Courts
AB 273 (Anderson) Collections: amounts imposed by a court. This bill would have required superior courts to refer all delinquent fines, state or local penalties, forfeitures, and other amounts imposed by a superior court upon a person or entity for criminal offenses to the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) for collection, regardless of the amount. The bill would also have authorized the FTB to collect actual and reasonable costs of collection in addition to any amounts referred and interest thereon. Status: Dead, Asm. Rev & Tax.
AB 590 (Feuer) Legal aid. This bill requires the Judicial Council to create a pilot program for the appointment of legal representation for unrepresented low-income parties in civil matters involving critical issues affecting basic human needs, as specified. The pilot program commences July 1, 2011 and will be subject to funding specifically provided for this purpose. This bill requires the Judicial Council to develop the pilot program in selected courts pursuant to a competitive grant process and a request for proposals, as specified. In addition, this bill prohibits the use of the term “legal aid” by an entity unless the entity is a nonprofit organization that provides civil legal services to the poor without charge. Status: Chapter 457, 2009.
AB 663 (Jones) Legal aid: court interpreters: appearances by telephone. This bill would have required the Judicial Council to enter into one or more master agreements with vendors to charge a fee to provide telephone appearances by parties authorized to do so in specified proceedings in civil cases, and would require the vendor to pay $15 of each fee collected to the state for deposit into the Trial Court Trust Fund. This bill also would have established a model pilot program to be developed by the Judicial Council for providing court interpreters in important civil matters not currently served, to be funded from the revenue derived from the telephonic appearance fee. Finally, this bill would have prohibited the use of the term “legal aid” by an entity unless the entity is a nonprofit organization that provides civil legal services to the poor without charge. Status: Dead, Sen. Approps.
AB 680 (Hall) Local government: fees and judgments. This bill increases various fees, by amounts ranging from $5 to $20, for serving, executing, and processing required court notices, writs, orders, and other services provided by county sheriffs and marshals. Among other things, this bill creates an ex parte application for relief when a levying officer has not paid funds to a person entitled to a money judgment, and exempts those actions from the Tort Claims Act. Status: Chapter 4, 2010.
AB 996 (Anderson) Courts: continuous hours of operation. This bill would have authorized the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the presiding justice of a court of appeal, or the presiding judge of a superior court to order the court to operate on a continuous and ongoing basis, 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Status: Failed, Asm. Jud.
AB 1749 (Lowenthal and Strickland) Whistleblower Protection Act: Administrative Office of the Courts. This bill expands existing whistleblower protections under the California Whistleblower Protection Act to include employees of the judicial branch. Specifically, this bill authorizes an employee or applicant for employment with certain judiciary entities who files a written complaint alleging actual or attempted acts of reprisal, retaliation, or similar prohibited acts for having made a protected disclosure, to also file a copy of the written complaint with the State Personnel Board, and requires the Board to investigate any claim filed and make a recommendation regarding the alleged retaliation. Status: Chapter 160, 2010.
AB 1926 (Evans) Court records: preservation guidelines. This bill provides that trial courts could create, maintain, and preserve court records in any form of communication if the form satisfies rules adopted by the Judicial Council, as specified. This bill requires the Judicial Council to establish standards and guidelines for the creation, maintenance, reproduction, or preservation of court records. This bill provides that documents electronically signed, subscribed, or verified would have the same validity and legal force and effect as paper documents. Status: Chapter 167, 2010.
AB 2217 (Fuentes) Jurors: electronic communications. This bill would have statutorily authorized an informal practice by many courts to appropriately admonish jurors against the use of electronic and wireless devices to communicate, research, or disseminate information about an ongoing case. This bill would also have updated existing civil and criminal contempt statutes by establishing that courts have the authority to hold jurors in contempt for willfully disobeying a court admonishment relating to the prohibition of any form of electronic communication, dissemination of information, or research about a case. Status: Vetoed.
SB 319 (Harman) Jury services. This bill authorizes a court, when a juror fails to respond to an initial summons, to issue a second summons indicating that the person failed to appear in response to a previous summons and ordering the person to appear for jury duty. This bill also provides that the second summons may be issued no earlier than 90 days after the initial failure to appear, and extends these provisions indefinitely by deleting the January 1, 2010 sunset date from existing law. Status: Chapter 44, 2009.
Court Reporting and Recording
AB 170 (Mendoza) Court reporters: rough draft transcripts. This bill provides that, until January 1, 2017, a court reporter’s instant visual display of testimony or proceedings may not be certified and cannot be used, cited, distributed, or transcribed as the official transcript of the proceedings. This bill also prohibits the citation or use of an instant visual display of testimony or proceedings to rebut or contradict the official certified transcript of the proceedings, and prohibits a rough draft transcript from being distributed as the official certified transcript of the proceedings. Status: Chapter 87, 2009.
SB 1181 (Cedillo) Shorthand reporters: Transcript Reimbursement Fund. This bill extends the sunset on the Transcript Reimbursement Fund administered by the Court Reporters Board of California from January 1, 2011 to January 1, 2013. The bill expands the applicants authorized to obtain reimbursement from the fund to include indigent pro se litigants, as specified, up to a maximum of $30,000 annually and $1,500 per case, and requires the board to report to the Legislature no later than March 1, 2012, on expenditures and claims by such litigants. Status: Chapter 518, 2010
Judges
AB 942 (Judiciary) Judgeships. This bill would have authorized the Judicial Council to convert up to an additional 10 subordinate judicial officer (SJO) positions to judgeships each year, upon vacancy, if the conversion of these additional positions would result in a judge being assigned to a family or juvenile law assignment previously presided over by an SJO. This bill also would have required the Judicial Council to provide the Legislature with a special assessment of the need for new judgeships in the family and juvenile law assignments for each superior court and a report on the effectiveness of the additional SJO conversions. Status: Dead, Sen. Approps.
AB 1894 (Monning) Judges: disqualification. This bill extends, for civil cases only, the time period for making a motion to disqualify a judge from 10 to 15 days. This bill also provides that a party making a motion to disqualify a judge must serve notice on all parties no later than five days after making the motion. Status: Chapter 131, 2010.
AB 2116 (Evans) Judges: gifts and honoraria. This bill extends to subordinate judicial officers (SJOs) the statutory gift limitations that now apply to judges of the superior courts, and justices of the courts of appeal and the Supreme Court. Status: Chapter 206, 2010.
AB 2487 (Feuer) Judicial elections: campaign contributions. This bill requires the disqualification of a superior court judge who has received a campaign contribution in excess of $1,500 from a party or lawyer in a proceeding before the court and requires the disclosure of lesser amounts, as specified. The bill provides that the disqualification required under this bill may be waived by the non-contributing party, as specified. Status: Chapter 686, 2010.
AB 2763 (Judiciary) Subordinate judicial officer conversions. This bill authorizes the Judicial Council to convert, in eligible superior courts, up to an additional 10 subordinate judicial officer positions (SJOs) to judgeships each year, upon vacancy, if the conversion of these additional positions will result in a judge being assigned to a family or juvenile law assignment previously presided over by an SJO. This bill requires the Judicial Council to provide the Legislature with a new special assessment of the need for new judgeships in the family and juvenile law assignments for each superior court, and a report on the effectiveness of the additional SJO conversions authorized here.Status: Chapter 690, 2010.
Small Claims Court
AB 712 (Evans) Small claims court: equitable relief. This bill clarifies that a small claims court has jurisdiction over an action for an injunction or other equitable relief only when a statute expressly authorizes a small claims court to award that relief. This bill also provides that nothing in the Small Claims Act is intended to expand, or to encourage the expansion of, the jurisdiction of the small claims court. Status: Chapter 468, 2009.
SB 556 (Judiciary) Small claims court: fee collection. This bill requires the clerk of the court in a small claims court judgment to charge and collect all fees associated with the enforcement of judgments under the Enforcement of Judgments Law. This bill also specifies that bail is included among the unpaid court-ordered fines and penalties that the court may refer to the Franchise Tax Board for collection after 90 days of delinquency. Status: Chapter 596, 2009.
Trial Court Coordination and Funding
AB 1697 (Hall) Court security: fee. This bill would have extended the $10 court security fee increase until 2013, and established a special court security fund. Status: Dead, Sen. Jud.
AB 2485 (Feuer) Courts: civil actions. This bill would have increased the court application fee for out-of-state attorneys appearing in California superior courts from $250 to $500, with $250 of these fees to be deposited in the Trial Court Trust Fund. This bill also would have extended the sunset to July 1, 2017 for provisions regulating actions filed in superior court by a common interest development association against a builder, developer, or general contractor for design or construction defects. Status: Vetoed.
AB 2521 (Torrico) Courts: audit. This bill would have required the State Controller to audit the finances of the trial courts and the Administrative Office of the Courts, as specified. Status: Dead, Sen. Jud.