BILL NUMBER: SB 1897 CHAPTERED 09/09/02 CHAPTER 415 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 9, 2002 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 6, 2002 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 20, 2002 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 19, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 15, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 25, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 18, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 18, 2002 INTRODUCED BY Senator Kuehl FEBRUARY 22, 2002 An act to amend Sections 6016, 6019, 6021, 6031.5, 6079.5, and 6145 of, to amend, repeal, and add Section 6065 to, and to add Section 6032 to, the Business and Professions Code, relating to attorneys, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1897, Kuehl. State Bar of California. The State Bar Act provides for licensing of attorneys by the State Bar of California, sets forth the disciplinary authority of the Board of Governors of the State Bar, and provides for a State Bar Court to hear and decide disciplinary proceedings. Existing law requires the Board of Governors to appoint a chief trial counsel who reports to and serves under the direction of the Discipline Committee of the Board of Governors. This bill would instead refer to the Regulation, Admission, and Discipline Oversight Committee or its successor committee on attorney discipline. Existing law requires that the president, vice presidents, and treasurer be elected by the board for the ensuing year within the period of 180 days next preceding the annual meeting of the State Bar. This bill would change the required period to the period of 270 days next preceding the annual meeting. Existing law requires that an election of the members of the board of governors of the State Bar be by ballot, except where only one member seeks an election to an office, in which event the member is deemed elected. Existing law requires the ballots to be mailed to those entitled to vote within a specified time period and to be returned by mail to the principal office of the State Bar. This bill would instead require that the ballots be distributed within the specified time period, and that they be returned to a site or sites designated by the State Bar. Existing law provides that the Conference of Delegates of the State Bar and State Bar sections shall not be funded with mandatory fees and authorizes the State Bar to provide the Conference of Delegates and State Bar sections with administrative and support services, subject to full reimbursement, as specified. Existing law requires the Board of Governors of the State Bar to contract with a nationally recognized independent public accounting firm to conduct an audit of the State Bar's financial statement for each fiscal year. The financial audit is required to examine the receipts and expenditures of the State Bar to ensure that the State Bar has been paid or reimbursed for the full cost of any services provided and that no mandatory dues are being used to fund the activities of the Conference of Delegates or the State Bar sections. This bill would provide that if a nonprofit successor entity to the Conference of Delegates is incorporated for certain purposes, the State Bar is authorized to collect, in conjunction with the collection of annual membership dues, voluntary fees or donations on behalf of the entity, and to convey previously unexpended voluntary fees or donations to the Conference of Delegates to the successor entity. The bill would require the entity to pay for the cost of collection, and would authorize the entity and the State Bar to contract for other services. The bill would require that, with respect to a successor entity, the State Bar audit include examination of the receipts and expenditures of the State Bar to ensure that the funds collected on behalf of the successor entity are conveyed to that entity, that the State Bar has been paid or reimbursed in full for the cost of any services, and that no mandatory dues are being used to fund the entity. Existing law gives an unsuccessful applicant for admission to the State Bar of California the right to inspect the applicant's examination documents within 4 months after the results of the examination have been declared. This bill, until January 1, 2004, would provide that an unsuccessful applicant may inspect within 4 months after the results of the examination have been declared, those examination papers that are in the actual, physical possession of the examining committee. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 6016 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 6016. The term of office of each attorney member of the board shall commence at the conclusion of the annual meeting next succeeding his or her election, and he or she shall hold office until his or her successor is elected and qualified. Vacancies in the board of governors shall be filled by the board by special election or by appointment for the unexpired term. The board of governors may provide by rule for an interim board to act in the place and stead of the board when because of vacancies during terms of office there is less than a quorum of the board. SEC. 2. Section 6019 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 6019. Each place upon the board for which a member is to be elected shall for the purposes of the election be deemed a separate office. If only one member seeks election to an office, the member is deemed elected. If two or more members seek election to the same office, the election shall be by ballot. The ballots shall be distributed to those entitled to vote at least twenty days prior to the date of canvassing the ballots and shall be returned to a site or sites designated by the State Bar, where they shall be canvassed at least five days prior to the ensuing annual meeting. At the annual meeting, the count shall be certified and the result officially declared. In all other respects the elections shall be as the board may by rule direct. SEC. 3. Section 6021 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 6021. Within the period of 270 days next preceding the annual meeting, the board, at a meeting called for that purpose, shall elect the president, vice presidents and treasurer for the ensuing year. The president shall be elected from among those members of the board whose terms on the board expire that year, or if no such member is able and willing to serve, then from among the board members who have completed at least one or more years of their terms. The other officers shall be elected from among the board members who have at least one or more years to complete their respective terms. The newly elected president, vice presidents, and treasurer shall assume the duties of their respective offices at the conclusion of the annual meeting following their election. SEC. 4. Section 6031.5 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 6031.5. (a) The Conference of Delegates, as established under and pursuant to Article 6 of the Rules and Regulations of the State Bar, shall not be funded after January 1, 2000, with mandatory fees collected pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 6140. The State Bar may provide the Conference of Delegates with administrative and support services, provided the State Bar shall be reimbursed for the full cost of those services out of funds collected pursuant to subdivision (c), funds raised by or through the activities of the Conference of Delegates, or other funds collected from voluntary sources. The financial audit specified in Section 6145 shall confirm that the amount assessed by the State Bar for providing the services reimburses the costs of providing them, and shall verify that mandatory dues are not used to fund the Conference of Delegates. (b) State Bar sections, as established under and pursuant to Article 13 of the Rules and Regulations of the State Bar, and their activities shall not be funded after January 1, 2000, with mandatory fees collected pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 6140. The State Bar may provide an individual section, or two or more sections collectively, with administrative and support services, provided the State Bar shall be reimbursed for the full cost of those services out of funds collected pursuant to subdivision (c), funds raised by or through the activities of the sections, or other funds collected from voluntary sources. The financial audit specified in Section 6145 shall confirm that the amount assessed by the State Bar for providing the services reimburses the costs of providing them, and shall verify that mandatory dues are not used to fund the sections. (c) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, the State Bar is expressly authorized to collect voluntary fees to fund the Conference of Delegates or the State Bar sections on behalf of those organizations in conjunction with the State Bar's collection of its annual membership dues. Funds collected pursuant to this subdivision, and other funds raised by or through the activities of the Conference of Delegates or sections, or collected from voluntary sources, for their support or operation, shall not be subject to the expenditure limitations of subdivision (b) of Section 6140.05. (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if an independent nonprofit successor entity to the Conference of Delegates, as referenced in subdivision (a), is incorporated for the purposes of aiding in matters pertaining to the advancement of the science of jurisprudence or to the improvement of the administration of justice, the State Bar is expressly authorized to collect, in conjunction with the State Bar's collection of its annual membership dues, voluntary fees or donations on behalf of the successor entity, and to convey any unexpended voluntary fees or donations previously made to the Conference of Delegates pursuant to this section to the successor entity. The successor entity shall pay for the cost of the collection. The State Bar and the successor entity may also contract for other services. The financial audit specified in Section 6145 shall confirm that the amount of any contract shall fully cover the costs of providing the services, and shall verify that mandatory dues are not used to fund any successor entity. (e) Any independent nonprofit successor entity to the Conference of Delegates, as referenced in subdivision (d), shall be a voluntary association and shall not be a part of the State Bar of California, nor funded in any way through mandatory dues collected by the State Bar of California. Any contribution or membership option included with a State Bar of California mandatory dues billing statement shall include a statement that the Conference of Delegates or its successor entity is not a part of the State Bar of California and that membership in that organization is voluntary. SEC. 5. Section 6032 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 6032. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the State Bar is expressly authorized to collect, in conjunction with the State Bar' s collection of its annual membership dues, voluntary fees on behalf of and for the purpose of funding the California Supreme Court Historical Society, which advances the science of jurisprudence by preserving and disseminating to the general public the history of the Supreme Court and the Judicial Branch. SEC. 6. Section 6065 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 6065. (a) (1) Any unsuccessful applicant for admission to practice, after he or she has taken any examination and within four months after the results thereof have been declared, has the right to inspect those of his or her examination papers that are in the actual, physical possession of the examining committee at the time the request for inspection is made. The inspection shall occur at the office of the examining committee located nearest to the place at which the applicant took the examination. (2) The applicant also has the right to inspect the grading of the papers whether the record thereof is marked upon the examination or otherwise. (b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2004, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2004, deletes or extends that date. SEC. 7. Section 6065 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 6065. (a) (1) Any unsuccessful applicant for admission to practice, after he or she has taken any examination and within four months after the results thereof have been declared, has the right to inspect his or her examination papers at the office of the examining committee located nearest to the place at which the applicant took the examination. (2) The applicant also has the right to inspect the grading of the papers whether the record thereof is marked upon the examination or otherwise. (b) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2004. SEC. 8. Section 6079.5 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 6079.5. (a) The board shall appoint a lawyer admitted to practice in California to serve as chief trial counsel. He or she shall be appointed for a term of four years and may be reappointed for additional four-year periods. He or she shall serve at the pleasure of the board. He or she shall not engage in private practice. The State Bar shall notify the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate and Assembly Judiciary Committees within seven days of the dismissal or hiring of a chief trial counsel. The appointment of the chief trial counsel is subject to confirmation by the Senate, and the time limits prescribed in Section 1774 of the Government Code for Senate confirmation and for service in office are applicable to the appointment. He or she shall report to and serve under the Regulation, Admissions, and Discipline Oversight Committee of the Board of Governors of the State Bar or its successor committee on attorney discipline, and shall not serve under the direction of the chief executive officer. (b) The chief trial counsel shall have the following qualifications: (1) Be an attorney licensed to practice in the State of California, be in good standing and shall not have committed any disciplinary offenses in California or any other jurisdiction. (2) Have a minimum of five years of experience in the practice of law, including trial experience, with law practice in broad areas of the law. (3) Have a minimum of two years of prosecutorial experience or similar experience in administrative agency proceedings or disciplinary agencies. (4) Have a minimum of two years of experience in an administrative role, overseeing staff functions. The board may except an appointee from any of the above qualifications for good cause upon a determination of necessity to obtain the most qualified person. On or after July 1, 1987, the chief trial counsel may, as prescribed by the Supreme Court, petition the court for a different disposition of a matter than the recommendations of the review department or the board to the court. SEC. 9. Section 6145 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 6145. (a) The board shall contract with a nationally recognized independent public accounting firm for an audit of its financial statement for each fiscal year beginning after December 31, 1998. The financial statement shall be promptly certified under oath by the treasurer of the State Bar, and a copy of the audit and financial statement shall be submitted within 120 days of the close of the fiscal year to the board, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and to the Assembly and Senate Committees on Judiciary. The audit shall examine the receipts and expenditures of the State Bar, the Conference of Delegates, and the State Bar sections, to assure that the receipts of the Conference of Delegates and the sections are being applied, and their expenditures are being made, in compliance with subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 6031.5, and that the receipts of the Conference of Delegates and the receipts of the sections are applied only to the work of the Conference of Delegates and the sections, respectively. Pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 6031.5, if an independent nonprofit successor entity to the Conference of Delegates is incorporated, the audit shall examine the receipts and expenditures of the State Bar to ensure that the funds collected on behalf of the successor entity are conveyed to that entity, that the State Bar has been paid or reimbursed for the full cost of any administrative and support services provided to the successor entity, including the collection of fees or donations on its behalf, and that no mandatory dues are being used to fund the activities of the successor entity. (b) The board shall contract with the Bureau of State Audits to conduct a performance audit of the State Bar's operations from July 1, 2000, to December 31, 2000, inclusive. A copy of the performance audit shall be submitted by May 1, 2001, to the board, to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and to the Assembly and Senate Committees on Judiciary. Every two years thereafter, the board shall contract with the Bureau of State Audits to conduct a performance audit of the State Bar's operations for the respective fiscal year, commencing with January 1, 2002, through December 31, 2002, inclusive. A copy of the performance audit shall be submitted within 120 days of the close of the fiscal year for which the audit was performed to the board, to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and to the Assembly and Senate Committees on Judiciary. For the purposes of this subdivision, the Bureau of State Audits may contract with a third party to conduct the performance audit. This subdivision is not intended to reduce the number of audits the Bureau of State Audits may otherwise be able to conduct. SEC. 10. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: In order to implement necessary reforms relative to the State Bar of California as quickly as possible, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.