BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 326
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 25, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                     SB 326 (Yee) - As Amended:  August 22, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              
          JudiciaryVote:10-0 (Consent)

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the Judicial Council to adopt a rule of court 
          regarding access to court records. Specifically, this bill:

          1)Requires the Judicial Council, to adopt, within 18 months, a 
            rule of court requiring courts to provide same-day public 
            access to "case-initiating civil and criminal court records," 
            as defined, for viewing at the courthouse.

          2)Stipulates that, to the extent possible, the adopted rule 
            provide same-day access for records received within 30 minutes 
            of the daily court closing, and requires that records be made 
            available within 60 minutes after the court opens for the next 
            day.

          3)Stipulates that the rules shall allow the court to charge a 
            nominal fee for providing a copy of records requested at the 
            courthouse.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          In the courts most recent statistical report, for 2008-09, court 
          filings that would be subject, upon request, to the same-day 
          access under this bill totaled 1.9 million (about 20% of all 
          filings). Depending on the volume of requests for same-day 
          access, the courts could incur costs of up to several million 
          annually for additional staff to meet the bill's requirements. 

          The Judicial Council indicates that most courts could not comply 
          with these requirements using current court resources without 
          diverting staff from other mandated duties. Moreover, the 








                                                                  SB 326
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          2011-12 Budget Act includes $350 million in General Fund 
          reductions to court operations, further exacerbating this 
          situation. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . This bill is co-sponsored by Californians Aware, 
            Courthouse News Service, and the First Amendment Coalition. 
            Although the public has a well-founded right of access to 
            court records, the author reports increasing delays in public 
            access to court records, with some courts apparently delaying 
            public access for as much as several weeks for newly filed 
            complaints. 

            The prior version of the bill would have applied the rule of 
            court for same-day access to those courts that have fully 
            implemented the California Case Management System (CCMS). Due 
            to concerns over the status and implementation of CCMS in 
            light of court fiscal constraints, the most recent author's 
            amendments require the same-day access to the records at all 
            courts if requested at the courthouse, and allow courts to 
            charge a fee for this service.

           2)Opposition  . The Judicial Council is opposed for the reasons 
            discussed in the fiscal effect above.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081