BILL ANALYSIS
SB 179
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 179 (Runner)
As Amended May 20, 2010
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :32-2
JUDICIARY 10-0
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|Ayes:|Feuer, Tran, Brownley, | | |
| |Evans, Hagman, Jones, | | |
| |Knight, Monning, Nava, | | |
| |Huffman | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Modifies service of process rules for an order for
termination of parental rights (TPR) by a referee in juvenile
court. Specifically, this bill :
1)Permits service of the referee's findings and order, as well
as a written explanation of the right to seek review of the
order, to be made in court on a minor, parent, or guardian who
is present in court at the time the findings and order are
made.
2)Requires the service of the referee's findings and order by
mail to the last known address of the parent or guardian, or
to the address designated by those persons, if they are not
present in court at the time the findings and order are made,
and requires the mailing to include the written explanation of
the right to seek review of the order.
3)Requires service of the referee's findings and order by mail
to the parent's or guardian's counsel if the parent or
guardian does not have a last known address designated.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires a referee, hearing a case assigned to him or her by
the presiding judge of the juvenile court, to furnish a
written copy of the referee's findings and order to the
presiding judge and, if the minor is 14 years of age or older
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or makes that request, to furnish a written copy to the minor
and serve a copy upon the minor's attorney.
2)Requires the referee to furnish the minor and the parent,
guardian, or adult relative, along with the referee's findings
and the order, a written explanation of the right of those
persons to seek review of the order by the juvenile court.
3)Requires that service of the referee's findings and order
pursuant to these provisions be made by mail to the last known
address of the minor, parent, guardian, or adult relative, or
to the address designated by such persons appearing at the
hearing before the referee.
4)Provides that a notice of appeal must be filed within 60 days
after the rendition of the judgment or the making of the order
being appealed, except that in matters heard by a referee not
acting as a temporary judge, a notice of appeal must be filed
within 60 days after the referee's order becomes final.
[California Rule of Court (Rule) 8.400(d)]
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : This bill, sponsored by the Los Angeles County Board
of Supervisors, would permit service of a parental termination
order, the referee's findings, and a written explanation of the
right to seek review of the order, to be made in juvenile court
on a minor, parent, or guardian who is present in juvenile court
at the time the findings and order are made by the referee.
According to the author, "Although birth parents or legal
guardians are frequently present in court at the time the TPR
order is issued, current law requires the order to be mailed to
their last known address. Allowing the court clerk the option
of personally serving the parents or guardians while they are
present in court will initiate the appeals process in a much
more timely way. This modification is necessary to streamline
the TPR appeal process."
This bill will only have an effect upon the appeals process in
cases heard by a referee who is not sitting as a temporary
judge. This is because when the case is heard by a judge, there
is no requirement that the order be served in order for the
appeal period to begin running. Instead, in cases heard by a
judge, the 60-day appeal period begins to run as soon as the
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judge rules from the bench, even if the judge does not sign the
written order until later. (In re Ryan R. (2004) 122
Cal.App.4th 595, 600.)
This bill seeks earlier initiation of the appeals process, in
cases heard by a referee, without changing the length of the
appeal period itself. It would accomplish this by facilitating
in-court service of the order and findings, when feasible, to
eliminate counting of 10 days that are otherwise allowed for
service by mail before the 60-day statutory appeal period is
deemed to start running.
Under existing law, the appeal period in cases heard by a
referee is 60 days long and begins to run when the referee's
order becomes final, which is 10 days after the order is served
by the clerk unless an application for rehearing is filed within
that 10 day period. (Rule 8.400 (d)(2); In re Miguel E. (2004)
120 Cal.App.4th 521, 538.) Existing law provides that service
of the order and findings must be made by mail to the last known
address and service is deemed complete at the time of mailing.
(Rule 5.538(b)(3).) Therefore, when the case is heard by a
referee, the appeal period is effectively 70 days from the date
the clerk mails the order, assuming that a rehearing is not
requested within 10 days.
This bill would alternatively permit service of the referee's
order and findings in court upon a minor, parent, or guardian
who is present in juvenile court at the time the findings and
order are made. If the parent or guardian is immediately served
with the order and findings while still in court, then the
period for filing a notice of appeal would be effectively less
than 70 days because mailing would no longer be necessary.
Instead, under these circumstances the effective appeals period
in these referee cases would be precisely 60 days long, as
provided by existing Rule 8.400(d).
Under existing law, if an application for rehearing is made and
later denied, the 60-day appeal period begins to run from the
date the referee's order was served, or 30 days after the order
denying the rehearing request, whichever is later. (Rule
8.400(d)(3).) If, pursuant to this bill, the order is served in
court rather than mailed, then calculation of the date that the
appeal period begins to run must be adjusted accordingly, i.e.
to no longer allow 10 days for service by mail.
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Although in-court service of the order would help achieve the
author's objective of "initiating the appeals process in a more
timely way," on a practical level it is not known to what degree
court clerks are currently able to execute in-court service
before the parent or guardian leaves the courtroom. This
ability could vary greatly between counties, depending on the
court's workload and number of cases it must hear each day. To
successfully serve the order in court, the clerk must have
enough time to prepare the order, get the judge's signature, and
print the order out or copy it before the parent leaves the
courtroom. The ability of the court to immediately serve a
parent or guardian at the time the order is made should improve
over time with advancements in court technology.
The author has recently taken amendments that have successfully
removed previous opposition to the bill. The bill as recently
amended does not decrease the length of the appeal period for
parental termination orders, but may initiate the appeals period
earlier in certain cases heard by a referee if in-court service
of the order is made. There is currently no known opposition to
the bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Anthony Lew / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
FN: 0004861