BILL NUMBER: AB 1926 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Evans
FEBRUARY 16, 2010
An act to amend Sections 68150 and 68151 of the Government Code,
relating to court records.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1926, as amended, Evans. Court records: preservation
guidelines.
Existing law provides that court records may be preserved in any
form, including electronic forms, as specified.
This bill would additionally authorize courts to create and
maintain records in electronic forms, as specified, and would
authorize the signing or verification of trial court documents using
a computer or other technology.
Existing law requires that court records be preserved in
accordance with standards or guidelines adopted by the American
National Standards Institute or the Association for Information and
Image Management.
This bill would delete these provisions and would instead require
the Judicial Council to adopt rules to establish the standards and
guidelines for the creation, maintenance, reproduction, and
preservation of court records, and would require that these standards
and guidelines reflect industry standards for each medium used,
ensure the accuracy and preserve the integrity of the records, and
ensure that the public can access and reproduce the records. The bill
would further require that court records be preserved in accordance
with these rules.
Under existing law, "retain permanently" means that the original
court record shall never be transferred or destroyed.
This bill would revise this definition to mean that the record
shall be maintained in accordance with the rules established by the
Judicial Council.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 68150 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
68150. (a) Trial court records may be created, maintained, and
preserved in any form or forms of communication or representation,
including paper, optical, electronic, magnetic, micrographic, or
photographic media or other technology, if the form or forms of
representation or communication satisfy the requirements
provided in subdivision (c) rules adopted by the
Judicial Council pursuant to subdivision (c), once those rules have
been adopted. Until those rules are adopted, the court may continue
to create, maintain, and preserve records according to the minimum
standards or guidelines for the preservation and
reproduction of the medium adopted by the American National Standards
Institute or the Association for Information and Image Management.
.
(b) This section shall not apply to court reporters' transcripts
or to specifications for electronic recordings made as the official
record of oral proceedings. These records shall be governed by the
California Rules of Court.
(c) The Judicial Council shall adopt rules to establish the
standards or guidelines for the creation, maintenance, reproduction,
or preservation of court records, including records that must be
preserved permanently. The standards or guidelines shall reflect
industry standards for each medium used, if those standards exist.
The standards or guidelines shall ensure that court records are
created and maintained in a manner that ensures accuracy and
preserves the integrity of the records throughout their maintenance.
They shall also ensure that the records are stored and preserved in a
manner that will protect them against loss and ensure preservation
for the required period of time. Standards and guidelines for the
electronic creation, maintenance, and preservation of court records
shall ensure that the public can access and reproduce records with at
least the same amount of convenience as paper records previously
provided.
(d) No additions, deletions, or changes shall be made to the
content of court records, except as authorized by statute or the
California Rules of Court.
(e) Court records shall be indexed for convenient access.
(f) A copy of a court record created, maintained, preserved, or
reproduced according to subdivisions (a) and (c) shall be deemed an
original court record and may be certified as a correct copy of the
original record.
(g) Any notice, order, judgment, decree, decision, ruling,
opinion, memorandum, warrant, certificate of service, or similar
document issued by a trial court or by a judicial officer of a trial
court may be signed, subscribed, or verified using a computer or
other technology in accordance with procedures, standards, and
guidelines established by the Judicial Council pursuant to this
section. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all notices,
orders, judgments, decrees, decisions, rulings, opinions, memoranda,
warrants, certificates of service, or similar documents that are
signed, subscribed, or verified by computer or other technological
means pursuant to this subdivision shall have the same validity, and
the same legal force and effect, as paper documents signed,
subscribed, or verified by a trial court or a judicial officer of the
court.
(h) A court record created, maintained, preserved, or reproduced
in accordance with subdivisions (a) and (c) shall be stored in a
manner and in a place that reasonably assures
ensures its preservation against loss, theft, defacement, or
destruction for the prescribed retention period under Section 68152.
(i) A court record that was created, maintained, preserved, or
reproduced in accordance with subdivisions (a) and (c) may be
disposed of in accordance with the procedure under Section 68153,
unless it is either of the following:
(1) A comprehensive historical and sample superior court record
preserved for research under the California Rules of Court.
(2) A court record that is required to be preserved permanently.
(j) Instructions for access to data stored on a medium other than
paper shall be documented.
(k) Each court shall conduct a periodic review of the media in
which the court records are stored to ensure that the storage medium
is not obsolete and that current technology is capable of accessing
and reproducing the records. The court shall reproduce records before
the expiration of their estimated lifespan for the medium in which
they are stored according to the standards or guidelines established
by the Judicial Council.
(l) Unless access is otherwise restricted by law, court records
created, maintained, preserved, or reproduced under subdivisions (a)
and (c) shall be made reasonably accessible to all members of the
public for viewing and duplication as the paper records would have
been accessible. Unless access is otherwise restricted by law, court
records maintained in electronic form shall be viewable at the court,
regardless of whether they are also accessible remotely. Reasonable
provision shall be made for duplicating the records at cost. Cost
shall consist of all costs associated with duplicating the records as
determined by the court.
SEC. 2. Section 68151 of the Government Code is amended to read:
68151. The following definitions apply to this chapter:
(a) "Court record" shall consist of the following:
(1) All filed papers and documents in the case folder, but if no
case folder is created by the court, all filed papers and documents
that would have been in the case folder if one had been created.
(2) Administrative records filed in an action or proceeding,
depositions, paper exhibits, transcripts, including preliminary
hearing transcripts, and recordings of electronically recorded
proceedings filed, lodged, or maintained in connection with the case,
unless disposed of earlier in the case pursuant to law.
(3) Other records listed under subdivision (j) of Section 68152.
(b) "Notice of destruction and no transfer" means that the clerk
has given notice of destruction of the superior court records open to
public inspection, and that there is no request and order for
transfer of the records as provided in the California Rules of Court.
(c) "Final disposition of the case" means that an acquittal,
dismissal, or order of judgment has been entered in the case or
proceeding, the judgment has become final, and no postjudgment
motions or appeals are pending in the case or for the reviewing court
upon the mailing of notice of the issuance of the remittitur.
In a criminal prosecution, the order of judgment shall mean
imposition of sentence, entry of an appealable order (including, but
not limited to, an order granting probation, commitment of a
defendant for insanity, or commitment of a defendant as a narcotics
addict appealable under Section 1237 of the Penal Code), or
forfeiture of bail without issuance of a bench warrant or calendaring
of other proceedings.
(d) "Retain permanently" means that the court records shall be
maintained permanently according to the standards or guidelines
established pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 68150.