BILL NUMBER: SB 326 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 10, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 25, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Yee
( Coauthor: Assembly Member
Dickinson )
FEBRUARY 14, 2011
An act to add Chapter 1.45 (commencing with Section 68180) to
Title 8 of the Government Code, relating to courts.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 326, as amended, Yee. Court records: public access.
Existing law requires the Judicial Council to adopt rules of court
to establish the standards and guidelines for the creation,
maintenance, reproduction, and preservation of court records, and
requires 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. Specifically, unless access is otherwise
restricted by law, court records created, maintained, preserved, or
reproduced under specified provisions are required to be made
reasonably accessible to all members of the public for viewing and
duplication, and electronic court records must be viewable at the
court, whether or not they are accessible remotely. Additionally,
rules of court require courts to provide public access to electronic
records, as specified.
This bill would require the Judicial Council , in
consultation with stakeholder groups, and within 18 months of the
date of enactment of this act, to adopt a rule of court to
require courts that have fully implemented the California Case
Management System to provide timely the
public , to the extent possible and practicable, with
same-day access to case-initiating civil and criminal court
records, as defined. The bill would require the rule to
provide for newly filed or lodged case-initiating civil and criminal
court records, upon request by a member of the public, to be made
available for public inspection at the courthouse no later than the
end of the day on which those records are received by the court.
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. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Timely public access to court records and documents as public
documents is an important right and necessity for an informed
citizenry.
(b) The use of new electronic technologies for filing court
actions and modernizing access to court records can, while intended
to streamline and improve court functions and public access to court
records, actually result in delays in access to court documents.
(c) Delays in public access to court documents and filings should
be minimized, therefore ensuring free flow of public information in a
timely and cost-effective manner.
(d) Delays in public access to case-initiating documents have a
special significance because those documents are the means by which
the public becomes aware that the powers of the judiciary have been
invoked with respect to a particular controversy or crime. However,
the use of electronic technologies for filing court actions and
modernizing access to court records have in many instances had the
unintended consequence of increasing delays in access to those
case-initiating court records.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure, as California's
courts move forward to implement various electronic filing and other
technologies, that case-initiating documents, as well as other court
filings and documents, continue to be available to the public on a
timely basis.
SEC. 2. Chapter 1.45 (commencing with Section 68180) is added to
Title 8 of the Government Code, to read:
CHAPTER 1.45. ACCESS TO CASE-INITIATING TRIAL COURT RECORDS
68180. The following definitions apply to this chapter:
(a) (1) "Case-initiating civil and criminal court records" means
all of the following:
(A) Any complaint or petition in an unlimited civil case, as
defined in Section 88 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(B) Any writ petition, as provided for in Title 1 (commencing with
Section 1067) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(C) Any indictment, information, or complaint in felony and
misdemeanor criminal actions.
(2) "Case-initiating civil and criminal court records" includes
both electronic and nonelectronic records.
(3) For the purposes of this chapter, "case-initiating civil and
criminal court records" does not include records that are sealed or
proposed to be sealed by court order and are confidential in
accordance with Rules 2.550 and 2.551 of the California Rules of
Court, or that are otherwise made confidential by law, including, but
not limited to, juvenile court records made confidential by Section
827 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, Child Support Case Registry
Forms, as developed by the Judicial Council pursuant to Section 4014
of the Family Code, adoption records made confidential by Section
9200 of the Family Code, pleadings in child custody proceedings
containing information made confidential by Section 3429 of the
Family Code, determination of parentage records made confidential by
Section 7643 of the Family Code, child and spousal support
enforcement program records made confidential by Section 17212 of the
Family Code, or any other case-initiating document that is
confidential by law.
(b) "Public" means an individual, a group, or an entity,
including, but not limited to, the print or electronic media, or the
representative of an individual, group, or entity.
68181. (a) The Judicial Council shall adopt a rule or rules of
court to require courts to provide timely public access to
case-initiating civil and criminal court records. The rule shall
provide for both of the following:
(1) Upon request by a member of the public, newly filed or lodged
case-initiating civil and criminal court records shall be made
available for public inspection at the courthouse no later than the
end of the day on which those records are received by the court.
(2) Case-initiating civil and criminal court records may be made
available for inspection at the courthouse in either paper or
electronic form.
68181. (a) The Judicial Council, in consultation
with stakeholder groups, shall adopt, within 18 months of the date of
enactment of the act adding this section, a rule or rules of court
to r equire courts that have fully implemented the
California Case Management System to provide, to the extent possible
and practicable, the public with same-day access to case-initiating
civil and criminal court records.
(b) The Legislature specifically recognizes the importance of
timely access not just to case-initiating civil and criminal court
records, but to all court records and documents. Nothing in this
statute or in the rule or rules of court to be adopted pursuant to
this statute may be construed to limit or otherwise negatively affect
the public's right of timely access to court records as a general
matter.
____ CORRECTIONS Dateline--Page 1.
____