BILL ANALYSIS
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 556
Author: Senate Judiciary Committee
Amended: 7/7/09
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 0/31/09
AYES: Corbett, Harman, Florez, Leno, Walters
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR : 37-0, 4/23/09 (Consent)
AYES: Aanestad, Alquist, Ashburn, Benoit, Calderon,
Cedillo, Cogdill, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Denham,
DeSaulnier, Dutton, Florez, Hancock, Hollingsworth, Huff,
Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Maldonado, Negrete McLeod,
Oropeza, Padilla, Pavley, Romero, Runner, Simitian,
Steinberg, Strickland, Walters, Wiggins, Wolk, Wright,
Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ducheny, Harman, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-1, 9/3/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Court operations: Post-judgment fees, unpaid
bail, victim
compensation
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the clerk of the court in a
small claims court judgment to charge and collect all fees
CONTINUED
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associated with the enforcement of judgments under the
Enforcement of Judgments Law.
This bill provides 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.
Assembly Amendments (1) delete provisions dealing with
depositing unclaimed funds being deposited into the State
Restitution Fund (this amendment changes the vote
requirement from 27 to 21), and (2) add provisions dealing
with investigations ordered by the court relative to
conservatorship.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that the judgment of a
small claims court may be enforced as provided for the
enforcement of judgments of other courts. Existing law
requires the clerk of the small claims court to charge and
collect specified fees for the issuance of a writ of
execution or an abstract of judgment, and for an
application for an order of examination of a judgment
order.
This bill requires the clerk of the small claims court to
charge and collect all fees associated with the enforcement
of small claims court judgments, including, among other
things, statutory fees for preparing and issuing, and
recording and indexing, an abstract of judgment or a
certified copy of a judgment, statutory fees for filing a
notice of judgment lien on personal property, and statutory
fees for issuing a writ for the enforcement of the
judgment, as specified.
Existing law requires a conservator served pursuant to
specified provisions of law to appear at a hearing and
represent a spouse alleged to lack legal capacity for a
proposed transaction involving community property.
Existing law authorizes the court, in its discretion, to
appoint an investigator to review the proposed transaction
and report to the court regarding its advisability.
This bill limits the authority of the court to appoint an
investigator pursuant to that provision to those cases in
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which the appointment is necessary. This bill authorizes
the court to order the cost of the review and report by a
court investigator to be paid out of the proceeds of the
transaction or otherwise as the court may direct, if the
court determines that its order would not cause a hardship.
Existing law provides that delinquent fines, state or local
penalties, forfeitures, restitution fines and orders, and
any other amounts imposed by a superior court upon a person
or entity for criminal offenses, that total at least $100
in the aggregate, may be referred by the court, county, or
state to the Franchise Tax Board for collection, as
specified.
This bill additionally authorizes the referral of
delinquent bail amounts imposed by a superior court to the
Franchise Tax Board for collection pursuant to this
provision.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/4/09)
Judicial Council of California (source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley,
Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,
Conway, Cook, Coto, De La Torre, Emmerson, Eng, Feuer,
Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza,
Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A.
Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Villines, Yamada, Bass
NOES: Anderson
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NO VOTE RECORDED: Ammiano, Davis, De Leon, DeVore, Duvall,
Evans, Hall, Knight, Vacancy
RJG:mw 9/4/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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