BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1352
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1352 (Levine)
As Amended June 26, 2013
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |70-0 |(May 16, 2013) |SENATE: |37-0 |(August 19, |
| | | | | |2013) |
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Original Committee Reference: JUD.
SUMMARY : Revises requirements for the destruction of court
records. Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows a court clerk to certify a copy of a trial court record
by electronic or other technological means, provided the means
reasonably ensures that the certified copy is a true and
correct copy of the original record.
2)Allows a trial court clerk to destroy court records, as
provided, with reduction in record retention rules for the
following documents:
a) Civil actions: mental health records;
b) Probate: certain probate, conservatorship and
guardianship records; and
c) Criminal actions: certain felony, misdemeanor and
infraction records.
3)Contains chaptering out language for AB 1167 (Dickinson).
The Senate amendments make technical changes and add in
chaptering out language for AB 1167.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that trial courts may create, maintain, and preserve
court records, other than court reporter's transcripts, in any
form of communication, including paper, optical, electronic,
magnetic, micrographic media, or other technology, if the form
satisfies rules adopted by the Judicial Council, as specified.
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2)Requires the Judicial Council to establish standards and
guidelines for the creation, maintenance, reproduction, or
preservation of court records. Requires these to ensure that
court records are created and maintained in a manner that
ensures accuracy and preserves the integrity of the records,
protects the records against loss, ensures preservation for
the required period of time, and ensures that electronic
documents are publicly accessible and reproducible. Requires
a court record that is created, maintained, preserved, or
reproduced under this section to be stored in a manner and
place that reasonably ensures its preservation against loss,
theft, defacement, or destruction for the prescribed retention
period prescribed by statute.
3)Prescribes the manner by which court records may be destroyed
after proper notice and of the passing of the prescribed
statutory retention period. Allows for the extension of the
retention period for court records by order of the court or by
application of a party or interested member of the public for
good cause shown.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : This bill, sponsored by the Judicial Council, revises
trial court record retention requirements. According to the
author, many court records today are kept for years beyond their
useful period and, as a result, trial courts are forced to
devote a substantial amount of time and resources to the storage
and maintenance of unnecessary court records. According to a
2007 Judicial Council survey, court records were stored in 276
locations around the state, totaling almost 2 million linear
feet. The costs associated with managing those records, as of
2006-07, were almost $22 million, with $15 million of that
devoted to staff costs. The author believes that the revisions
proposed by this bill will "allow courts to efficient and
effectively manage court records and reduce unnecessary storage
costs."
AB 1926 (Evans), Chapter 167, Statutes of 2010, sought to
modernize the maintenance of trial court records by allowing
courts to create, maintain, and preserve court records
electronically or in any form of communication, if the form
satisfies rules adopted by the Judicial Council. Documents
AB 1352
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electronically signed, subscribed, or verified have the same
validity and legal force and effect as paper documents. It was
anticipated that it would be far cheaper to maintain electronic
records as opposed to paper copies. Despite this legislation
providing the process for converting paper records to electronic
records, large quantities of paper records still exists and, the
Judicial Council reports that it is prohibitively expensive to
convert these records to electronic form. Thus the Judicial
Council is now seeking to update trial court record retention
rules to allow some records to be destroyed sooner than is
permissible under existing law and, thus, save storage and
record management costs.
This bill streamlines and, in some cases, shortens the retention
period of specific court records. Originally, the Judicial
Council proposed to reduce record retention rules for many more
court records, including family and juvenile law records, as
well as protective and restraining orders. However, because of
concerns raised during the public comment period, the Judicial
Council chose to limit its requested changes. As a result, many
retention provisions remain unchanged or virtually unchanged.
These include time periods for retaining records in unlimited
and limited civil cases, as well as family law, civil protective
and restraining orders, adoption, parentage, name and gender
change, real property and unlawful detainers, wills,
misdemeanors and infractions.
However, the bill reduces the retention period for other court
records. Specifically, this bill makes, among others, the
following changes:
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| Type of | Current Retention | Proposed Retention |
| Action/Document | Period | Period |
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| |
| CIVIL |
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|Mental Health |30 years |10 years: Lanterman |
| | |Developmental |
| | |Disabilities |
| | |Services Act |
| | | |
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| | |20 years: |
| | |Lanterman-Petris-Sho|
| | |rt Act, capacity |
| | |hearings |
| | | |
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| |
| PROBATE |
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|Probate Records, |Permanent |Five years after |
|Excluding | |final disposition |
|Judgments, Orders, | |of the estate |
|Wills, Codicils, | |proceeding |
|Inventories and | | |
|Appraisals | | |
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|Conservatorship |10 years |Permanent: Court |
| | |orders |
| | | |
| | |5 years after |
| | |disposition or |
| | |death: Other |
| | |conservatorship |
| | |records |
|--------------------+--------------------+--------------------|
|Guardianships |10 years after 18 |Permanent: Court |
| |years of age |orders |
| | | |
| | |5 years after the |
| | |later of (1) final |
| | |disposition; or (2) |
| | |minor turns 23 or |
| | |dies: Other records |
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| |
| CRIMINAL |
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|Death Penalty |Permanent: If |Permanent: Records |
| |prosecution seeks |in capital felony |
| |the death penalty |cases in which the |
| | |defendant is |
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| | |sentenced to death, |
| | |and in any felony |
| | |resulting in a |
| | |sentence of life or |
| | |life without the |
| | |possibility of |
| | |parole |
| | | |
| | |10 years: If a |
| | |capital felony is |
| | |disposed of by |
| | |acquittal |
| | | |
| | |50 years or for 10 |
| | |years after the |
| | |defendant's death: |
| | |If a capital felony |
| | |is disposed of by a |
| | |sentence less than |
| | |death, life, or |
| | |life without |
| | |possibility of |
| | |parole |
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|Other Felonies and |75 years |Permanent: |
|Registered Sex | |Judgments |
|Offender | | |
|Misdemeanors | |50 years or the |
| | |maximum term of the |
| | |sentence, whichever |
| | |is longer, or 10 |
| | |years after the |
| | |defendant's death: |
| | |Other records |
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|Felony Reduced to |No comparable |In accord with |
|Misdemeanor |provision, treated |relevant |
| |like felony |misdemeanor rules |
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|Dismissed Criminal |No comparable |3 years: Felony |
|Cases |provision, treated |charge is dismissed |
| |like underlying | |
| |criminal case | |
| |record |1 year: Misdemeanor |
| | |charge is dismissed |
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|Infractions |3 years |1 year |
|--------------------+--------------------+--------------------|
|Parking Infractions |2 years |Eliminates the |
| | |current two-year |
| | |retention period |
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| |
| OTHER |
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|Court Orders Not |3 years |1 year |
|Associated With an | | |
|Underlying Case | | |
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Analysis Prepared by : Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916)
319-2334
FN: 0001522