BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 655
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 655 (Quirk-Silva)
As Amended May 8, 2013
Majority vote
JUDICIARY 10-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Wieckowski, Wagner, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Alejo, Chau, Dickinson, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Garcia, Gorell, | |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, |
| |Maienschein, Muratsuchi, | |Gomez, Hall, Rendon, |
| |Stone | |Linder, Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Wagner, Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Authorizes, but does not require, individual trial
courts to establish cooperative agreements with state or local
government for a Reporters' Salary Fund to contribute to the
salaries and benefits of official court reporters.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes each trial court to establish a Reporters' Salary
Fund.
2)Authorizes each trial court, notwithstanding any other law, to
establish cooperative agreements with the state, county, city
and county, or cities within the county to deposit into the
Reporters' Salary Fund a portion of revenues from fees, fines,
and forfeitures collected by the trial court on behalf of the
state, county, city and county, or cities within the county.
3)Provides that at the time of each monthly distribution of the
revenue of the court to the appropriate funds of the state,
county, city and county, or cities within the county, as
required by law, the clerk of the court shall deduct the
agreed upon sum applicable to each entity, and deposit it in
the Reporters' Salary Fund.
4)Provides that the Reporters' Salary Fund shall be a revolving
fund that is funded in the amount agreed upon by the parties,
and that funds deposited into the Reporters' Salary Fund
shall, upon appropriation, be used solely to contribute to the
AB 655
Page 2
salaries and benefits of official reporters.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Prescribes the fees and compensation for court reporting
services.
2)Requires the salaries and benefits of official reporters in
the Los Angeles County Superior Court to be paid from the
Reporters' Salary Fund.
3)Authorizes the per diem fees and benefits of official
reporters pro tempore in the Los Angeles County Superior Court
to be paid from the Reporters' Salary Fund.
4)Establishes within the Los Angeles County Superior Court a
revolving fund from the revenue of the court in the amount of
$750,000, known as the Reporters' Salary Fund. Provides that
deductions from the county's share of the revenue shall be
made from that portion of it distributable to the general fund
of the county, and deductions from each city's share shall be
made from that portion of it distributable to the general fund
of each city.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)It is assumed that, should any trial courts elect to establish
agreements and administer a Reporters' Salary Fund as
described above, this would be accomplished within existing
court resources.
2)To the extent entities wish to use a portion of their revenues
from fees, fines, and forfeitures for the purpose of this
bill, these revenues could result in additional court reporter
services in the courts.
COMMENTS : This bill seeks to authorize individual trial courts
to establish a revolving fund that may be used solely to
contribute to the salaries and benefits of official reporters.
This bill does not require any trial court to set up a fund, but
simply seeks to give the courts an optional new mechanism for
ensuring compensation for official court reporting services.
AB 655
Page 3
As recently amended, this bill authorizes each trial court to
establish cooperative agreements with the state, county, city
and county, or cities within the county to deposit into the
Reporters' Salary Fund a portion of revenues from fees, fines,
and forfeitures collected by the trial court on behalf of the
state, county, city and county, or cities within the county.
Under this bill, the Reporters' Salary Fund is a revolving fund
that is funded in the amount agreed upon by the parties, and
that funds deposited into the Reporters' Salary Fund shall, upon
appropriation, be used solely to contribute to the salaries and
benefits of official reporters.
According to the California Court Reporters' Association (CCRA),
the sponsor of the bill:
The trial courts continue to face significant funding
reductions, which ultimately negatively impact the
public's access to justice. Due to reduced budgets,
trial courts throughout California have reduced the
number of court reporters they employ, as well as
strategies ranging from reduced hours, layoffs,
outsourcing, and no longer providing reporting
services in various types of proceedings. CCRA
believes that authorizing local trial courts to
implement a Reporters' Salary Fund will provide a
funding source that will financially benefit state
government, counties, cities, and courts throughout
California. With the stability created through a
Reporters' Salary Fund, courts would have a tool to
allow them to more adequately meet the court reporting
staffing requirements necessary for the process to run
smoothly and future cost savings to be achieved.
However, in order for efficiencies and cost savings to
be realized, a more stable funding source to support
adequate staffing of official reporters is necessary.
The proposed Reporters' Salary Fund in each court would be
patterned after a longstanding model in Los Angeles County that
has been in operation for over 60 years. According to the
author, in 1945 the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office entered
into an agreement with the then-Los Angeles Municipal Court to
have the Court assign court reporters to misdemeanor proceedings
in order to, for the first time, ensure the availability of a
verbatim record in such cases. Under this agreement, funding of
AB 655
Page 4
the reporters would be paid by Los Angeles County and
participating cities through a Reporters' Salary Fund.
In 1953, the Reporters' Salary Fund was officially established
under state law (Chapter 206, Statutes of 1953). In 2002, the
Los Angeles Superior Court inherited the Fund as a result of
unification of the Municipal and Superior Courts. The Fund
currently pays the salaries and benefits of 74 official
reporters in the Los Angeles Superior Court. According to the
author, this Fund has provided uninterrupted financial support
to employ court reporters in Los Angles for almost seven
decades.
The Reporters' Salary Fund in Los Angeles is a revolving fund
supported through a set-aside of court revenue derived from
fines, forfeitures and fees accruing to the cities or county,
except law library fees. Under Government Code Section 72172,
the Fund is kept replenished at an amount of $750,000, meaning,
for example, that if $400,000 is spent in a given month, then
$400,000 in set-aside court revenue is put back into the Fund to
maintain the balance at $750,000 each month. Proportionate
deductions from Los Angeles County's share of the revenue are
made from the portion distributable to the general fund of the
county, and deductions from each city's share are made from the
portion distributable to each city.
According to the author and sponsor, Los Angeles County has seen
faster resolution of cases, reduced volume of records storage,
and increased access to records with the establishment of the
Reporters' Salary Fund. It is not known, however, to what
extent those outcomes can be directly attributed to operation of
the Fund or to other contemporaneous factors (for example, court
unification and technological improvements). In any case, it
appears that the Fund has provided a stable, continuous funding
of court reporters in Los Angeles for many decades, and may
serve as a model for other local courts to implement if they so
choose, pursuant to authority under this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Anthony Lew / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
FN: 0000629
AB 655
Page 5