BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2073
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 16, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2073 (Silva) - As Amended: April 30, 2012
Policy Committee:
JudiciaryVote:10-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes the Orange County Superior Court to
establish a pilot project, until July 1, 2014, to require
(rather than allow) parties in specified civil actions to file
and serve documents electronically.
The bill also requires the Judicial Council to (a) complete an
evaluation of any pilot project and report to the Legislature by
December 31, 2013, and (b) adopt uniform rules, as specified, by
July 1, 2014, to permit mandatory electronic filing in civil
actions.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Any costs by the Orange County Superior Court to implement the
pilot project would be absorbed within the Court's budget
allocation, and presumably would lead to ongoing cost savings
if made permanent.
2)One-time cost to the Judicial Council for the evaluation will
be less than $50,000 and one-time costs to develop the uniform
rule should also be minor. Assuming the pilot project is
successful, adopting of mandatory electronic filing by other
courts will increase overall efficiency of court operations.
COMMENTS
Purpose . As introduced, this bill would have allowed trial
courts, by order of the presiding judge, to mandate that all
parties file documents electronically in specified civil cases.
Due to concerns that moving from a voluntary to mandatory
AB 2073
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approach might have certain adverse impacts, the most recent
amendments instead allow the Orange County Superior Court
(sponsor) to pilot this requirement.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081