BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       AB 2882|
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 2882
          Author:   Committee on Judiciary   
          Amended:  8/16/16 in Senate
          Vote:     21 

           SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE:  7-0, 6/21/16
           AYES:  Jackson, Moorlach, Anderson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning,  
            Wieckowski

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  7-0, 8/11/16
           AYES:  Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  80-0, 5/31/16 - See last page for vote

           SUBJECT:   Judiciary omnibus:  family law


          SOURCE:    Author

          DIGEST:   This bill makes various changes to the Family Code.


          ANALYSIS:  


          Existing law:


          1)Provides that the Legislature shall prescribe the number of  
            judges and provide for the officers and employees of each  
            superior court, and that the Legislature may allow the trial  
            courts to appoint officers such as commissioners to perform  
            subordinate judicial duties.  (Cal. Const., art. VI, Secs. 4,  
            22.) 









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          2)Authorizes the courts to appoint subordinate judicial officers  
            (SJOs), and sets forth their duties and titles.  (Gov. Code  
            Sec. 71622.) 


          3)Authorizes the conversion of 16 SJO positions in eligible  
            superior courts to judgeships each fiscal year, as specified,  
            and authorizes the Judicial Council to convert up to an  
            additional 10 SJOs to judgeships each year, upon vacancy and  
            subsequent legislative authorization, if the conversion of  
            these additional positions will result in judges being  
            assigned to family or juvenile law assignments previously  
            presided over by SJOs, but requires that such authority be  
            ratified by the Legislature by statutory enactment.  (Gov.  
            Code Secs. 69615-19.) 


          This bill ratifies the authority of the Judicial Council to  
          convert 10 SJO positions to judgeships in 2016-17, provided the  
          conversion of these positions will result in judges being  
          assigned to family or juvenile law assignments previously  
          presided over by a SJO, and provides that this authority is in  
          addition to the existing authority provided to convert 16 SJOs  
          to judges.


          Existing law allows prospective spouses to combine their last  
          names into a new last name that is more than one word, but those  
          names must be hyphenated.  (Fam. Code Sec. 306.5.)


          This bill allows prospective spouses to combine their last names  
          into a new last name that is more than one word, without the  
          need to hyphenate.


          Existing law provides that if a marriage license is lost or  
          damaged before it is returned to the county recorder, a  
          duplicate license may be issued and returned by the person who  
          solemnized the marriage up to one year from the issuance of the  
          original license.  (Fam. Code Sec. 360.)








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          This bill instead provides that a duplicate license shall be  
          issued within one year from the marriage. 


          Existing law allows a person seeking to adopt a dependent child  
          who has been freed for adoption by the juvenile court to file  
          the adoption request either in the county where that person  
          resides or the county where the child was freed for adoption.   
          (Fam. Code Sec. 8714.)


          This bill allows a petitioner, seeking to adopt a dependent  
          child who has been freed for adoption by the juvenile court and  
          placed with that petitioner, to file the adoption request either  
          in the county where that petitioner resides or the county where  
          the child was freed for adoption. 


          Existing law requires a private adoption agency, when accepting  
          a child voluntarily relinquished for adoption, within five court  
          days, to file with the court the original and 10 copies of the  
          request to approve the relinquishment.  (Welf. & Inst. Code Sec.  
          361.)


          This bill requires a private adoption agency, when accepting a  
          child voluntarily relinquished for adoption to file or allow  
          another party to file with the court, within 10 court days, the  
          original and five copies of the request to approve the  
          relinquishment.  


          Existing law makes the Franchise Tax Board responsible for  
          various provisions of the state child support enforcement  
          program for which the Department of Child Support Services is  
          the single state agency charged with overseeing.  (Fam. Code  
          Secs. 17306, 17400, 17458, 17506, 17508, 17522.5, 17801, 17802.)


          This bill removes an outdated reference to the Franchise Tax  








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          Board from various provisions of the state child support  
          enforcement statutes that the Department of Child Support  
          Services is charged with overseeing.


          Existing law:


          1)Sets forth the process, rules and funding for development of  
            the California Child Support Automation System, which was  
            fully implemented in November, 2008.  (Welf. & Inst. Code Sec.  
            10080 et seq.)


          2)Sets out the duties of the Department of Social Services and  
            local child support agencies regarding the state child support  
            plan and the child support disregard.  (Welf. & Inst. Code  
            Sec. 11475.2 et seq.)


          3)Eestablishes rules governing the operation of the Statewide  
            Child Support Registry of all child support orders in  
            California.  (Welf. & Inst. Code Sec. 16575 et seq.)


          This bill eliminates Welfare and Institutions provisions  
          regarding development of the child support automation system,  
          which has now been fully implemented.


          This bill makes other technical and conforming changes,  
          including updating cross references and moving provisions of the  
          Welfare and Institutions Code relevant to the child support  
          enforcement program to the Family Code.




          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   No










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          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:




          SJO conversion:  Annual costs of about $300,000 (General Fund*)  
          for the conversion of 10 SJOs to judgeships, based on the salary  
          and benefit differential of the two positions. The Judicial  
          Council has indicated these costs will be funded through the  
          reallocation of funds in the Trial Court Trust Fund.




          *Trial Court Trust Fund




          SUPPORT:   (Verified8/15/16)


          Judicial Council of California


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified8/15/16)


          None received

          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The author writes:

            The Judicial Council has identified family and juvenile law  
            cases as among those most important for judges, rather than  
            SJOs, to preside over.  Unlike judges, SJOs are not directly  
            accountable to the public.  Unfortunately, due to the  
            shortages of judges, SJOs today are performing some of the  
            most complex and sensitive judicial duties, including  
            presiding over family and juvenile law matters.  Conversion of  
            these positions to judgeships when they become vacant makes  
            them both more accountable to the public and helps provide  
            better trust and confidence in the courts. This bill permits  








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            the Judicial Council to convert 10 SJO positions to judges if  
            and only if the conversions results in judges being assigned  
            to a family or juvenile law assignment that were previously  
            presided over by SJOs.  This will improve justice in family  
            and juvenile law cases by increasing the likelihood that these  
            matters are presided over by judges and not subordinate  
            judicial officers."
          
            The California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials  
            has identified several marriage establishment statutes that  
            should be clarified and updated, including a provision  
            requiring that spouses who want to combine last names must  
            today either hyphenate or combine their last names in a single  
            name, and a statutory reference to a health certificate that  
            is no longer required in order to get married.  This bill  
            makes those updates and technical corrections.

            The Department of Child Support Services has identified  
            numerous child support enforcement statutes have not been  
            updated in years and contain out-of-date and inapplicable  
            references and code sections, including references to an  
            outdated automation system, organizations that no longer  
            exist, and an enhanced role for the Franchise Tax Board that  
            no longer exists. This bill makes those updates and statutory  
            corrections.

            The Academy of California Adoption Lawyers has identified  
            several adoption statutes that should be clarified and  
            updated, including a statute regarding venue options for  
            petitioners who are seeking to adopt children freed for  
            adoption by the juvenile court and a statute that makes it  
            unnecessarily difficult to file a voluntary relinquishment of  
            a child with the court.  This bill makes those updates and  
            statutory improvements.
          
          
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  80-0, 5/31/16
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,  
            Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,  
            Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,  
            Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth  
            Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,  








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            Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,  
            Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim,  
            Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,  
            Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,  
            O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,  
            Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,  
            Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon

          Prepared by:Nichole Rapier / JUD. / (916) 651-4113
          8/16/16 17:33:38


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