AB 251, as introduced, Wagner. Electronic court reporting.
Existing law authorizes a court to use electronic recording equipment in a limited civil case, a misdemeanor or infraction case, or for the internal purpose of monitoring judicial officer performance. Existing law requires a court to obtain advance approval from the Judicial Council prior to purchasing equipment. Existing law also requires each superior court to report semiannually to the Judicial Council, and the Judicial Council to report semiannually to the Legislature, regarding all purchases and leases of electronic recording equipment that will be used to record superior court proceedings.
This bill would instead require the Judicial Council, by July 1, 2014, to implement electronic court reporting in 20% of all superior court courtrooms, and to implement electronic reporting in at least an additional 20% of all superior court courtrooms annually thereafter. This bill would also require the Judicial Council to report to the Governor and the Legislature on the efforts undertaken to implement electronic court reporting, as provided, by January 1, 2016. The provisions of the bill would not apply to felony cases.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 69957 of the Government Code is
2repealed.
(a) If an official reporter or an official reporter pro
4tempore is unavailable to report an action or proceeding in a court,
5subject to the availability of approved equipment and equipment
6monitors, the court may order that, in a limited civil case, or a
7misdemeanor or infraction case, the action or proceeding be
8electronically recorded, including all the testimony, the objections
9made, the ruling of the court, the exceptions taken, all arraignments,
10pleas, and sentences of defendants in criminal cases, the arguments
11of the attorneys to the jury, and all statements and remarks made
12and oral instructions given by the judge. A transcript derived from
13an electronic recording may be utilized whenever a transcript of
14court proceedings is required.
Transcripts derived from electronic
15recordings shall include a designation of “inaudible” or
16“unintelligible” for those portions of the recording that contain no
17audible sound or are not discernible. The electronic recording
18device and appurtenant equipment shall be of a type approved by
19the Judicial Council for courtroom use and shall only be purchased
20for use as provided by this section. A court shall not expend funds
21for or use electronic recording technology or equipment to make
22an unofficial record of an action or proceeding, including for
23purposes of judicial notetaking, or to make the official record of
24an action or proceeding in
circumstances not authorized by this
25section.
26(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a court may use electronic
27recording equipment for the internal personnel purpose of
28monitoring the performance of subordinate judicial officers, as
29defined in Section 71601 of the Government Code, hearing officers,
30and temporary judges while proceedings are conducted in the
31courtroom, if notice is provided to the subordinate judicial officer,
32hearing officer, or temporary judge, and to the litigants, that the
33proceeding may be recorded for that purpose. An electronic
34recording made for the purpose of monitoring that performance
35shall not be used for any other purpose and shall not be made
36publicly available. Any recording made pursuant to this subdivision
37shall be destroyed two years after the date of the proceeding unless
P3 1a personnel matter is pending
relating to performance of the
2subordinate judicial officer, hearing officer, or temporary judge.
3(c) Prior to purchasing or leasing any electronic recording
4technology or equipment, a court shall obtain advance approval
5from the Judicial Council, which may grant that approval only if
6the use of the technology or equipment will be consistent with this
7
section.
Section 69958 of the Government Code is repealed.
Each superior court shall report to the Judicial Council
10on or before October 1, 2004, and semiannually thereafter, and
11the Judicial Council shall report to the Legislature on or before
12December 31, 2004, and semiannually thereafter, regarding all
13purchases and leases of electronic recording equipment that will
14be used to record superior court proceedings, specifying all of the
15following:
16(a) The Superior Court in which the equipment will be used.
17(b) The types of trial court proceedings in which the equipment
18will be used.
19(c) The cost of purchasing, leasing, or upgrading the equipment.
20(d) The type of equipment purchased or leased.
Section 69959 is added to the Government Code, to
22read:
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, the Judicial Council
24shall, by July 1, 2014, implement electronic court reporting in 20
25percent of all superior court courtrooms not currently utilizing
26electronic recording. The Judicial Council shall, annually thereafter,
27phase in electronic recording in at least an additional 20 percent
28of the total number of superior court courtrooms. The Judicial
29Council may implement electronic recording in more courtrooms
30if it will result in additional savings.
31(b) The Judicial Council, shall, by January 1, 2016, report to
32the Governor and the Legislature on the efforts undertaken to
33implement electronic court reporting, including, but not limited
34to, all of the following:
35(1) The costs incurred to implement electronic recording.
36(2) The superior courts and case types affected by the first year
37of implementation.
38(3) The savings achieved in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 fiscal
39years through the implementation of electronic recording.
P4 1(4) Future implementation plans and the superior courts or case
2types to be phased in during future fiscal years.
3(c) References to “court reporters” and “reporter’s transcript”
4throughout existing law, may include, where appropriate, electronic
5court recordings for those courts that have partially or fully
6implemented electronic recording.
7(d) This section does not apply to felony cases.
8(e) (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
9subdivision (b) is inoperative on January 1, 2020, pursuant to
10Section 10231.5.
11(2) A report submitted pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be
12submitted in compliance with Section 9795.
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