BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1316
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Date of Hearing: June 11, 2002
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Ellen M. Corbett, Chair
SB 1316 (Committee on Judiciary) - As Amended: May 1, 2002
(PROPOSED CONSENT) As Proposed to be Amended
SENATE VOTE : 38-0
SUBJECT : COURT RESTRUCTURING: OBSOLETE STATUTES
KEY ISSUE : SHOULD REVISIONS BE MADE TO UPDATE OR DELETE
STATUTES MADE OBSOLETE BY TRIAL COURT RESTRUCTURING?
SYNOPSIS
This non-controversial bill sponsored by the California Law
Revision Commission makes statutory revisions to reflect trial
court restructuring. Numerous statutes contain references made
obsolete by trial court restructuring - state assumption of
responsibility for trial court funding, court unification, and
the transfer of control of trial court employment to the courts.
This bill represents part of the effort of the California Law
Revision Commission to update the codes to reflect these
changes.
SUMMARY : Deletes or amends statutory references made obsolete
by trial court restructuring. Specifically, this bill , among
other things:
1)Updates code sections specifying the number of superior court
judges in each county to reflect the total number of judges
following consolidation of the superior and municipal courts.
2)Repeals obsolete code sections setting forth the structure and
personnel of municipal courts for specific counties.
3)Repeals superseded county-specific superior court staffing
provisions.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides for unification of municipal and superior courts
within a county upon a majority vote of the superior court
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judges of that county and a majority vote of the municipal
court judges of that county. (California Constitution,
Article VI, Section 5(e). The trial courts in all 58 counties
have unified.)
2)Makes trial court employees employees of the court, under the
Trial Court Employment Protection and Governance Act.
(Government Code sections 71600 et seq .)
3)Gives the state full responsibility for trial court funding,
under the Lockyer-Isenberg Trial Court Funding Act of 1997.
(Government Code sections 77000 et seq .)
FISCAL EFFECT : The bill as currently in print is keyed fiscal.
COMMENTS : This bill is sponsored by the California Law
Revision Commission (CLRC) as a first step towards updating the
codes to reflect the trial court restructuring accomplished in
the late 1990's. CLRC states:
In the late 1990s, California's trial court system was
substantially restructured through state funding of trial
court operations, trial court unification, and reforms
relating to trial court employment. As a result, hundreds
of statutes are now obsolete. The Law Revision Commission
proposes amendment or repeal of obsolete provisions to
reflect the restructuring of the trial court system.
A detailed discussion of the statutes repealed or amended by SB
1316 is available in the CLRC's March 2002 report entitled
"California Law Revision Commission Recommendation: Statutes
Made Obsolete by Trial Court Restructuring: Part 1."
The trial court system of the state underwent monumental
restructuring in the 1990's. Restructuring began with the
Lockyer-Isenberg Trial Court Funding Act of 1997, when the state
assumed full responsibility for trial court funding. (AB 233
(Escutia), Chapter 850, Statutes of 1997.) This was followed by
the Trial Court Unification Act, which unified the justice
courts, municipal courts, and superior courts. (SCA 4
(Lockyer), Resolution Chapter 36, Proposition 220, approved June
2, 1998.) Finally, in 2000, the Legislature passed the Trial
Court Employment Protection and Governance Act (TCEPGA), which
transferred control of trial court employment to the courts.
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(SB 2140 (Burton), Chapter 1010, Statutes of 2000.) Thus the
Legislature has steadily moved towards completion of the courts'
restructuring in order to achieve a better judicial system.
In enacting TCEPGA, the last of the three major trial court
reform bills, the Legislature also directed the CLRC to study
the statutes affected by the two previous acts and to make
recommendations to the Legislature on repealing statutes made
obsolete by the trial court reforms. (Government Code section
71674.) The tentative recommendations of the CLRC were
published in November 2001, and have been out for public comment
since then.
SB 1316 updates the codes in a number of areas. For example,
some statutes still vest control over court operations in county
boards of supervisors, a provision that is inconsistent with
state control of trial court funding and with court control over
court operations. SB 1316 makes the necessary changes to such
code sections on a section by section basis. SB 1316 clears the
codes of most references relating to former municipal courts,
and deletes obsolete code sections governing employment in
municipal courts. It further conforms the statutes prescribing
the number of judges in each county to the actual judgeships
formed following court unification, and makes other changes to
reflect court restructuring.
Further Changes to Be Made. This bill does not address all of
the statutes that need repeal or amendment. The CLRC states
"The Commission has identified many other statutes that should
not be addressed at this time because fundamental policies
remain to be resolved." SB 1316 removes the January 1, 2002
statutory deadline for the work on this project to allow for
regular statutory cleanup on an ongoing basis.
Author's Amendments . The author and sponsor propose three
amendments to the bill. First, they note a technical amendment
is needed to correct a misreference in the title of the bill.
Second, the amendments add a provision to amend Vehicle Code
section 40508.6 regarding administrative assessments for certain
violations, to reflect the fact that the superior court, and not
the board of supervisors, would now be the body authorized to
establish such an assessment. This amendment has now been
cleared with relevant stakeholders including the Administrative
Office of the Courts and the California State Association of
Counties.
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Finally, the amendments add a subordination clause. Legislative
Counsel has identified numerous bills that affect code sections
also amended by SB 1316. The subordination clause would state
that any section of any act enacted by the Legislature during
2002 which takes affect on or before January 1, 2003, and which
amends a section that is amended or repealed by SB 1316, would
prevail over SB 1316, whether chaptered before or after SB 1316.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Law Revision Commission (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Kathy Sher / JUD. / (916) 319-2334