BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2881
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
2881 (Committee on Judiciary)
As Amended August 18, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(May 12, 2016) |SENATE: |39-0 |(August 23, |
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Original Committee Reference: JUD.
SUMMARY: Makes various changes to the California codes as part
of the Committee's civil law omnibus bill. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Establishes public notice districts as the place for the
publication of notice as provided, and repeals provisions
regarding judicial districts, as provided.
2)Requires the Controller to establish and maintain trial court
revenue distribution guidelines.
3)Extends the sunset relating to non-certification of a court
reporter's instant visual display of testimony or proceedings.
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4)Clarifies the definition of "officer" in the California Public
Records Act (CPRA).
5)Clarify that a party may prepare and serve a notice of entry
of judgment to all parties who have appeared in the action or
proceeding, by way of personal delivery, as well as by mail.
6)Clarify that a surviving business partner of a decedent, as
provided, is not competent to act as a personal representative
in administering an estate.
7)Clarify a "partner" not competent to act as a personal
representative of an estate, as defined, is a "business
partner."
8)Clarify the professional immunity for conduct relating to
persons who are involuntarily committed.
9)Makes other technical and conforming changes.
The Senate amendments remove several omnibus proposals, make
technical changes, include double-jointing language, and add the
following omnibus proposals:
1)Clarify that a party may prepare and serve a notice of entry
of judgment to all parties who have appeared in the action or
proceeding, by way of personal delivery, as well as by mail.
2)Clarify that a surviving business partner of a decedent, as
provided, is not competent to act as a personal representative
in administering an estate.
3)Clarify a "partner" not competent to act as a personal
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representative of an estate, as defined, is a "business
partner."
4)Clarify the professional immunity for conduct relating to
persons who are involuntarily committed.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides that where judicial districts in a county have been
consolidated, or where the municipal and superior courts in a
county have unified, the territory embraced within the
respective prior component judicial districts shall be
separate judicial districts for the purpose of publication
within a judicial district. (Government Code Section
71042.5.)
2)Requires a county recorder to keep on file a map approved by
the county surveyor establishing the boundaries of a judicial
district, as provided, that shows the boundaries of all
consolidated or unified districts and component districts as
of the date of consolidation or unification. (Government Code
Section 71042.6.)
3)Requires a hosting platform to provide a notice, as specified,
to occupants listing a residence for short-term rental on a
hosting platform. (Business and Professions Code Section
22592.)
4)Requires the Controller to establish, supervise, and as
necessary revise a uniform accounting system, including a
system of audit, to the end that all fines, penalties,
forfeitures, and fees assessed by courts, and their collection
and appropriate disbursement, shall be properly and uniformly
accounted for. (Government Code Section 71380.)
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5)Requires each installment or partial payment of a fine,
penalty, forfeiture or fee to be prorated among the state and
local shares according to the uniform accounting system
established by the State Controller, as provided. (Penal Code
Section 1462.5.)
6)Provides that the report of the official reporter, or official
reporter pro tempore, of any court, duly appointed and sworn,
when transcribed and certified as being a correct transcript
of the testimony and proceedings in the case, is prima facie
evidence of that testimony and proceedings. (Code of Civil
Procedure Section 273.)
7)Provides that until January 1, 2017, the instant visual
display of the testimony or proceedings, or both, shall not be
certified and cannot be used, cited, distributed, or
transcribed as the official certified transcript of the
proceedings. Further provides that until January 1, 2017, the
instant visual display of the testimony or proceedings, or
both, shall not be cited or used in any way or at any time to
rebut or contradict the official certified transcript of the
proceedings as provided by the official reporter or official
reporter pro tempore. (Ibid.)
8)Defines civil executive officers of the state, as provided.
(Government Code Sections 1001.)
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS: This bill is the Assembly Judiciary Committee's
biennial omnibus civil law bill. The purpose of the omnibus
bill is intended to increase the efficiency of the legislative
process, conserve legislative resources, and eliminate the need
to unnecessarily hear a number of technical, clarifying, or
modest stand-alone bills that might otherwise have to be
introduced and heard separately through the legislative process.
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Although it appears that most - if not all of these provisions
- are non-controversial, this analysis provides a brief review
of most of this bill's provisions.
Implements recommendations by the California Law Revision
Commission involving the publication of certain legal notices.
Under existing law, certain types of notices must be published
in a "judicial district" - for example, a notice of a
foreclosure sale, or a sale of stored property. Judicial
districts were originally established for the business and
elections of the courts of limited jurisdiction. However, due
to court consolidation, these boundaries have largely become
obsolete; and yet, current law still requires certain notices to
be published in a judicial district. Additionally, the
boundaries of these judicial districts are often difficult to
find. Indeed, this Committee has learned that some
jurisdictions no longer have these maps on hand, and parties who
file the required notices must go to a private company to
retrieve them in order to fully comply with the law.
Accordingly, it seems safe to say that some notices may be
published in the wrong location, raising questions about the
legal validity of that notice. This bill implements the work of
the Law Revision Commission which has painstakingly reviewed and
retrieved historical judicial district maps, and has established
new "public notice districts." Under this bill, the public
notice districts are described by reference to cities and towns
- hewing closely to areas of historical judicial districts.
This bill, consistent with other Law Revision
Commission-sponsored bills, maintains the Legislature's intent
in establishing public notice districts for public notice
purposes, minimizes disruption to the current practice, and
reduces any confusion for parties.
Provides additional clarity to the distinct accounting roles
performed by the Judicial Council and the State Controller over
state trial courts. The Judicial Council and the State
Controller have important and distinct roles in overseeing our
trial courts. Generally, the Judicial Council oversees the
trial courts' budgetary, fiscal, and accounting procedures,
whereas the State Controller oversees trial court audits and
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provides guidelines on the distribution of trial court revenues,
such as fines, fees, and penalties assessed by the courts.
Currently, the Judicial Council consults with the State
Controller to maintain appropriate regulations for recordkeeping
and accounting by the courts. However, current law does not
properly reflect the distinctive roles of the Judicial Council
and the State Controller. This bill clears up the division of
responsibilities between the Judicial Council and the State
Controller by clarifying that the State Controller maintains
trial court revenue distribution guidelines, and not accounting
systems.
Extends the sunset relating to non-certification of a court
reporter's instant visual display of testimony or proceedings.
AB 170 (Mendoza), Chapter 87, Statutes 2009, provides that a
court reporter's instant visual display of testimony or
proceedings (commonly known as "real-time reporting"), or both,
may not be certified and cannot be used, cited, distributed, or
transcribed as the official transcript of the proceedings. This
provision of law will sunset on January 1, 2017. In order to
allow the Legislature additional time to assess the technology
of real-time reporting to ensure that it can provide access to
justice, to a level similar to traditional court reporting
services, this bill extends the sunset to 2022.
Clarifies the definition of "officer" in the California Public
Records Act. Under the California Public Records Act, any
"state agency" is required to disclose public records unless it
is subject to an exemption. Currently, a "state agency" is
defined as any "state office, officer, department, division,
bureau, board, and commission or other state body or agency,"
excluding the legislature and the courts. However, the statute
does not define "officer." While the meaning of "officer" would
appear to have the same meaning of "executive officers" provided
under Government Code Section 1001, the law is unclear as to
whether members of state commissions are "officers" for purposes
of the CPRA. This bill makes that update and statutory
correction.
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Clarifies that parties may effectuate service for a notice of
entry of judgment by personal service and by mail. Under
existing law, a party seeking to serve a notice of entry of
judgment must do so by mail. Other service statutes allow
parties to effectuate service by personal service. Indeed, many
parties during litigation expect this method of service. This
bill clarifies that a party may prepare and serve a notice of
entry of judgment to all parties who have appeared in the action
or proceeding, by way of personal delivery, as well as by mail.
Clarifies the use of "partner" in certain sections of the
Probate Code. This bill would clarify that under Probate Code
Section 8402, a "partner" not competent to act as a personal
representative of an estate is a "business partner," and not a
"domestic partner." It seems safe to say that the statute never
intended to apply the term "partner" to mean domestic partners.
However, the vagueness of the current statute has resulted in
unnecessary and wasteful litigation. Indeed, other provisions
of the Probate Code provide that a surviving "Domestic Partner
of a decedent" gets priority for appointment as a personal
representative when the decedent dies intestate. This bill
modifies the term "partner" to reconcile the differences in the
Probate Code to ensure that domestic partners can act as
personal representatives.
Clarifies the professional immunity for conduct relating to
persons who are involuntarily committed. Under existing law,
persons with a mental disorder, who, as a result of the mental
disorder, is a danger to others or to himself or herself, may be
involuntarily committed. If certain conditions are met, the
professional person in charge of the facility providing
intensive treatment to the person with a mental disorder is
exempt from civil or criminal liability, as provided. This bill
would also exempt the following professional persons from civil
and criminal liability: the attorney or advocate representing
the person; the court-appointed commissioner or referee; the
certification review hearing officer; or the peace officer
responsible for detaining the person.
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Analysis Prepared by:
Eric Dang / JUD. / (916) 319-2334 FN: 0004783