California Rule of Court 10.430 and Standard 10.80

What happened

The Judicial Council of California, the policymaking body for the state's courts, formed an AI task force to consider how court staff and judges should use generative AI (systems that produce new text, images or other content in response to a prompt). The task force proposed a rule of court for court administration and a standard of judicial administration for judges acting in their adjudicative role.

What was issued or decided

The Judicial Council adopted rule 10.430 and Standard 10.80 on July 18, 2025, effective September 1, 2025, according to the ABA Journal. Rule 10.430, titled "Generative artificial intelligence use policies," requires any court "that does not prohibit the use of generative AI by court staff or judicial officers" to adopt a use policy by December 15, 2025.

The rule lists what each policy must cover:

• a bar on entering confidential, personal identifying or other nonpublic information into a public generative AI system
• a bar on using generative AI to unlawfully discriminate against or disparately impact individuals or communities
• a requirement to take reasonable steps to verify that material is accurate and to correct erroneous or hallucinated output (content a system presents as fact that is false)
• reasonable steps to remove biased, offensive or harmful content
• disclosure where the final version of a written, visual or audio work provided to the public consists entirely of generative AI output
• compliance with applicable laws, court policies and ethical and professional conduct rules

Standard 10.80 addresses judicial officers. The ABA Journal reports that it asks judges to "consider whether to disclose the use of generative AI if it is used to create content provided to the public." Brad Hill, who led the task force, told the ABA Journal the guidelines aim to "address the risks of AI rather than permit or prohibit its specific uses."

Where it stands

The text of rule 10.430 on the California courts website carries the note "adopted effective September 1, 2025." The December 15, 2025 deadline for court policies has passed. The rule governs court staff and judicial officers. It does not regulate the use of AI by attorneys, parties or expert witnesses in the material they file.

How it maps to the Standard

The rule's confidentiality and verification requirements track Clauses 6 and 3 of the Standard: custody and confidentiality, and independent authority. It applies those obligations to the court itself rather than to those who appear before it.

For an expert, the rule is context rather than a direct obligation. It shows the terms on which a large state court system has permitted its own people to use these tools: no confidential material in public systems, and verification before use. An expert who works to the same terms is working to the standard the court sets for itself.

Sources

• Judicial Council of California · September 1, 2025
  California Rules of Court, Rule 10.430. Generative artificial intelligence use policies
• ABA Journal · July 21, 2025
  California's courts must adopt AI policies, judicial council says

What could not be confirmed

The text of Standard 10.80 was not opened on the California courts website; it is described from the ABA Journal. Reported 2026 proposals by the State Bar of California and a 2026 California bill on AI in court filings were seen only in search results and are not covered here.