SB 848 Senate Bill - INTRODUCED

BILL NUMBER: SB 848	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Emmerson

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2011

   An act to amend Sections 69100 and 69104 of, to amend, renumber,
and add Section 69107 of, and to add Section 69111 to, the Government
Code, relating to courts.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 848, as introduced, Emmerson. Court of appeal districts.
   The California Constitution requires the Legislature to divide the
state into districts, each containing a court of appeal with one or
more divisions. Under existing statutory law, the state is divided
into 6 court of appeal districts. The 4th Appellate District consists
of the Counties of Inyo, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, San
Diego, and Imperial, which consists of 3 divisions. One division
consists of 10 judges and holds its regular session in San Diego, a
2nd division consists of 7 judges and holds its regular sessions in
the San Bernardino/Riverside area, and a 3rd division consists of 8
judges and holds its regular sessions in Orange County.
   This bill would reorganize the court of appeal districts into 7
districts by removing the Counties of San Bernardino, Inyo, and
Riverside from the 4th Appellate District and creating a 7th
Appellate District consisting of those districts. The 7th Appellate
District would consist of one division of 7 judges and would hold its
regular sessions in the San Bernardino/Riverside area, and the 4th
Appellate District would thereafter consist of 2 divisions that hold
regular sessions in the Counties of San Diego and Orange.
   Existing law provides that upon the creation of a new court of
appeal district or division, the Governor shall appoint judges to
serve on that court, and specifies the procedures to be followed for
the election of the judges.
   This bill would specify that those provisions would not apply to
the creation of the 7th Appellate District, and that the existing
justices of the division of the 4th Appellate District that would be
reorganized as the 7th Appellate District would serve as the judges
of the new district. The bill would specify that the terms of office
of those judges would not be affected by the reorganization, and
would also specify that no action by the Commission on Judicial
Appointments would be necessary. The bill would specify that the
judge serving as the currently presiding judge in the division of the
4th Appellate District that would create the new court of appeal
district would serve as the administrative presiding judge of the new
district.
   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 69100 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   69100.  The state is divided into  six  
seven  court of appeal districts designated and constituted as
follows:
   (a) The Counties of San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano,
Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt, Del Norte, Contra Costa, Alameda, and San
Mateo shall constitute the First Appellate District.
   (b) The Counties of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and
Los Angeles shall constitute the Second Appellate District.
   (c) The Counties of Siskiyou, Modoc, Trinity, Shasta, Lassen,
Tehama, Plumas, Colusa, Glenn, Butte, Sierra, Sutter, Yuba, Nevada,
Yolo, Placer, Sacramento, El Dorado, San Joaquin, Amador, Calaveras,
Alpine, and Mono shall constitute the Third Appellate District.
   (d) The Counties of  Inyo, San Bernardino, Riverside,
 Orange, San Diego, and Imperial shall constitute the Fourth
Appellate District.
   (e) The Counties of Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Merced, Mariposa,
Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Kern shall constitute the Fifth
Appellate District.
   (f) The Counties of Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San
Benito shall constitute the Sixth Appellate District. 
   (g) The Counties of San Bernardino, Inyo, and Riverside shall
constitute the Seventh Appellate District. 
  SEC. 2.  Section 69104 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   69104.  The Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District
consists of  three   two  divisions. One
division shall hold its regular sessions at San Diego and shall have
10 judges.  One division shall hold its regular sessions in
the San Bernardino/Riverside area and shall have seven judges.
 One division shall hold its regular sessions in Orange
County and shall have eight judges.
  SEC. 3.  Section 69107 of the Government Code is amended and
renumbered to read:
    69107.   69   110   .
  Upon the creation of a new court of appeal district or
division, the Governor shall appoint  ,  pursuant to
subdivision (d) of Section 16 of Article VI of the Constitution 
,  three or more persons to serve as judges thereof as provided
in the legislation creating the district or division. The judges of
said district or division elected at the first general election at
which they had the right to become candidates shall so classify
themselves by lot that the term of office for at least one of them
expires at the end of four years, at least one of them at the end of
eight years, and at least one of them at the end of 12 years, and
entry of such classification shall be made in the minutes of said
district or division, signed by each of the judges thereof, and a
duplicate thereof filed in the office of the Secretary of State.
  SEC. 4.  Section 69107 is added to the Government Code, to read:
   69107.  The Court of Appeal for the Seventh Appellate District
consists of one division having seven judges and shall hold its
regular sessions in the San Bernardino/Riverside area.
  SEC. 5.  Section 69111 is added to the Government Code, to read:
   69111.  The provisions in Section 69110 shall not apply to the
creation of the Seventh Appellate District. The existing judges of
the division of the Fourth Appellate District that is reorganized as
the Seventh Appellate District shall serve as justices of the new
district upon creation of the district. Those judges shall not be
affected by the reorganization, and no action shall be required by
the Commission on Judicial Appointments. The currently presiding
judge of the division of the Fourth Appellate District that is
reorganized as the Seventh Appellate District shall serve as the
administrative presiding judge of the new district.