BILL NUMBER: SB 56 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 13, 2005
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 27, 2005
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 18, 2005
INTRODUCED BY Senator Dunn
(Principal coauthor: Senator Ducheny)
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Jones)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Benoit , Bermudez, and
Bogh)
JANUARY 12, 2005
An act to add Sections 69613 and 69614 ,
69614, and 69615 to the Government Code, relating to trial
courts.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 56, as amended, Dunn Trial courts: judgeships.
Existing law specifies the number of judges of the superior court
for each county.
This bill would authorize an unspecified number of judges of the
superior court per year to be appointed by the
Governor in the 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2007-08 fiscal years, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, to the various county superior
courts, as determined by the Judicial Council
allocated pursuant to a specified method administered by the Judicial
Council. The bill would require the Judicial Council to adopt, and
report to the Legislature annually upon, judicial administration
standards and measures that promote the fair and efficient
administration of justice, as specified . The bill would also
authorize up to an unspecified number of
subordinate judicial officer positions in eligible superior courts,
as determined by the Judicial Council, to be converted to judgeships,
according to specified criteria and upon appropriation by the
Legislature. The bill would define the term "subordinate judicial
officer" for purposes of those provisions and would declare the
Legislature's intent to restore an appropriate balance between
subordinate judicial officers and judges in enacting those
provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 69613 is added to the
Government Code , to read:
69613. (a) Additional judges in the county superior courts
authorized pursuant to Sections 69614 and 69615 shall be allocated
among counties by a method administered by the Judicial Council that
is based on the following criteria:
(1) Court filings data averaged over a period of three years.
(2) Workload standards that represent the average amount of time
of bench and nonbench work required to resolve each case type.
(3) A ranking methodology that provides consideration for courts
that have the greatest need relative to their current complement of
judicial officers.
(b) On or before January 1, 2007, the Judicial Council shall
adopt, and shall report to the Legislature annually thereafter upon,
judicial administration standards and measures that promote the fair
and efficient administration of justice, including, but not limited
to, the following subjects:
(1) Providing equal access to courts and respectful treatment for
all court participants.
(2) Case processing, including the efficient use of judicial
resources.
(3) General court administration.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section
69613 69614 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
69613. 69614. (a) Upon
appropriation by the Legislature in the 2005-06 fiscal year, there
shall be _____ additional judges of the superior court for
appointment by the Governor to the various county superior
courts, as determined by the Judicial Council pursuant to uniform
criteria for determining the need for additional superior court
judges pursuant to the criteria set forth in
subdivision (a) of Section 69613 .
(b) Upon appropriation by the Legislature in the 2006-07 fiscal
year, there shall be _____ additional judges of the superior court
for appointment by the Governor to the various county
superior courts, as determined by the Judicial Council pursuant to
uniform criteria for determining the need for additional superior
court judges pursuant to the criteria set forth in
subdivision (a) of Section 69613 .
(c) Upon appropriation by the Legislature in the 2007-08 fiscal
year, there shall be _____ additional judges of the superior court
for appointment by the Governor to the various county
superior courts, as determined by the Judicial Council pursuant to
uniform criteria for determining the need for additional superior
court judges pursuant to the criteria set forth in
subdivision (a) of Section 69613 .
SEC. 2. SEC. 3. Section
69614 69615 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
69614. 69615. (a) It is the intent
of the Legislature in enacting this section to restore an appropriate
balance between subordinate judicial officers and judges in the
trial courts by providing for the conversion, as needed, of
subordinate judicial officer positions to judgeships in courts that
assign subordinate judicial officers to act as temporary judges. The
Legislature finds that these positions must be converted to
judgeships in order to ensure that critical case types, including
family, probate, and juvenile law matters can be heard by judges.
(b) (1) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, no more than _____
subordinate judicial officer positions in eligible superior courts,
as determined by the Judicial Council pursuant to uniform criteria
for determining the need for converting existing subordinate judicial
officer positions to superior court judgeships, shall be converted
to judgeships as set forth in paragraph (2).
(2) A subordinate judicial officer position shall be converted to
a judicial position when a vacancy occurs in any subordinate judicial
officer position in an eligible superior court and the Judicial
Council files notice of the vacancy with the Secretary of State.
(3) The provisions of Section 12011.5 of the Government Code shall
apply to any appointment to a superior court judgeship converted
from a subordinate judicial officer position.
(c) For purposes of this section, "subordinate judicial officer"
means an officer appointed under the authority of Section 22 of
Article VI of the California Constitution. This section shall not
apply to a subordinate judicial officer established by Section 4251
of the Family Code.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that no subordinate
judicial officer shall involuntarily lose his or her position solely
due to operation of this section. This section does not change the
employment relationship between subordinate judicial officers and the
trial courts established by law.
(e) This section does not limit the authority of the Governor to
appoint a person to fill a vacancy pursuant to subdivision (c) of
Section 16 of Article VI of the California Constitution.
(f) This section does not entitle a court to an increase in
funding.
(g) The operation of this section shall neither increase nor
decrease the number of judicial and subordinate judicial officer
positions and court support positions for which a county is
responsible by law.