BILL NUMBER: AB 2763	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 18, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 25, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Committee on Judiciary (Feuer (Chair), Brownley,
Evans, Jones, Lieu, and Monning)

                        FEBRUARY 25, 2010

   An act to amend Sections 69614 and 69615 of the Government Code,
relating to courts.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2763, as amended, Committee on Judiciary. Judgeships.
   (1) Existing law requires the Judicial Council to report to the
Legislature and the Governor on or before November 1 of every
even-numbered year on the factually determined need for new
judgeships in each superior court using specified uniform criteria
for the allocation of judgeships.
   This bill would require the Judicial Council, on or before
November 30, 2011, to provide to the Legislature a special assessment
of the need for new judgeships in the family law and juvenile law
assignments for each superior court.
   (2) Existing law provides that 16 subordinate judicial officer
positions in eligible superior courts, as determined by the Judicial
Council, shall be converted to judgeships. Beginning in the 2008-09
fiscal year, existing law provides that, upon subsequent
authorization by the Legislature, 146 subordinate judicial officer
positions in eligible superior courts, as determined by the Judicial
Council, shall be converted to judgeships, upon the occurrence of
specified conditions,  including that the proposed action is
ratified by the Legislature, either in the annual Budget Act or
another legislative measure,  except that no more than 16
positions may be converted to judgeships in any fiscal year.
   This bill would provide, notwithstanding the above provisions,
that up to 10 additional subordinate judicial officer positions in
eligible superior courts may be converted to judgeships in any fiscal
year  , commencing with the 2010-11   fiscal year 
. Each additional position would be converted to a judgeship only if
the conversions will result in a judge being assigned to a family
law or juvenile law assignment previously presided over by a
subordinate judicial officer.  Legislative ratification would be
required, either in the annual Budget Act or by statutory enactment,
for the conversion of any of the 146 subordinate judicial officer
positions, and by statutory enactment   other than the
annual Budget Act   for the conversion of the 10 additional
subordinate judicial officer positions.  The bill would require
the Judicial Council to report, beginning with the above-described
report due to the Legislature on November 1, 2012, on the
implementation and effect of this provision.
   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 69614 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   69614.  (a) Upon appropriation by the Legislature in the 2006-07
fiscal year, there shall be 50 additional judges allocated to the
various superior courts pursuant to the uniform criteria described in
subdivision (b) for determining the need for additional superior
court judges.
   (b) The judges shall be allocated, in accordance with the uniform
standards for factually determining additional judicial need in each
county, as approved by the Judicial Council in August 2001, and as
modified and approved by the Judicial Council in August 2004,
pursuant to the Update of Judicial Needs Study, based on the
following criteria:
   (1) Court filings data averaged over a period of three years.
   (2) Workload standards that represent the average amount of time
of bench and nonbench work required to resolve each case type.
   (3) A ranking methodology that provides consideration for courts
that have the greatest need relative to their current complement of
judicial officers.
   (c) (1) The Judicial Council shall report to the Legislature and
the Governor on or before November 1 of every even-numbered year on
the factually determined need for new judgeships in each superior
court using the uniform criteria for allocation of judgeships
described in subdivision (b), as updated and applied to the average
of the prior three years' filings.
   (2) On or before November 30, 2011, the Judicial Council shall
provide to the Legislature a special assessment of the need for new
judgeships in the family law and juvenile law assignments for each
superior court.
   (3) The Judicial Council shall report, beginning with the report
due to the Legislature on November 1, 2012, on the implementation and
effect of subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of
Section 69615.
  SEC. 2.  Section 69615 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   69615.  (a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
section to restore an appropriate balance between subordinate
judicial officers and judges in the trial courts by providing for the
conversion, as needed, of subordinate judicial officer positions to
judgeships in courts that assign subordinate judicial officers to act
as temporary judges. The Legislature finds that these positions must
be converted to judgeships in order to ensure that critical case
types, including family, probate, and juvenile law matters, can be
heard by judges.
   (b) (1) The Legislature finds that because of the unique nature of
family and juvenile law matters, including the long-lasting impact
of decisions in these cases, particularly on vulnerable children,
whenever possible, these cases should be presided over by judges, who
are accountable to the public.
   (2) The Legislature also finds that a Judicial Council study
concluded that public trust and confidence in the courts are
strongest when the public believes that the decisionmaking processes
used by the court are fair and allow each litigant a reasonable
opportunity to be heard by the court. In order to improve the public
perception of procedural fairness in family law and juvenile law
matters, it is necessary that cases be heard by judges whenever
possible.
   (3) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature, in allowing the
conversion of up to 10 additional subordinate judicial officer
positions, as provided in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (c), to expedite the timeline for ensuring that family
and juvenile law matters are presided over by judges.
   (c) (1) (A) Sixteen subordinate judicial officer positions in
eligible superior courts, as determined and approved by the Judicial
Council on February 23, 2007, pursuant to uniform criteria for
determining the need for converting existing subordinate judicial
officer positions to superior court judgeships, shall be converted to
judgeships as set forth in paragraph (2).
   (B) Upon subsequent authorization by the Legislature, 146
subordinate judicial officer positions in eligible superior courts,
as determined by the Judicial Council pursuant to uniform criteria
for determining the need for converting existing subordinate judicial
officer positions to superior court judgeships, shall be converted
to judgeships as set forth in paragraphs (2) and (3), except that no
more than 16 subordinate judicial officer positions may be converted
in any fiscal year.
   (C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (B), up to 10 additional
subordinate judicial officer positions in eligible superior courts
may be converted to superior court judgeships in any fiscal year.
Each additional position may be converted to a judgeship only if the
conversion will result in a judge being assigned to a family law or
juvenile law assignment previously presided over by a subordinate
judicial officer. The additional conversions authorized by this
subparagraph are subject to the requirements of paragraph (3).
   (2) The positions for conversion shall be allocated each fiscal
year pursuant to uniform allocation standards to be developed by the
Judicial Council for factually determining the relative judicial need
for conversion of a subordinate judicial officer position that
becomes vacant to a superior court judgeship position.
   (3) Beginning in the  2008-09   2010-11 
fiscal year, a subordinate judicial officer position shall be
converted to a judgeship when all of the following conditions are
met:
   (A) A vacancy occurs in a subordinate judicial officer position in
an eligible superior court as determined by the uniform allocation
standards described in paragraph (2).
   (B) The Judicial Council files notice of the vacancies and
allocations with the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Rules,
the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Chairpersons of the Senate and
Assembly Committees on Judiciary.
   (C)  The   Except for proposed actions
authorized pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1), the 
proposed action is ratified by the Legislature, either in the annual
Budget Act or  another legislative measure   by
statutory enactment. Because of the unique nature of the need for
judges as expressed in subdivision (b), a proposed action under
subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) shall be ratified by the
Legislature by statutory enactment other than the annual Budget Act
 .
   (4) Section 12011.5 shall apply to an appointment to a superior
court judgeship converted from a subordinate judicial officer
position.
   (d) For purposes of this section, "subordinate judicial officer"
means an officer appointed under the authority of Section 22 of
Article VI of the California Constitution. This section shall not
apply to a subordinate judicial officer position established by
Section 4251 of the Family Code.
   (e) It is the intent of the Legislature that no subordinate
judicial officer shall involuntarily lose his or her position solely
due to operation of this section. This section does not change the
employment relationship between subordinate judicial officers and the
trial courts established by law.
   (f) This section does not limit the authority of the Governor to
appoint a person to fill a vacancy pursuant to subdivision (c) of
Section 16 of Article VI of the California Constitution.
   (g) This section does not entitle a court to an increase in
funding.
   (h) The operation of this section shall neither increase nor
decrease the number of judicial and subordinate judicial officer
positions and court support positions for which a county is
responsible by law.