duistatelaws.com Key takeaways
- The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is one court with 36 courthouses in 12 judicial districts, and describes itself as the largest trial court in the nation.
- The District Attorney prosecutes misdemeanors in 78 of 88 cities and the unincorporated areas. Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Monica and Pasadena are among ten cities with their own prosecutors.
- A felony DUI is a District Attorney case anywhere in the county.
- The Metropolitan Courthouse houses an Alcohol Program Office and a Los Angeles City Attorney office.
- After a not-guilty plea to a misdemeanor, trial must come within 30 days in custody and 45 days on bail or own recognizance.
- 10 days to ask the DMV for a hearing; the suspension takes effect on the 30th day after service.
from the date you were served with the notice to demand a hearing from California Department of Motor Vehicles. The request goes to the DMV, not to the court, and no judge in Los Angeles County will make it for you. Cal. Veh. Code § 13558(b).
The law is the same Vehicle Code that governs a DUI anywhere in California. What makes Los Angeles different is the size of the machinery around it. The court states that its jurisdiction covers 88 cities, 140 unincorporated areas and more than 90 law enforcement agencies, with a population of almost ten million, across 4,084 square miles. It is the only superior court in the county and operates 36 courthouses in 12 judicial districts.
Inside that, two questions decide what a DUI case looks like: which office prosecutes it, and which courthouse it is filed in. The first is answered by the District Attorney’s own description of who does what. The second is answered by the paperwork, checked against the court’s own directory.
The same diagram as a table
| Step | Criminal case — decided by a court | License case — decided by a state agency |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrest and booking, hour 0 | Notice of suspension served, day 0 |
| 2 | Charge filed by the prosecutor | Deadline to demand a hearing: 7 to 30 days in the eight states on this site that use an agency hearing |
| 3 | First court setting, on a date the court picks | Hearing held if the request was filed — whether the suspension waits for the ruling is set by each state's statute |
| 4 | One or more pretrial settings | Suspension takes effect automatically with no hearing |
| 5 | Trial, plea or dismissal | — |
| Clock | Weeks to months. No filing deadline runs against the driver. | Counted in days from the notice, and fixed by statute. |
Criminal courthouses in and around the City of Los Angeles
The court’s courthouse locator lists the buildings that hear criminal cases. These four carry Los Angeles or Van Nuys addresses and all list criminal work; the full list runs from Lancaster to Long Beach, and the building for your case is the one printed on your paperwork.
Metropolitan Courthouse
- Hears
- Criminal, family law and traffic
- Building
- Metropolitan Courthouse
- Address
- 1945 South Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
- Detail
- The court’s directory lists an Alcohol Program Office on the 6th floor and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office on the 5th
- Hours
- Courthouse 8am to 4:30pm; Clerk’s Office 8:30am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday
- Phone
- 213-745-3200
- Why it matters
- A courthouse with a City Attorney’s office and an alcohol program office under the same roof.
Airport Courthouse
- Hears
- Criminal
- Building
- Airport Courthouse
- Address
- 11701 S. La Cienega, Los Angeles, CA 90045
- Detail
- Separate felony and misdemeanor criminal clerk’s offices; the directory lists a Los Angeles City Attorney office and a Santa Monica City Attorney office on the 4th floor
- Hours
- Courthouse 8am to 4:30pm; Clerk’s Office 8:30am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday
- Phone
- 310-725-3000
- Why it matters
- Santa Monica’s own courthouse lists no criminal division. Its City Attorney has an office here instead.
Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center
- Hears
- Criminal
- Building
- Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center
- Address
- 210 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
- Detail
- The court lists 62 courtrooms; the District Attorney is on the 17th and 18th floors and the Public Defender on the 19th
- Hours
- Courthouse 7am to 5pm; Clerk’s Office 8:30am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday
- Why it matters
- Downtown, on Temple Street. The prosecution and the defense both have offices in the building.
Van Nuys Courthouse West
- Hears
- Civil, criminal and traffic
- Building
- Van Nuys Courthouse West
- Address
- 14400 Erwin Street Mall, Van Nuys, CA 91401
- Detail
- Listed by the court among its criminal courthouses
- Phone
- 818-989-6900
- Why it matters
- Not to be confused with Van Nuys Courthouse East, 6230 Sylmar Avenue, which the court lists with no criminal division.
The court lists the Santa Monica Courthouse, 1725 Main Street, for civil, family law, small claims, traffic and unlawful detainer cases — no criminal division. Its directory puts a Santa Monica City Attorney office on the 4th floor of the Airport Courthouse instead. It is a useful example of why the building has to come from the paperwork, not from the city name.
Two more names from the list trip people up. Van Nuys has two courthouses: West, at 14400 Erwin Street Mall, lists criminal cases; East, at 6230 Sylmar Avenue, does not. And the Central Arraignment Courthouse at 429 Bauchet Street is a separate building from the Foltz Criminal Justice Center, though both are downtown.
Outside the city, Long Beach’s Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse at 275 Magnolia and the Pasadena Courthouse at 300 East Walnut Street are both listed with criminal divisions — the courthouses for two of the cities the District Attorney names as having their own prosecutors.
Getting into the building
The court states that everyone entering a courthouse goes through a metal detector, that bags are x-rayed, and that an item security staff decide is hazardous or a weapon is not permitted: you may be asked to leave and come back without it, or it will be confiscated.
Not sure which court your case is in?
Enter the ZIP code where the arrest happened and the full form opens with it filled in.
Arraignment, and the clock after it
The court describes the arraignment as the first court appearance: you are advised of your constitutional rights and of the charges, an attorney is appointed if you cannot afford one, you enter a plea, and you are either released on your own recognizance or the judge sets bail. For a misdemeanor, the court states, a not-guilty plea starts a clock: trial within 30 days of arraignment if you are in custody, and 45 days if you are on bail or your own recognizance. For a felony, the preliminary hearing must be held within 10 days of arraignment.
The license case runs separately and faster. After a reading at or above the limit, or a refusal, the officer serves a notice of suspension, and under Vehicle Code section 13558(b) you have 10 days to request a hearing from the DMV. Section 13353.3(a) makes the suspension effective on the thirtieth day after service. None of the 36 courthouses handles that request.
| What happened | First time | With a prior | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Failed the test | 4 months | 1 year | Cal. Veh. Code § 13353.3(b) |
| Refused the test | 1 year | 2 years (revocation) | Cal. Veh. Code § 23612(a)(1)(D) |
Who prosecutes, city by city
The penalty ranges are the same everywhere in California and are on the California DUI law page. What varies in Los Angeles County is the office on the other side of the case.
The District Attorney states that its deputies, nearly a thousand of them, prosecute felonies throughout Los Angeles County, and prosecute misdemeanors in the unincorporated areas and in 78 of the county’s 88 cities. Ten cities, it says, including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Monica and Pasadena, have city prosecutors who handle misdemeanor crimes and municipal code violations within their own jurisdictions. The office describes itself as the largest local prosecutorial office in the United States and reports prosecuting more than 71,000 felonies and 110,000 misdemeanors every year.
So a first-offense DUI inside the City of Los Angeles and one in an unincorporated area can be prosecuted by different offices under the same statute, and a DUI that is charged as a felony — the clearest route is a fourth offense within ten years under Vehicle Code section 23550 — is a District Attorney case wherever it happened. The court’s directory shows the geography of that split: a Los Angeles City Attorney office at the Metropolitan and Airport courthouses, and District Attorney offices at the Airport Courthouse and on the 17th and 18th floors of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center.
DUI cases across Los Angeles County
The county line is not the question in Los Angeles. The city line is — because it decides which prosecutor files a misdemeanor. The District Attorney’s own statement is the basis for this table.
| Situation | County | Where the case goes |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the City of Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Los Angeles City Attorney, for a misdemeanor |
| Long Beach, Santa Monica, Pasadena | Los Angeles | Each city’s own prosecutor, for a misdemeanor |
| Unincorporated areas and 78 of the county’s 88 cities | Los Angeles | District Attorney, for a misdemeanor |
| A felony DUI anywhere in the county | Los Angeles | District Attorney |
Every row is the same county, the same Superior Court and the same Vehicle Code. The District Attorney names four of the ten cities with their own prosecutors; this page does not guess the other six.
The District Attorney names four of the ten cities with their own prosecutors. This page does not name the other six, because the office’s page does not, and a city list assembled from anywhere else would be a guess. The charging document names the prosecuting office.
For the other California city on this site, San Diego has the same kind of city-line split on a smaller scale: one City Attorney, four regional courthouses.
Common questions about Los Angeles DUI cases
Who prosecutes a DUI in Los Angeles?
It depends on where the arrest happened and on the charge. The District Attorney states that it prosecutes felonies throughout the county and misdemeanors in the unincorporated areas and 78 of the county's 88 cities, and that ten cities, including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Monica and Pasadena, have city prosecutors who handle misdemeanors within their jurisdictions.
Which courthouse will my Los Angeles DUI be in?
The one on your paperwork. The Superior Court operates 36 courthouses in 12 judicial districts. Criminal courthouses with Los Angeles addresses include the Metropolitan Courthouse at 1945 South Hill Street, the Airport Courthouse at 11701 S. La Cienega and the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center at 210 West Temple Street.
How long do I have to request a DMV hearing after a Los Angeles arrest?
Ten days from the date you were served with the notice, under Vehicle Code section 13558(b). The request goes to the California DMV, not to the court, and the suspension takes effect on the thirtieth day after service under section 13353.3(a).
How fast does a misdemeanor DUI go to trial in Los Angeles?
The court states that after a not-guilty plea to a misdemeanor, trial must be within 30 days of arraignment if you are in custody and within 45 days if you are on bail or your own recognizance.
Is there an alcohol program office at the courthouse?
The court's directory lists an Alcohol Program Office on the 6th floor of the Metropolitan Courthouse, 1945 South Hill Street, in the same building as a Los Angeles City Attorney office on the 5th floor.
Can a Santa Monica DUI be heard at the Santa Monica Courthouse?
The court lists the Santa Monica Courthouse for civil, family law, small claims, traffic and unlawful detainer cases, with no criminal division, and its directory shows a Santa Monica City Attorney office at the Airport Courthouse. Check the courthouse named on your paperwork.
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More for California
- California DUI law — the full penalty matrix, the statutes, and the rules on priors and interlock
- San Diego — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Orange County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Sacramento — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Santa Rosa and Sonoma County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Fresno — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- San Francisco — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Bakersfield and Kern County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- San Bernardino — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Napa — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- San Jose and Santa Clara County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Santa Cruz — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Alameda County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Contra Costa County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- San Mateo County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Solano County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Santa Barbara — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Redding and Shasta County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Visalia and Tulare County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Refusing a breathalyzer — what implied consent costs here against what it buys
- How long it stays on your record — three records, three clocks
- SR-22 insurance after a California suspension — what the filing certifies and how long it runs
- Ignition interlock providers and costs in California — what the device costs and who installs it
Sources
- Superior Court of Los Angeles County, about the court — read September 22, 2026
- Superior Court of Los Angeles County, criminal courthouses — read September 22, 2026
- Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Metropolitan Courthouse — read September 22, 2026
- Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Airport Courthouse — read September 22, 2026
- Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center — read September 22, 2026
- Superior Court of Los Angeles County, criminal general information — read September 22, 2026
- Superior Court of Los Angeles County, what do I do when I come to court — read September 22, 2026
- Superior Court of Los Angeles County, prohibited items notice (site-wide) — read September 22, 2026
- Los Angeles County District Attorney, office overview — read September 22, 2026
- Los Angeles County District Attorney, operations — read September 22, 2026
- Cal. Veh. Code § 23152(b) and the rest of the California statutes cited on this page — read in force 2026
Court addresses, hours and phone numbers were read from each court’s or office’s own published page on September 22, 2026. Those change without notice; confirm before you rely on them. No judge is named anywhere on this page, because a roster is exactly the kind of detail that goes stale silently.