BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1352 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 1352 (Levine) As Amended June 26, 2013 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |70-0 |(May 16, 2013) |SENATE: |37-0 |(August 19, | | | | | | |2013) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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. AB 1352 Page 2 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 Page 3 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: -------------------------------------------------------------- | Type of | Current Retention | Proposed Retention | | Action/Document | Period | Period | -------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- | | | CIVIL | --------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- |Mental Health |30 years |10 years: Lanterman | | | |Developmental | | | |Disabilities | | | |Services Act | | | | | AB 1352 Page 4 | | |20 years: | | | |Lanterman-Petris-Sho| | | |rt Act, capacity | | | |hearings | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- | | | PROBATE | --------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- |Probate Records, |Permanent |Five years after | |Excluding | |final disposition | |Judgments, Orders, | |of the estate | |Wills, Codicils, | |proceeding | |Inventories and | | | |Appraisals | | | -------------------------------------------------------------- |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 | -------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- | | | CRIMINAL | --------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- |Death Penalty |Permanent: If |Permanent: Records | | |prosecution seeks |in capital felony | | |the death penalty |cases in which the | | | |defendant is | AB 1352 Page 5 | | |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 | -------------------------------------------------------------- |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 | -------------------------------------------------------------- |Felony Reduced to |No comparable |In accord with | |Misdemeanor |provision, treated |relevant | | |like felony |misdemeanor rules | -------------------------------------------------------------- |Dismissed Criminal |No comparable |3 years: Felony | |Cases |provision, treated |charge is dismissed | | |like underlying | | | |criminal case | | | |record |1 year: Misdemeanor | | | |charge is dismissed | AB 1352 Page 6 -------------------------------------------------------------- |Infractions |3 years |1 year | |--------------------+--------------------+--------------------| |Parking Infractions |2 years |Eliminates the | | | |current two-year | | | |retention period | -------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- | | | OTHER | --------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- |Court Orders Not |3 years |1 year | |Associated With an | | | |Underlying Case | | | -------------------------------------------------------------- Analysis Prepared by : Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916) 319-2334 FN: 0001522