BILL NUMBER: AB 1697 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 15, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 12, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Hall
FEBRUARY 1, 2010
An act to amend Section 69926 6808
5 of the Government Code, and to amend Section 1465.8 of
the Penal Code, relating to courts.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1697, as amended, Hall. Court security.
(1) The Superior Court Law Enforcement Act of 2002 authorizes the
presiding judge of each superior court to contract with the sheriff
or marshal for the necessary level of law enforcement services in the
courts. The act requires the superior court and the sheriff or
marshal to enter into a memorandum of understanding specifying the
agreed upon level of court security services, and their cost and
terms of payment. The act provides that the cost of services
specified in the memorandum of understanding shall be based on the
estimated average cost of salary and benefits for equivalent
personnel classifications in that county, not including overtime pay.
This bill would provide that the cost of services specified in the
memorandum of understanding shall be based on the actual
county-by-county allocation for an unspecified fiscal year.
(1) Existing law establishes the Trial Court Trust Fund, the
proceeds of which are apportioned for the purpose of funding trial
court operations.
This bill would establish a Court Security Account in the Trial
Court Trust Fund, and require that all court security funds from
whatever source be deposited into the account and only expended for
court security services.
(2) Existing law imposes a fee of $30 upon every conviction for a
criminal offense, other than parking offenses, for funding of court
security until July 1, 2011, and a court security fee of $20
thereafter. Existing law provides that proceeds of the court security
fee be transferred monthly from the counties for deposit in the
Trial Court Trust Fund to fund trial court operations, including
those marshals and sheriffs as the court deems necessary for court
operations.
This bill would continue the increased court security fee until
July 1, 2016 , and would require the Administrative Office
of the Courts, commencing January 1, 2011, and on each July 1
thereafter, to adjust the court security fee, as specified. The bill
would require the Administrative Office of the Courts to publish the
current dollar amount of the court security fee on its Internet Web
site . The bill would require proceeds of the court
security fee to be deposited in a separate account of
the Court Security Account in the Trial Court
Trust Fund for the sole purpose of funding sheriffs and
marshals for superior court security . This bill would
require the Judicial Council to provide for administration of these
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. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Section 69926 of the Government Code provides that court
security for superior courts shall be provided by the county sheriff
or marshal.
(b) Court security services are provided by sheriffs and marshals
for a number of public safety reasons, including their extensive
peace officer training, jurisdiction over the inmates in local jails,
including the transport of inmates to and from the jail to court
proceedings, and sheriff's and marshal's personnel in the courts
serving as bailiffs. Sheriffs and marshals have the longstanding
proven expertise and training to provide this much needed and
necessary function in California.
(c) The sheriffs and marshals of the State of California are
committed to continuing to provide the highest level service and
security in California's courtrooms.
(d) Instability in court security funding and a
cumbersome funding mechanism create burdens creates a
burden on the state, on local courts, and on county sheriffs
and marshals. State funding continues to be impacted by salary and
retirement adjustments at the local level without any real state
input into growth in those areas. County sheriffs and marshals and
local courts struggle with continual lack of certainty in funding
and complications from the manner in which court security
funding is administered and confusion in the application of existing
law. .
(e) The provision of court security services is not broken. The
cumbersome process by which court security is funded needs to
(e) Funding needs to be
simplified to create maximum efficiencies for court security services
and cost containment for the state.
(f) Consideration shall be given to help fund court security
needs.
SEC. 2. Section 69926 of the Government Code is
amended to read:
69926. (a) This section applies to the superior court and the
sheriff or marshal's department in those counties in which either of
the following apply:
(1) The sheriff's department was otherwise required by law to
provide court security services on and after July 1, 1998.
(2) Court security was provided by the marshal's office on and
after July 1, 1998, the marshal's office was subsequently abolished
and succeeded by the sheriff's department, and the successor sheriff'
s department is required to provide court security services as
successor to the marshal.
(b) The superior court and the sheriff or marshal shall enter into
an annual or multiyear memorandum of understanding specifying the
agreed upon level of court security services, cost of services, and
terms of payment. The cost of services specified in the memorandum of
understanding shall be based on the actual county-by-county
allocation for the ____ fiscal year.
(c) The sheriff or marshal shall provide information as identified
in the contract law enforcement template by April 30 of each year to
the superior court in that county, specifying the nature, extent,
and basis of the costs, including negotiated or projected salary
increases of court law enforcement services that the sheriff proposes
to include in the budget of the court security program for the
following state budget year. Actual court security allocations shall
be subject to the approval of the Judicial Council and the funding
provided by the Legislature. It is the intent of the Legislature that
proposed court security expenditures submitted by the Judicial
Council to the Department of Finance for inclusion in the Governor's
Budget shall be as defined in the contract law enforcement template.
(d) If the superior court and the sheriff or marshal are unwilling
or unable to enter into an agreement pursuant to this section on or
before August 1 of any fiscal year, the court or sheriff or marshal
may request the continuation of negotiations between the superior
court and the sheriff or marshal for a period of 45 days with
mediation assistance, during which time the previous law enforcement
services agreement shall remain in effect. Mutually agreed upon
mediation assistance shall be determined by the Administrative
Director of the Courts and the president of the California State
Sheriffs' Association.
SEC. 2. Section 68085 of the Government
Code is amended to read:
68085. (a) (1) There is hereby established the Trial Court Trust
Fund, the proceeds of which shall be apportioned for the purposes
authorized in this section, including apportionment to the trial
courts to fund trial court operations, as defined in Section 77003.
(2) The apportionment payments shall be made by the Controller.
The final payment from the Trial Court Trust Fund for each fiscal
year shall be made on or before August 31 of the subsequent fiscal
year.
(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in order to
promote statewide efficiency, the Judicial Council may authorize the
direct payment or reimbursement or both of actual costs from the
Trial Court Trust Fund or the Trial Court Improvement Fund to fund
the costs of operating one or more trial courts upon the consent of
participating courts. These paid or reimbursed costs may be for
services provided to the court or courts by the Administrative Office
of the Courts or payment for services or property of any kind
contracted for by the court or courts or on behalf of the courts by
the Administrative Office of the Courts. The amount of appropriations
from the Trial Court Improvement Fund under this subdivision may not
exceed 20 percent of the amount deposited in the Trial Court
Improvement Fund pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 77205. The
direct payment or reimbursement of costs from the Trial Court Trust
Fund may be supported by the reduction of a participating court's
allocation from the Trial Court Trust Fund to the extent that the
court's expenditures for the program are reduced and the court is
supported by the expenditure. The Judicial Council shall provide the
affected trial courts with quarterly reports on expenditures from the
Trial Court Trust Fund incurred as authorized by this subdivision.
The Judicial Council shall establish procedures to provide for the
administration of this paragraph in a way that promotes the
effective, efficient, reliable, and accountable operation of the
trial courts.
(B) As used in subparagraph (A), the term "costs of operating one
or more trial courts" includes any expenses related to operation of
the court or performance of its functions, including, but not limited
to, statewide administrative and information technology
infrastructure supporting the courts. The term "costs of operating
one or more trial courts" is not restricted to items considered
"court operations" pursuant to Section 77003, but is subject to
policies, procedures, and criteria established by the Judicial
Council, and may not include an item that is a cost that must
otherwise be paid by the county or city and county in which the court
is located.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the fees listed in
subdivision (c) shall all be deposited upon collection in a special
account in the county treasury, and transmitted monthly to the State
Treasury for deposit in the Trial Court Trust Fund.
(c) (1) Except as specified in subdivision (d), this section
applies to all fees collected on or before December 31, 2005,
pursuant to Sections 631.3, 116.230, and 403.060 of the Code of Civil
Procedure and Sections 26820.4, 26823, 26826, 26826.01, 26827,
26827.4, 26830, 26832.1, 26833.1, 26835.1, 26836.1, 26837.1, 26838,
26850.1, 26851.1, 26852.1, 26853.1, 26855.4, 26862, 68086, 72055,
72056, 72056.01, and 72060.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, except as
specified in subdivision (d) of this section and subdivision (a) of
Section 68085.7, this section applies to all fees and fines collected
on or before December 31, 2005, pursuant to Sections 116.390,
116.570, 116.760, 116.860, 177.5, 491.150, 704.750, 708.160, 724.100,
1134, 1161.2, and 1218 of the Code of Civil Procedure, Sections
26824, 26828, 26829, 26834, and 72059 of the Government Code, and
subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 166 and Section 1214.1 of the
Penal Code.
(3) If any of the fees provided for in this subdivision are
partially waived by court order, and the fee is to be divided between
the Trial Court Trust Fund and any other fund, the amount of the
partial waiver shall be deducted from the amount to be distributed to
each fund in the same proportion as the amount of each distribution
bears to the total amount of the fee.
(d) This section does not apply to that portion of a filing fee
collected pursuant to Section 26820.4, 26826, 26827, 72055, or 72056
that is allocated for dispute resolution pursuant to Section 470.3 of
the Business and Professions Code, the county law library pursuant
to Section 6320 of the Business and Professions Code, the Judges'
Retirement Fund pursuant to Section 26822.3, automated recordkeeping
or conversion to micrographics pursuant to Sections 26863 and
68090.7, and courthouse financing pursuant to Section 76238. This
section also does not apply to fees collected pursuant to
subdivisions (a) and (c) of Section 27361.
(e) This section applies to all payments required to be made to
the State Treasury by any county or city and county pursuant to
Section 77201, 77201.1, or 77205.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no agency may take
action to change the amounts allocated to any of the funds described
in subdivision (a), (b), (c), or (d).
(g) The Judicial Council shall reimburse the Controller for the
actual administrative costs that will be incurred under this section.
Costs reimbursed under this section shall be determined on an annual
basis in consultation with the Judicial Council.
(h) Any amounts required to be transmitted by a county or city and
county to the state pursuant to this section shall be remitted to
the State Treasury no later than 45 days after the end of the month
in which the fees were collected. This remittance shall be
accompanied by a remittance advice identifying the collection month
and the appropriate account in the Trial Court Trust Fund to which it
is to be deposited. Any remittance that is not made by the county or
city and county in accordance with this section shall be considered
delinquent, and subject to the interest and penalties specified in
this section.
(i) Upon receipt of any delinquent payment required pursuant to
this section, the Controller shall do the following:
(1) Calculate interest on the delinquent payment by multiplying
the amount of the delinquent payment at a daily rate equivalent to
the rate of return of money deposited in the Local Agency Investment
Fund pursuant to Section 16429.1 from the date the payment was
originally due to either 30 days after the date of the issuance by
the Controller of the final audit report concerning the failure to
pay or the date of payment by the entity responsible for the
delinquent payment, whichever comes first.
(2) Calculate a penalty at a daily rate equivalent to 11/2 percent
per month from the date 30 days after the date of the issuance by
the Controller of the final audit report concerning the failure to
pay.
(j) (1) Interest or penalty amounts calculated pursuant to
subdivision (i) shall be paid by the county, city and county, or
court to the Trial Court Trust Fund no later than 45 days after the
end of the month in which the interest or penalty was calculated.
Payment shall be made by the entity responsible for the error or
other action that caused the failure to pay, as determined by the
Controller in notice given to that party by the Controller.
(2) Notwithstanding Section 77009, any interest or penalty on a
delinquent payment that a court is required to make pursuant to this
section and Section 24353 shall be paid from the Trial Court
Operations Fund for that court.
(3) The Controller may permit a county, city and county, or court
to pay the interest or penalty amounts according to a payment
schedule in the event of a large interest or penalty amount that
causes a hardship to the paying entity.
(4) The party responsible for the error or other action that
caused the failure to pay may include, but is not limited to, the
party that collected the funds who is not the party responsible for
remitting the funds to the Trial Court Trust Fund, if the collecting
party failed or delayed in providing the remitting party with
sufficient information needed by the remitting party to distribute
the funds.
(k) The Trial Court Trust Fund shall be invested in the Surplus
Money Investment Fund and all interest earned shall be allocated to
the Trial Court Trust Fund quarterly and shall be allocated among the
courts in accordance with the requirements of subdivision (a). The
specific allocations shall be specified by the Judicial Council.
(l) It is the intent of the Legislature that the revenues required
to be deposited into the Trial Court Trust Fund be remitted as soon
after collection by the courts as possible.
(m) Except for subdivisions (a) and (k), this section does not
apply to fees and fines that are listed in subdivision (a) of Section
68085.1 that are collected on or after January 1, 2006.
(n) The changes made to subdivisions (i) and (j) of this section
by the act adding this subdivision shall apply to all delinquent
payments for which no final audit has been issued by the Controller
prior to January 1, 2008.
(o) There is hereby established in the Trial Court Trust Fund a
Court Security Account. All court security funds from whatever
source, including general funds and funds from the court security fee
authorized by Section 1465.8 of the Penal Code, shall be deposited
into the Court Security Account in the Trial Court Trust Fund. Funds
in the Court Security Account may only be expended for court security
services.
SEC. 3. Section 1465.8 of the Penal Code, as amended by Section 29
of Chapter 22 of the 4th Extraordinary Session of the Statutes of
2009, is amended to read:
1465.8. (a) (1) To ensure and maintain adequate funding for court
security, a fee of thirty dollars ($30) shall be imposed on every
conviction for a criminal offense, including a traffic offense,
except parking offenses as defined in subdivision (i) of Section
1463, involving a violation of a section of the Vehicle Code or any
local ordinance adopted pursuant to the Vehicle Code.
Commencing January 1, 2011, and on each July 1 thereafter, the
Administrative Office of the Courts shall adjust the court security
fee based on the change in the annual California Consumer Price Index
for All Urban Consumers, published by the Department of Industrial
Relations, Division of Labor Statistics, for the most recent fiscal
year ending on June 30 preceding the adjustment, with each adjusted
amount rounded to the nearest dollar. The Administrative Office of
the Courts shall publish the current dollar amount of the court
security fee on its Internet Web site.
(2) For the purposes of this section, "conviction" includes the
dismissal of a traffic violation on the condition that the defendant
attend a court-ordered traffic violator school, as authorized by
Sections 41501 and 42005 of the Vehicle Code. This security fee shall
be deposited in accordance with subdivision (d), and may not be
included with the fee calculated and distributed pursuant to Section
42007 of the Vehicle Code.
(b) This fee shall be in addition to the state penalty assessed
pursuant to Section 1464 and may not be included in the base fine to
calculate the state penalty assessment as specified in subdivision
(a) of Section 1464. The penalties authorized by Chapter 12
(commencing with Section 76000) of Title 8 of the Government Code,
and the state surcharge authorized by Section 1465.7, do not apply to
this fee.
(c) If bail is deposited for an offense to which this section
applies, and for which a court appearance is not necessary, the
person making the deposit also shall deposit a sufficient amount to
include the fee prescribed by this section.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, the fees collected pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall all be deposited in a special account in the
county treasury and transmitted therefrom monthly to the Controller
for deposit in a separate account of the
Court Security Account in the Trial Court Trust Fund
for the sole purpose of funding sheriffs and marshals for superior
court security. , established pursuant to subdivision
(o) of Section 68085 of the Government Code.
(e) The Judicial Council shall provide for the administration of
this section.
(e)
(f) This section shall remain in effect only until July
1, 2016, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before July 1, 2016, deletes or extends that
date.
SEC. 4. Section 1465.8 of the Penal Code, as added by Section 30
of Chapter 22 of the 4th Extraordinary Session of the Statutes of
2009, is amended to read:
1465.8. (a) (1) To ensure and maintain adequate funding for court
security, a fee of twenty dollars ($20) shall be imposed on every
conviction for a criminal offense, including a traffic offense,
except parking offenses as defined in subdivision (i) of Section
1463, involving a violation of a section of the Vehicle Code or any
local ordinance adopted pursuant to the Vehicle Code.
(2) For the purposes of this section, "conviction" includes the
dismissal of a traffic violation on the condition that the defendant
attend a court-ordered traffic violator school, as authorized by
Sections 41501 and 42005 of the Vehicle Code. This security fee shall
be deposited in accordance with subdivision (d), and may not be
included with the fee calculated and distributed pursuant to Section
42007 of the Vehicle Code.
(b) This fee shall be in addition to the state penalty assessed
pursuant to Section 1464 and may not be included in the base fine to
calculate the state penalty assessment as specified in subdivision
(a) of Section 1464. The penalties authorized by Chapter 12
(commencing with Section 76000) of Title 8 of the Government Code,
and the state surcharge authorized by Section 1465.7, do not apply to
this fee.
(c) If bail is deposited for an offense to which this section
applies, and for which a court appearance is not necessary, the
person making the deposit also shall deposit a sufficient amount to
include the fee prescribed by this section.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, the fees collected pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall all be deposited in a special account in the
county treasury and transmitted therefrom monthly to the Controller
for deposit in a separate account of the
Court Security Account in the Trial Court Trust Fund
for the sole purpose of funding sheriffs and marshals for superior
court security. , established pursuant to subdivision
(o) of Section 68085 of the Government Code.
(e) The Judicial Council shall provide for the administration of
this section.
(f) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2016.