BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 711 (Wolk)
Version: February 27, 2015
Hearing Date: May 12, 2015
Fiscal: No
Urgency: No
BCP:rm
SUBJECT
Law libraries: charges
DESCRIPTION
This bill would authorize a county law library to impose charges
for special services, including electronic delivery, other
delivery services, educational programs, special events, and the
provision of supplies or food services.
BACKGROUND
County law libraries are public libraries that are required, by
law, to be free to the judiciary, to state and county officials,
to members of the State Bar, and to all residents of the county.
The libraries offer legal materials as well as access to
librarians to assist individuals with their legal research.
Funding for county law libraries comes from a portion of civil
filing fees which are generally codified in statute.
While county law libraries must be free to the public, they are
statutorily authorized to levy fines and charges for violations
of the rules, and make charges to cover the cost of special
services, as specified. This bill seeks to clarify that
provision by expressly allowing libraries to charge for special
services, including electronic delivery, educational programs,
special events, and provisions of supplies or food services.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law provides that there is in each county of this State
a board of law library trustees which governs the law library
established for the county. (Bus. & Prof. Code Sec. 6300.)
Existing law provides that a law library shall be free to the
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judiciary, to state and county officials, to members of the
State Bar, and to all residents of the county, for the
examination of books and other publications at the library or
its branches. (Bus. & Prof. Code Sec. 6360.)
Existing law provides that the board of library trustees may
permit the removal of such books and other publications from the
library and its branches as it considers proper, subject to such
rules, and, in its discretion, the giving of such security, as
it may provide to ensure the safekeeping and prompt return
thereof, but no security shall be required of members of the
judiciary or county officials. (Bus. & Prof. Code Sec. 6360.)
Existing law permits the board to provide for the levying of
fines and charges for violations of the rules, and may make
charges to cover the cost of special services, such as making
photo copies of pages of library books, and messenger service.
(Bus. & Prof. Code Sec. 6360.)
This bill would revise the above provision to allow the board to
charge for special services, such as the making of photocopies
of pages of library books, electronic delivery, messenger and
other delivery services, educational programs, special events,
and provisions of supplies or food services.
COMMENT
1. Stated need for the bill
According to the author:
Current law ([Business and Professions] Code [Section] 6300
et seq.) establishes county law libraries and provides for
their governance by a board of trustees. The code provides
funding for county law libraries through a portion of civil
filing fees, with each library receiving a designated amount
from such fees. County law libraries are not supported by
state or local tax dollars.
While statute requires that access to a county law library
be free to the public, many county law libraries charge fees
or levy fines to help cover the cost of special services.
The fees may be charged for copying materials, having
materials faxed or mailed, or for audio or video rentals.
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The fees help defray the cost of providing these services.
County law libraries provide an array of services beyond
those specifically cited in statute in order to address the
needs of library users and the broader community. The
Council of California County Law Librarians reports that
nearly all county law libraries provide access to digital
resources and other services not specifically referenced in
[Business and Professions Code Section] 6360 as currently
written. While 18 sections of county law library statutes
were updated in 2009 by SB 113 [(Committee on Local
Government, Chapter 332, Statutes of 2009)], Section 6360
was not among them and does not reflect the range of
services provided by modern day county law libraries.
In addition, county law libraries continue to experience
diminishing operations revenues. In fact, over the past 5
years there has been nearly a 32 percent decrease in
revenue. While authorizing additional charges to be imposed
will not solve the funding shortfall, SB 711 will enable
county law libraries to recover the costs of some of the
modern services they provide to the public. Furthermore, SB
711 will insulate county law libraries from having to expend
already scarce resources defending lawsuits alleging that
they have no authority to charge a fee for the various
services they provide to attorneys and the public.
2. Revising compensation language
As noted above, under existing law, county law libraries may
charge to "cover the cost" of special services, such as making
of photocopies and messenger service. This bill seeks to,
instead, allow them to charge for those services without the
specific requirement that the amount exactly cover the cost,
and, to clarify the services for which a library may charge. As
a practical matter, the ability to simply charge for a service
without doing an exact accounting protects a law library from
being alleged to have charged more for a service than the actual
cost. Further, by clarifying the ability to charge for services
such as educational programs and the provision of support or
food services, this bill would expressly allow law libraries to
expand their offerings. The Council of California County Law
Librarians, in support, notes that:
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[This bill] would modernize and clarify the authorizing
statute to enhance and protect the access to justice role of
County Law Libraries by reflecting the full range of
services (e.g., electronic delivery of documents,
educational programs and workshops, etc.) and eliminating
any undue restrictions on revenue-generating activities
(e.g., MCLE classes and special services). Importantly, the
basic services we provide to the public, including access to
the collection in print and digitally, reference assistance,
etc., are currently, and under SB 711, would continue to
be[,] provided at no charge whatsoever.
As noted by the proponents, this bill would not change the
fundamental requirement for law libraries to offer free access
to legal books and publications, but, instead, amend the statute
to reflect the wide variety of services that may be offered.
For example, the Sacramento County Public Library currently
offers classes ranging from "Digital Afterlife - Estate Planning
for Your Client's Virtual Assets" to "Practice Pointers for New
Attorneys from the Court and Family Law Facilitator's
Perspective," and the Ventura County Law Library offers a
program entitled "Lawyers at the Library," with topics such as
"How to Choose an Attorney" and "Top 8 Medi-Cal Mistakes."
Accordingly, to the extent that county law libraries seek to
expand the services they offer - and to charge an appropriate
amount for those services - this bill would both expand the
statute to acknowledge those additional services, and, allow the
law libraries to charge for them.
3. Budget shortfall
While the intent of this bill is not to solve the funding issue,
many of the letters from county law libraries, in support, do
note the significant decrease in funding over recent years.
Below is a sampling of the declines in civil case filing fee
revenue (a source of funding for law libraries) over the past
six years that has forced reductions in staff, hours of
operation, and the purchase of critical resource materials:
Contra Costa Public Law Library - 40 percent decline;
Tulare County Public Law Library - 30 percent decline;
San Luis Obispo County Law Library - more than 29 percent
decline;
San Mateo County Law Library - 70 percent decline;
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Orange County Public Law Library - 34 percent decline;
Stanislaus County Law Library - more than 40 percent decline;
Santa Barbara County Law Library - 31.4 percent decline;
Ventura County Law Library - 37.8 percent decline;
San Joaquin County Law Library - 41 percent decline; and
San Diego Law Library - almost 36 percent decline.
As noted above, this bill does not seek to solve the funding
problem, but, instead, seeks to enable law libraries to offset
costs associated with providing additional services by
clarifying both the types of services that may be offered, and,
the ability to charge for those services.
Support : Alameda County law Library; Butte County Public Law
Library; Contra Costa County Public Law Library; Council of
California County Law Librarians; Fresno County Public Law
Library; Los Angeles County law Library; Merced County Law
Library; Northern California Association of Law Libraries;
Orange County Employees Association; Orange County Public Law
Library; Sacramento County Public Law Library; San Diego County
Public Law Library; San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program, Inc.;
Santa Barbara County Law Library; Stanislaus County Law Library;
Tom Holmann LGBT Law Association; Tulare County Public Law
Library; 23 individuals
Opposition : None Known
HISTORY
Source : Council of California County Law Librarians
Related Pending Legislation : None Known
Prior Legislation : SB 113 (Committee on Local Government,
Chapter 332, Statutes of 2009) See Comment 1.
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