On July 3rd, 2012, the Town of Mammoth Lakes filed a petition seeking bankruptcy protection and the adjustment of debts under chapter 9 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The petition was filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California, Sacramento Division, and was assigned case number 2012-32463.

You may retrieve copies of documents filed in the chapter 9 bankruptcy case by accessing the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system. Registration is required. You may register for PACER by completing the registration form on the PACER home page. You will not be able to obtain documents by calling the Bankruptcy Court directly.

Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code provides a financially-distressed municipality protection from its creditors while it develops and negotiates a plan for adjusting its debts. Although similar in some respects to other chapters of the Bankruptcy Code, it is significantly different in that there is no provision for liquidation of the assets of the municipality and distribution of the proceeds to creditors.

Due to limitations on the power of the bankruptcy court required by the Tenth Amendment and United States Supreme Court decisions upholding municipal bankruptcy legislation, the bankruptcy court generally is not as active in managing a chapter 9 case as it is in a reorganization under chapter 11. In chapter 9 cases, the functions of the bankruptcy court are generally limited to approving the petition (if the debtor is eligible), confirming a plan of debt adjustment, and ensuring implementation of the plan.

Additional information concerning chapter 9 is available on the United States Courts' web site by clicking here.

Information about the Bankruptcy Court is available on the Bankruptcy Court’s web site. Staff of the Bankruptcy Court is prohibited from giving information that may be characterized as legal advice. This means that court staff will not provide information relating to the application of laws and rules to individual claims or defenses, whether a complaint properly presents a claim, what the "best" procedures are to accomplish a particular objective, or the interpretation of case law.

Likewise, court staff will not offer any opinion as to the probable disposition of any matter by the court. The information provided by staff is limited to explaining the filing requirements of the court and reading, without comment, the actual text of a bankruptcy rule, local rule, or statute.

Links to various documents filed in the chapter 9 case may be added to this web page from time to time. Please note that the information and links on this web page are provided for your convenience and are not a substitute for the official court record accessed using PACER.