving: one fewer closed day inside the window means the count reaches 16 without reaching as far back. Texas and Florida both land on November 4, since each of them does observe the Friday after Thanksgiving.
How many calendar days a court day period actually spans
These ranges were computed over every possible start date in 2026 and 2027 using the California judicial holiday list. The spread inside each row is the reason a court day period cannot be converted with a rule of thumb.
| Court days in the rule | Calendar days it really spans | Where you meet it |
|---|---|---|
| 5 court days | 5 to 11 | CCP 1005(b) reply papers |
| 9 court days | 11 to 17 | CCP 1005(b) opposition papers |
| 10 court days | 12 to 19 | Common local rule notice periods |
| 16 court days | 22 to 27 | CCP 1005(b) moving papers |
| 20 court days | 26 to 33 | Longer notice and objection periods |
| 30 court days | 40 to 48 | Discovery and expert scheduling orders |
Read the 16 court day row again. The difference between the best case and the worst case is five days, which is more than enough to blow a notice period if you calendared from the wrong end of the range. The spread comes almost entirely from the November and December holiday cluster, and secondarily from the February pair of Lincoln Day and Presidents Day in California.
How many court days are in a year
2026 contains 261 weekdays. What is left after each jurisdiction removes its own judicial holidays is the number of days its courts are actually open.
| Jurisdiction | Holidays | Court days 2026 | Court days 2027 | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekdays only | 0 | 261 | 261 | No holiday list applied |
| Florida | 9 | 252 | 251 | F.S. 110.117, via Rule 2.514(a)(6)(A) |
| Federal courts | 11 | 250 | 249 | 5 U.S.C. 6103, via FRCP 6(a)(6)(A) |
| Texas | 15 | 248 | 249 | Tex. Gov't Code 662.021 |
| California | 14 | 247 | 246 | CCP 133 and 135 |
Texas has the longest holiday list but not the fewest court days, and the reason is a quirk worth knowing. Several Texas legal holidays are fixed dates with no observed day shift, so when San Jacinto Day or Texas Independence Day falls on a weekend the courts lose nothing. In 2026 there is a second collision: Confederate Heroes Day is fixed at January 19, and the third Monday of January 2026 is also January 19, so two of the fifteen statutory holidays land on a single date. The same thing happens in 2032 and 2037. California, by contrast, shifts its fixed date holidays onto the nearest weekday under California Rules of Court rule 1.11, so it never loses one to a weekend.
Which holidays each jurisdiction skips
This is where court day calculators disagree with each other. A generic business day tool applies the federal list everywhere, which produces the wrong date in all three of the largest litigation states.
| Holiday | Federal | California | Texas | Florida |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Martin Luther King Jr. Day | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Presidents Day or Washington's Birthday | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Memorial Day | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Juneteenth | Yes | Yes | Yes, as Emancipation Day in Texas | No |
| Independence Day | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Labor Day | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Columbus Day | Yes | No | No | No |
| Veterans Day | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Thanksgiving Day | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| The day after Thanksgiving | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Christmas Day | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| State specific additions | None | Lincoln Day, Cesar Chavez Day, Native American Day | Confederate Heroes Day, Texas Independence Day, San Jacinto Day, LBJ Day | None |
| Weekend holiday shifts to a weekday | Yes | Yes | No shift at all | Yes |
The bottom row is the one that catches people who practice in more than one state. Texas Government Code 662.021 sets fixed dates and provides no observed day shift, so a Texas legal holiday that falls on a Saturday simply passes without closing anything. Florida shifts under section 110.117(2), and that shift reaches across the year boundary: New Year's Day 2028 is a Saturday, which makes Friday, December 31, 2027 a legal holiday in Florida.
Counting court days between two dates
The reverse question comes up in scheduling disputes and in checking someone else's calendaring: two dates are already fixed, and you need to know how many court days actually sit between them.
Take Monday, November 2, 2026 to Monday, December 7, 2026. That is 35 calendar days and 25 weekdays. But the number of court days depends on whose holidays apply, and the answers are not the same.
| Holiday set | Court days from Nov 2 to Dec 7, 2026 | Holidays removed |
|---|---|---|
| Weekdays only | 25 | None |
| Federal | 23 | Veterans Day, Thanksgiving |
| California | 22 | Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving |
| Texas | 22 | Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, the Friday after Thanksgiving |
| Florida | 22 | Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, the Friday after Thanksgiving |
Three court days separate the loosest reading from the strictest over a five week window. That is the entire margin in most notice periods. When the calculator counts between two dates it excludes the first date and includes the last, which is the convention every court day rule uses, and it lists the closed days it removed so you can reconcile the number against your own calendar.
Which rules are actually written in court days
Court day counting is mostly a state court practice, and California uses it more than anywhere else. Knowing which of your deadlines run in court days is half the battle.
California motion practice
CCP 1005(b) is the classic: 16 court days for moving papers, 9 for the opposition, 5 for the reply, all counted backward from the hearing. Electronic service adds 2 court days under CCP 1010.6(a)(4)(B).
Short Texas periods
Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 4 removes Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays from any period of five days or less. Short Texas periods are effectively court day periods, while longer ones are calendar days.
Short Florida periods
Florida draws the same line at a different number. Rule 2.514(a)(2) does not count weekends or legal holidays at all in a period shorter than seven days, so a five day Florida period can span eleven calendar days.
Local rules and standing orders
Individual departments set their own notice periods in court days for ex parte applications, tentative ruling opt outs and hearing reservations. These are not in any statewide list.
Contracts and cure periods
Commercial agreements borrow the unit freely, usually as business days. If the contract does not define the term, the ambiguity is real and worth resolving in the drafting rather than the dispute.
Not federal civil deadlines
FRCP 6(a)(1) counts calendar days, so most federal periods are not court day periods at all. For those, use the court deadline calculator instead of this one.
Court days questions, answered
What are court days?
Court days are the days a courthouse is open for business. Counting in court days means skipping every Saturday, Sunday and judicial holiday as you count, rather than counting them and only adjusting at the end. Because the skipping happens throughout the period, a court day count always spans more calendar days than the number in the rule. Sixteen court days runs 22 to 27 calendar days.
How does the court count days?
It depends on the unit the rule uses, and the rule always says which. A period stated in plain days is calendar days: you count every day and adjust only if the last day is a weekend or holiday. A period stated in court days or business days skips weekends and holidays as you go. Both methods exclude the triggering day and include the last day.
What is the difference between court days and calendar days?
Calendar days count every day on the wall calendar, including weekends and holidays, and weekends only matter if the final day lands on one. Court days exclude weekends and judicial holidays from the count entirely. The gap is large: a five court day period spans 5 to 11 calendar days, and a 16 court day period spans 22 to 27, depending on which holidays fall inside it.
Do you count weekends in court days?
No. Saturdays and Sundays are never court days, so a court day count steps over them without incrementing. In California this is explicit: Code of Civil Procedure section 133 makes every Saturday and Sunday a judicial holiday. That is the opposite of a calendar day period, where intervening weekends are counted normally and only the last day is adjusted. There is more on that distinction in our guide to whether weekends count for court deadlines.
How do you count 16 court days from today?
Do not count today. Start with the next day: if it is not a Saturday, Sunday or judicial holiday, that is court day one. Keep stepping forward one day at a time, incrementing only on days the court is open, until you reach 16. Counting backward from a hearing works the same way, stepping back from the day before the hearing. The step by step version is in how to count court days in California.
Do court days include holidays?
No, and which holidays count depends entirely on the jurisdiction. California courts observe 14 judicial holidays under Code of Civil Procedure section 135, Texas recognizes 15 legal holidays under Government Code section 662.021, Florida recognizes only 9 under section 110.117, and the federal courts recognize 11 under 5 U.S.C. 6103. Florida has neither Presidents Day nor Columbus Day.
How many court days are there in a year?
In 2026 there are 261 weekdays. After judicial holidays are removed, Florida has 252 court days, federal courts have 250, Texas has 248, and California has 247. California ends up with the fewest because it recognizes the most judicial holidays, including Lincoln Day, Cesar Chavez Day, Native American Day and the day after Thanksgiving.
Is a court day the same as a business day?
Not quite, and the difference can cost you a filing. A business day is any weekday. A court day is a weekday the court is actually open, so it also removes judicial holidays. In 2026 that is a difference of 9 to 14 days depending on the state. If a rule or contract says business days rather than court days, read it literally.
Does the federal court system use court days?
Ordinarily no. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(a)(1) counts calendar days, including intervening weekends and holidays, and rolls only the last day forward if it falls on a weekend or legal holiday. Court day counting is mainly a state court practice, most prominently California motion practice under Code of Civil Procedure section 1005(b). Some federal local rules and standing orders do use business days, so read the specific rule.
What is a court calendar calculator?
It is the same tool under a different name. A court calendar calculator, a legal calendar calculator and a court day counter all describe something that converts a rule stated in days into a real date on a real calendar. What separates a useful one from a decorative one is whether it applies the right holiday list, whether it can count backward from a hearing, and whether it shows which days it skipped.
A calculator answers one date. A docket has hundreds
Counting a single deadline by hand is fine. Keeping every deadline in every matter correct as hearings move, cases get continued and holidays shift is a different job. Caseagent puts an AI agent inside the case file so the documents that create the deadline also drive the calendar.
Related deadline tools and guides
Court deadline calculator
The calendar day counterpart, applying FRCP 6(a) to federal filing deadlines.
California court deadline calculator
CCP 1005(b) presets, service method extensions and the 14 judicial holidays.
Legal calendaring and docketing software
What rules based calendaring costs, and how it differs from a shared calendar.
How to count court days in California
The backward count under CCP 12c, worked through with a real hearing date.
Federal court deadlines cheat sheet
Every FRCP response deadline in one table, with the Rule 6(a) counting method.