BILL ANALYSIS
SB 556
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Date of Hearing: July 15, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
SB 556 (Judiciary Committee) - As Amended: July 7, 2009
Policy Committee: JudiciaryVote:9-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill makes the following modifications to court operations:
1)Clarifies that all post-judgment motions in small claims court
are subject to the same fees that apply in post-judgment
motions in general civil cases.
2)Authorizes a court to order that the cost of a court
investigator's review and report-regarding a proposed
transaction involving community property assets of a spouse
lacking sufficient mental capacity-be paid out of the proceeds
of those assets, if the court determines this will not create
a hardship.
3)Adds bail to the list of unpaid debt that can be referred to
the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) for collection.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Likely minor increase in small claims court fee revenue and
minor court savings from recovery of court investigator costs.
2)Any additional costs for FTB to collect unpaid bail amounts
will be paid from the amounts recovered.
COMMENTS
This bill, sponsored by the Judicial Council, makes three
technical and clarifying changes to improve court operations.
1)Clarification of Small Claims Court Fees . The Small Claims
Act states that judgments may be enforced like all other
SB 556
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judgments, but then specifies that the court may collect fees
for issuance of a writ of execution, abstract of judgment, and
application for an order of examination of a judgment debtor.
Other post-judgment enforcement proceedings, such as a claim
of exemption for which fees are charged statewide in general
civil actions, are not specifically mentioned for small claims
proceedings. As a result of this ambiguity, court practices
regarding small claims fees diverge across the state. This
bill clarifies that courts should charge small claims
litigants all fees associated with the enforcement of
judgments, as is done in general civil actions.
2)Recovery of Court Investigator Costs . When one or both
spouses lack legal capacity, a court may still authorize a
transaction involving community property. In this case, the
court may, in its discretion, appoint an investigator to
review the proposed transaction and report to the court
regarding its advisability. This bill allows the court to
order the cost of the review and report by the investigator to
be paid out of the proceeds of the transaction or otherwise as
the court may direct.
3)Collection of Unpaid Bail : To assist in the collection of
court-ordered debt, the courts use two Franchise Tax Board
(FTB) collection programs: The Tax Intercept Program collects
debt by intercepting state tax refunds and the Court-Ordered
Debt Program collects debt by sweeping bank accounts and
lottery winnings. Under current law, courts have explicit
authority to seek collection of unpaid bail amounts through
the Tax Intercept Program, but there is no such explicitly
authority to use the Court-Ordered Debt Program to collect
unpaid bail. This bill explicitly authorizes the courts to
send unpaid bail amounts to either FTB collection program.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081