Court Holidays 2026 and 2027: Legal Holidays, California Court Holidays and Federal Court Holidays
Every date below was derived from the governing statute, not copied from another calendar, and then checked twice: once against the holiday engine that runs our deadline calculators, and once against an independent implementation written from the statutory text.
- Federal, California, Texas and Florida side by side, so you can see where they disagree
- 11 days in 2026 and 13 in 2027 when one of those courts is closed and another is open
- Reflects two 2026 amendments to the California holiday statutes
Need the date rather than the closure? The court deadline calculator counts a period and applies the roll for you, the court days calculator counts court days across any span, and the filing date calculator handles counts measured backward from a hearing.
Last updated September 2026
Covers 2020 through 2035. Every year is generated from the statute, not from a stored list.
Checking one date is easy. Keeping every matter deadline correct as trial dates move is not.
Individual courthouses close for local reasons this list cannot know about, including presidential proclamations, emergency closures and local court orders. Confirm against the court's own posted calendar before you rely on a date.
There is no single court holiday calendar
Federal courts observe 11 legal holidays. California superior courts observe 14 judicial holidays, Texas state courts 15 and Florida state courts 9. Those four lists overlap on only seven dates in 2026 and six in 2027. On 11 weekdays in 2026 and 13 in 2027, at least one of these court systems is closed while another is taking filings, which is why a deadline that is safe in one forum can already be blown in another.
The differences are not trivia. Federal courts are open the day after Thanksgiving and closed on Columbus Day. All three states here are the reverse. Florida is open on Presidents' Day and on Juneteenth. Texas closes for Texas Independence Day, San Jacinto Day and Lyndon Baines Johnson Day, none of which exists anywhere else, and Texas alone gives no substitute weekday when a holiday lands on a Saturday or a Sunday, so it simply loses the closure.
Use the lookup above for a single date. The tables below give you the whole year, the count of working court days each jurisdiction actually has, and the exact statutory authority for every entry.
Court holidays 2026
Every date on which at least one of the four court systems is closed. Closed means the clerk's window is shut and nothing is being taken over the counter. Weekend rows are included because Texas observes two of its holidays on the weekend day itself.
| Date | Holiday | Federal | California | Texas | Florida |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, January 1 | New Year's Day | Closed | Closed | Closed | Closed |
| Monday, January 19 | Martin Luther King Jr. Day | Closed | Closed | Closed | Closed |
| Thursday, February 12 | Lincoln Day | Open | Closed | Open | Open |
| Monday, February 16 | Presidents' Day (Washington's Birthday) | Closed | Closed | Closed | Open |
| Monday, March 2 | Texas Independence Day | Open | Open | Closed | Open |
| Tuesday, March 31 | Farmworkers Day (Cesar Chavez Day) | Open | Closed | Open | Open |
| Tuesday, April 21 | San Jacinto Day | Open | Open | Closed | Open |
| Monday, May 25 | Memorial Day | Closed | Closed | Closed | Closed |
| Friday, June 19 | Juneteenth / Emancipation Day in Texas | Closed | Closed | Closed | Open |
| Friday, July 3 | Independence Day observed | Closed | Closed | Open | Closed |
| Saturday, July 4 | Independence Day | Open | Open | Closed | Open |
| Thursday, August 27 | Lyndon Baines Johnson Day | Open | Open | Closed | Open |
| Monday, September 7 | Labor Day | Closed | Closed | Closed | Closed |
| Friday, September 25 | Native American Day | Open | Closed | Open | Open |
| Monday, October 12 | Columbus Day | Closed | Open | Open | Open |
| Wednesday, November 11 | Veterans Day | Closed | Closed | Closed | Closed |
| Thursday, November 26 | Thanksgiving Day | Closed | Closed | Closed | Closed |
| Friday, November 27 | Day after Thanksgiving | Open | Closed | Closed | Closed |
| Friday, December 25 | Christmas Day | Closed | Closed | Closed | Closed |
Saturday, July 4, 2026 is the row that catches people. Federal, California and Florida courts move the closure back to Friday, July 3. Texas does not move it at all, so Texas courts are open on Friday, July 3 and the holiday falls on a day the courthouse was already shut.
Court holidays 2027
2027 is the harder year to calendar. Three Texas holidays fall on a weekend and none of them is made up, while the federal courts and California and Florida all shift theirs to the nearest weekday. The result is two Fridays and one Monday on which Texas courts are open and the federal courthouse is dark.
| Date | Holiday | Federal | California | Texas | Florida |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, January 1 | New Year's Day | Closed | Closed | Closed | Closed |
| Monday, January 18 | Martin Luther King Jr. Day | Closed | Closed | Closed | Closed |
| Tuesday, January 19 | Confederate Heroes Day | Open | Open | Closed | Open |
| Friday, February 12 | Lincoln Day | Open | Closed | Open | Open |
| Monday, February 15 | Presidents' Day (Washington's Birthday) | Closed | Closed | Closed | Open |
| Tuesday, March 2 | Texas Independence Day | Open | Open | Closed | Open |
| Wednesday, March 31 | Farmworkers Day (Cesar Chavez Day) | Open | Closed | Open | Open |
| Wednesday, April 21 | San Jacinto Day | Open | Open | Closed | Open |
| Monday, May 31 | Memorial Day | Closed | Closed | Closed | Closed |
| Friday, June 18 | Juneteenth observed | Closed | Closed | Open | Open |
| Saturday, June 19 | Emancipation Day in Texas | Open | Open | Closed | Open |
| Sunday, July 4 | Independence Day | Open | Open | Closed | Open |
| Monday, July 5 | Independence Day observed | Closed | Closed | Open | Closed |
| Friday, August 27 | Lyndon Baines Johnson Day | Open | Open | Closed | Open |
| Monday, September 6 | Labor Day | Closed | Closed | Closed | Closed |
| Friday, September 24 | Native American Day | Open | Closed | Open | Open |
| Monday, October 11 | Columbus Day | Closed | Open | Open | Open |
| Thursday, November 11 | Veterans Day | Closed | Closed | Closed | Closed |
| Thursday, November 25 | Thanksgiving Day | Closed | Closed | Closed | Closed |
| Friday, November 26 | Day after Thanksgiving | Open | Closed | Closed | Closed |
| Friday, December 24 | Christmas Day observed | Closed | Closed | Open | Closed |
| Saturday, December 25 | Christmas Day | Open | Open | Closed | Open |
Friday, December 24, 2027 is the sharpest example on either table. Christmas falls on a Saturday, so federal, California and Florida courts close on the Friday. Texas courts do not, and are open for business on Christmas Eve while the federal clerk's office is closed.
How many court days each jurisdiction actually has
2026 and 2027 each contain 261 weekdays. Subtract the holidays that land on a weekday and you get the number of days the clerk's window is genuinely open. We counted every date in both years against all four holiday sets.
| Court system | Holidays on the list | 2026 court days | 2027 court days | Lost to a weekend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida state courts | 9 | 252 | 252 | None. Florida shifts weekend holidays |
| Federal courts | 11 | 250 | 250 | None. 5 U.S.C. 6103(b) supplies the substitute day |
| Texas state courts | 15 | 248 | 249 | 1 in 2026, 3 in 2027 |
| California superior courts | 14 | 247 | 247 | None in either year |
5
Extra weekdays a year that a California courthouse is closed compared with a Florida one. Same 261 weekdays, five fewer chances to file.
15 to 12
Texas has the longest statutory holiday list of the four and still gets only 12 weekday closures in 2027, because three of them land on a weekend and are not made up.
7 of 18
Of the 18 weekday closure dates that appear anywhere in 2026, only 7 are shared by all four court systems. The other 11 are disagreements.
The counts matter for anything measured in court days rather than calendar days: California notice periods under CCP 1005, court day counts under CCP 12c, and any local rule that speaks in business days. A 16 court day notice period spans a different number of calendar days in California than the same count would in Florida, and the gap widens whenever a holiday sits inside the span. The court days calculator does that arithmetic on whichever of these four lists you pick.
The days one court is closed and another is open
These are the weekdays where the four calendars disagree. If your practice crosses a state line, or crosses between state and federal court, these are the dates that produce a missed filing, a wasted trip to the courthouse or a deadline computed on the wrong list.
| Date | Holiday | Closed | Open for filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, February 12, 2026 | Lincoln Day | California | Federal, Texas, Florida |
| Monday, February 16, 2026 | Presidents' Day (Washington's Birthday) | Federal, California, Texas | Florida |
| Monday, March 2, 2026 | Texas Independence Day | Texas | Federal, California, Florida |
| Tuesday, March 31, 2026 | Farmworkers Day (Cesar Chavez Day) | California | Federal, Texas, Florida |
| Tuesday, April 21, 2026 | San Jacinto Day | Texas | Federal, California, Florida |
| Friday, June 19, 2026 | Juneteenth / Emancipation Day in Texas | Federal, California, Texas | Florida |
| Friday, July 3, 2026 | Independence Day observed | Federal, California, Florida | Texas |
| Thursday, August 27, 2026 | Lyndon Baines Johnson Day | Texas | Federal, California, Florida |
| Friday, September 25, 2026 | Native American Day | California | Federal, Texas, Florida |
| Monday, October 12, 2026 | Columbus Day | Federal | California, Texas, Florida |
| Friday, November 27, 2026 | Day after Thanksgiving | California, Texas, Florida | Federal |
| Tuesday, January 19, 2027 | Confederate Heroes Day | Texas | Federal, California, Florida |
| Friday, February 12, 2027 | Lincoln Day | California | Federal, Texas, Florida |
| Monday, February 15, 2027 | Presidents' Day (Washington's Birthday) | Federal, California, Texas | Florida |
| Tuesday, March 2, 2027 | Texas Independence Day | Texas | Federal, California, Florida |
| Wednesday, March 31, 2027 | Farmworkers Day (Cesar Chavez Day) | California | Federal, Texas, Florida |
| Wednesday, April 21, 2027 | San Jacinto Day | Texas | Federal, California, Florida |
| Friday, June 18, 2027 | Juneteenth observed | Federal, California | Texas, Florida |
| Monday, July 5, 2027 | Independence Day observed | Federal, California, Florida | Texas |
| Friday, August 27, 2027 | Lyndon Baines Johnson Day | Texas | Federal, California, Florida |
| Friday, September 24, 2027 | Native American Day | California | Federal, Texas, Florida |
| Monday, October 11, 2027 | Columbus Day | Federal | California, Texas, Florida |
| Friday, November 26, 2027 | Day after Thanksgiving | California, Texas, Florida | Federal |
| Friday, December 24, 2027 | Christmas Day observed | Federal, California, Florida | Texas |
Two rows repeat every year and are worth committing to memory. Columbus Day closes the federal courthouse and nothing else on this page. The day after Thanksgiving closes all three state systems and leaves the federal courthouse open. A federal filing that a paralegal defers to Monday because the state office was dark on the Friday has burned a court day that never existed.
Where each holiday list comes from
Four different statutes, four different mechanisms. Knowing which one governs your forum is the difference between a date you can rely on and a date you copied off a poster in the clerk's office.
Federal: 5 U.S.C. 6103 through FRCP 6(a)(6)
FRCP 6(a)(6)(A) defines a legal holiday as one of the days listed in 5 U.S.C. 6103, which is the familiar list of 11. Subsection (B) adds any day declared a holiday by the President or Congress. Subsection (C) adds, for periods measured after an event only, any other day the state where the district court sits declares a holiday. That last clause is why a federal deadline in Texas can move for San Jacinto Day while the same deadline counted backward does not.
Weekend holidays get a substitute weekday under 5 U.S.C. 6103(b), which is why the federal courts never lose a closure to a Saturday.
California: CCP 135 and Government Code 6700
CCP 135 starts from the state holidays in Government Code 6700 and then subtracts. Verbatim, it makes every full day designated by 6700 a judicial holiday except Lunar New Year, Diwali, April 24 Genocide Remembrance Day, September 9 Admission Day, the second Monday in October known as Columbus Day, and any day appointed by the President but not the Governor. It then adds, in its own words, that every Saturday and the day after Thanksgiving Day are judicial holidays.
Both statutes changed in 2026. CCP 135 was amended by AB 268, effective January 1, 2026. Government Code 6700 was amended by AB 2156, effective March 26, 2026, and now designates March 31 as Farmworkers Day. Calendars that have not been rebuilt since 2025 will still carry the old wording.
Texas: Government Code 662.021
Texas has the longest list, 15 statutory holidays, including three that exist nowhere else: Texas Independence Day on March 2, San Jacinto Day on April 21 and Lyndon Baines Johnson Day on August 27. Confederate Heroes Day falls on January 19, which in some years is also Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so the two collapse into a single closure. That happens in 2026.
The critical feature is what the statute does not do. There is no observed-day mechanism. A Texas holiday that falls on a Saturday stays on the Saturday and no weekday is substituted, which is how a 15 holiday state ends up with more court days than a 14 holiday one.
Florida: Rule 2.514(a)(6)(A) and section 110.117
Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.514(a)(6)(A) defines a legal holiday by pointing at the paid state holidays in section 110.117 of the Florida Statutes. That list is the shortest of the four at 9 days, which is why Florida courts are open on Presidents' Day, on Juneteenth and on Columbus Day while at least one of the other three is closed.
Florida also treats the day after Thanksgiving as a holiday, so on that one Friday Florida sides with California and Texas against the federal courts.
One honest caveat on California. CCP 135 says the Judicial Council may designate an alternative day when a judicial holiday falls on a Saturday or a Sunday. It is permissive, not automatic, and individual superior courts publish their own annual closure calendars. The dates above follow the standard observance, and for 2026 and 2027 no California judicial holiday falls on a weekend in the first place, so the question does not arise in either year.
What a court holiday actually does to your deadline
A holiday almost never removes a day from the count. It moves the last day. Which way it moves is the part that costs motions.
The deadline moves later
An answer due 21 days after service, a discovery response due 30 days after service, a notice of appeal due 30 days after entry. If day 21 is Thanksgiving, you file on the Friday in federal court and the following Monday in a California superior court, because California closes that Friday and the federal courts do not. FRCP 6(a)(1)(C) continues the period, and 6(a)(5) makes the next day the day after.
The deadline moves earlier
A motion served at least 14 days before the hearing under FRCP 6(c)(1), or a California notice period counted back under CCP 12c. A holiday does not buy you an extra day here. Under FRCP 6(a)(5) the next day for a backward period is the day before, so the papers have to go out sooner. Every holiday inside a backward count tightens the schedule.
California adds a third direction that trips up even experienced calendar clerks. CCP 2016.060 says a Civil Discovery Act deadline that lands on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday extends to the next court day closer to the trial date. Because discovery cutoffs are counted backward from trial, closer to trial means a later calendar date. So on one blocked day a discovery cutoff rolls later while a notice period counted from the same trial date rolls earlier. Our Los Angeles court date calculator chains the whole pretrial sequence with that rule applied, and the California court deadline calculator carries the service extensions.
One more federal wrinkle worth knowing before you rely on the table above. FRCP 6(a)(6)(C) makes a state holiday count as a legal holiday in federal court, but only for periods measured after an event. Across every forward event, state and trigger date we tested, that clause changes the answer on about 1.3% of combinations. Rare, but it is exactly the kind of rare that lands on the one motion that mattered.
Court holiday questions people actually search
Are courts closed on Columbus Day?
Federal courts are closed on Columbus Day, the second Monday in October, because it is one of the eleven federal legal holidays in 5 U.S.C. 6103. California, Texas and Florida state courts stay open. California removed it expressly: CCP 135 lists the second Monday in October among the days that are not judicial holidays. So on Monday, October 12, 2026, the federal courthouse is closed and the state courthouse down the street is taking filings.
Are courts closed the day after Thanksgiving?
State courts in California, Texas and Florida are closed the day after Thanksgiving. Federal courts are open. The day is not a federal legal holiday under 5 U.S.C. 6103, but California makes it a judicial holiday by name in CCP 135, and Texas and Florida both carry it on their statutory lists. That means Friday, November 27, 2026 and Friday, November 26, 2027 are federal court days and state court holidays.
Are courts closed on Juneteenth?
Federal courts and California and Texas state courts are closed on Juneteenth. Florida state courts are open, because Juneteenth is not on the Florida list in section 110.117 that Rule 2.514(a)(6)(A) points to. Texas calls it Emancipation Day in Texas and, unlike the others, gives no substitute day when it lands on a weekend, so Texas courts work through Saturday, June 19, 2027 with nothing moved.
Are courts closed on Veterans Day?
Yes. Veterans Day, November 11, is a holiday in all four jurisdictions on this page. It is one of only seven dates in 2026 on which every one of these court systems is closed at the same time, along with New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. In 2027 that shared list drops to six, because Christmas moves onto a Saturday and Texas does not observe it on the Friday.
Are courts closed on Saturday?
Yes, and in California the statute says so directly: CCP 135 provides that every Saturday is a judicial holiday, and Government Code 6700 makes every Sunday a state holiday. Federal courts treat Saturdays and Sundays separately from legal holidays in FRCP 6(a)(1)(C), but the effect is identical, because a period that would end on a Saturday, a Sunday or a legal holiday continues to the next day that is none of those three.
What days are courts closed in California?
California superior courts are closed on 14 judicial holidays a year plus every Saturday and Sunday, which leaves 247 court days in both 2026 and 2027. The 14 are New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Lincoln Day on February 12, Presidents' Day, March 31, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Native American Day on the fourth Friday in September, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Are courts closed July 3, 2026?
Federal courts and California and Florida state courts are closed Friday, July 3, 2026, because July 4 falls on a Saturday that year and the observance moves back to the preceding Friday. Texas courts are open on July 3 and closed on Saturday, July 4 instead. Texas Government Code 662.021 sets the holiday on the calendar date and provides no substitute weekday, so the closure falls on a day the courthouse was already shut.
Are courts closed between Christmas and New Year's?
No. Christmas Day and New Year's Day are holidays, but the working days between them are ordinary court days in all four jurisdictions here, and deadlines keep running through them. Individual courthouses sometimes close for a local reason and many judges do not set hearings that week, which is not the same thing. A period that ends on December 29 ends on December 29.
What happens if a filing deadline falls on a court holiday?
The deadline moves to the next day the court is open, and the direction depends on how you counted. FRCP 6(a)(1)(C) continues a period to the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday. FRCP 6(a)(5) then defines that next day as the day after when the period was measured after an event, and as the day before when it was measured backward from one, so a backward deadline moves earlier and gives you less time, not more.
How many court days are there in 2026?
2026 has 261 weekdays. After holidays come out, Florida state courts have 252 court days, the federal courts 250, Texas 248 and California 247. In 2027 the weekday count is again 261, and the totals are Florida 252, federal 250, Texas 249 and California 247. Texas gains a court day in 2027 only because three of its holidays fall on a weekend and are not made up.
A holiday calendar is a reference. A docket is a moving target
Looking up one closure takes ten seconds. Reworking every deadline on 40 matters because a trial date slipped three weeks takes an afternoon and is where the errors come from. Caseagent puts an AI agent inside the case file, so the documents that create a deadline are the same ones that keep the calendar current.
Related deadline tools and guides
Court deadline calculator
The calendar day count under FRCP 6(a), with the roll applied automatically.
Court days calculator
Counts court days forward, backward or between two dates on these same four holiday lists.
How to count court days in California
The CCP 12 and 12c mechanics behind the California column above.
Legal calendaring and docketing software
What rules based calendaring costs and when a free calculator stops being enough.