File and Serve Documents in a Special Education Case
A complaint, as well as other documents sent to OAH, must be "filed" and "served." All documents used to communicate with OAH about the case must be “served” on the other party or parties in the case. Proof of serving a document on the other parties must then be sent to OAH to show that the other parties have a copy of the document. This is called either a Statement of Service (also called "Proof of Service") and will be discussed below. The Statement of Service lets OAH know that anything one side is saying to the judge has been told to the other parties.
“Filing” a document is the same as sending a document to OAH where a document is intended to be part of a case and seen by a judge. Anyone who files a document with OAH must send a copy of the entire document, including any attachments, to all of the other parties involved in the case. For example, if a parent files a complaint against a district, the parent must send a copy to the district. If a district files a complaint with OAH, it must send a copy to the parent or parents.
Filing and Serving Documents
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Serve the Document
Serving a document means sending an exact copy to another party. Serving may be done by mail or in person. Serving by fax, e-mail, or SFT may also be done if the other party has agreed to accept service in one of those ways in advance. It is important to remember that you must provide a copy to the other parties before sending the document to OAH because you must send to OAH a proof of service along with the document you are filing. -
File the Document
File the documents after serving: Once you have served the documents on the other side, you can file the documents with OAH. All documents have to be filed with OAH if you intend a judge to review them. There is one exception to this - do NOT file exhibits with OAH. Any documents or other evidence you wish to present during a hearing must NOT be sent to OAH. See Preparing for Hearing for more information.
To file a document with OAH, the document must be sent to OAH in one of the following ways: sent via the internet using OAH’s Secure e-File Transfer (SFT) system, mailed, hand delivered, or sent by overnight delivery.
The address for mailing, hand delivery, or overnight mail is:
Office of Administrative Hearings
2349 Gateway Oaks Drive, Suite 200
Sacramento, CA 95833
If a parent is unable to either e-file documents using SFT, to send documents by mail or overnight delivery, or hand deliver the documents, please call OAH at (916) 263-0880 for assistance.
ACCESS proof of service - optional form
NOTE: As with all blank forms, please down load the blank form and save it to your desktop before filling in the form.
To access the English language form click on the form's name below:
For translations of this form please select "Statement of Service - Available Translations," below. Once selected the section will expand showing the list of translations available with links to those forms.
If the language needed is not available, please use the Alternative Format or Language Request link on this page to request the language that you need.
Arabic
بيان الإعلان - العربية
Cantonese (Chinese Traditional)
粵語（繁體中文）- 送達聲明
Mandarin (Chinese Simplified)
普通话（简体中文）- 送达声明
Spanish
Español - Declaración de Notificación
Vietnamese
Tiếng Việt - Thông Báo về Tống Đạt
Contact
Office of Administrative Hearings
Sacramento, CA 95833
Main Contact Number: (916) 263-0880
OAH Secure e-File Transfer System
The OAH Secure e-File Transfer (SFT) system allows users to send to OAH, and receive from OAH, electronic documents.
Alternative Format and language Request
All forms and publications on this website are available in alternative formats or languages. If you would like a copy of a form or publication in an alternative format or language, please contact us at DGSOAHFeedback@dgs.ca.gov.