BILL ANALYSIS
AB 942
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 942 (Judiciary Committee) - As Amended: April 13, 2009
Policy Committee:
JudiciaryVote:10-0 (Consent)
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill:
1)Authorizes the Judicial Council to convert up to 10 additional
subordinate judicial officer (SJO) positions to judgeships
each year if the conversion will result in a judge being
assigned to a family or juvenile law assignment previously
presided over by an SJO.
2)Requires the Judicial Council to report to the Legislature by
June 30, 2011 on the need for new judgeships in family law and
juvenile law assignments for each superior court.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Annual cost of up to $310,000 for conversion of 10 SJOs to
judgeships. For each conversion of an SJO position to a
judgeship, the additional annual cost, based on salary
differences between the two positions, is approximately
$31,000. These additional costs will be funded through a
reallocation of monies in the Trial Court Trust Fund.
2)Minor absorbable costs to the Administrative Office of the
Courts to complete the needs assessment and report.
COMMENTS
1)Background . According to the Judicial Council, SJO positions
AB 942
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were historically created and funded at the county level to
address courts' needs for judicial-like resources when new
judgeships were pending or not yet authorized by the
Legislature. Unlike judges, SJOs are not directly accountable
to the public, but due to the shortages of judges, are
performing some of the most complex and sensitive judicial
duties. Conversion of these positions to judgeships when they
become vacant makes them both more accountable to the public
and, the author contends, helps provide better trust and
confidence in the courts.
AB 159 (Jones)/Chapter 722 of 2007, in addition to authorizing
50 additional trial court judgeships, authorized the
conversion of 162 SJOs, upon vacancy, to judgeships with a cap
of 16 conversions per year. The cap was based on a Judicial
Council estimate that it would take 10 years for vacancies to
allow for the conversion of all 162 positions. For the first
two years since AB 159 was enacted, actual vacancies have
out-paced the statutory cap.
2)Purpose . In 2002 the Judicial Council identified family and
juvenile law matters among those that are of such a nature as
to require judges, rather than SJOs, to preside over them
whenever possible-a policy echoed repeatedly by other parties.
The bill will permit the council to convert an additional 10
positions if and only if the conversion results in a judge
being assigned to a family or juvenile law assignment that was
previously presided over by an SJO.
In addition, the council is required to report by November 1
of each even-numbered year on the general need for new
judgeships in each superior court. (The most recent report
was submitted in October 2008.) Due to concerns that the
biennial assessments undercount the time required to properly
handle family and juvenile law matters, and thus understate
judicial resource needs, the bill requires the council to
conduct an interim needs assessment for these particular
judgeships.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081