SB136 - Courts.

Amended IN Assembly June 24, 2025 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Senate Bill No. 136 Introduced by Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review January 23, 2025 An act relating to the Budget Act of 2025. An act to repeal Section 241 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and to amend Sections 68502.6, 77202, 77202.5, and 77209 of, to add Sections 68515 and 70397.1 to, and to repeal Sections 68604 and 77001.5 of, the Government Code, relating to courts, and making an appropriation therefor, to take effect immediately, bill related to the budget. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 136, as amended, Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review. Budget Act of 2025. Courts. (1) Existing law requires the Judicial Council to sponsor a pilot program for 2 fiscal years to study whether increases in juror compensation and mileage reimbursement rates increase juror diversity and participation. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to provide a report to the Legislature describing the findings of the pilot program and providing information for promoting juror diversity by September 1, 2026. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2027. This bill would repeal these provisions. (2) Existing law requires the Administrative Office of the Courts, an obsolete entity, to perform specified functions. Under existing law, any reference to the Administrative Office of the Courts means the Judicial Council. This bill would revise references to the Administrative Office of the Courts to the Judicial Council. (3) Existing law requires the Judicial Council to annually report to the Department of Finance, the Legislature, and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee the total amount of revenue collected in the prior fiscal year, by each court and county, from criminal fines, fees, forfeitures, penalties, restitution fines, and assessments related to infractions, misdemeanors, and felonies, as specified. This bill would require the Judicial Council to annually, on or before February 1, provide a report to the Legislature on the operations of each trial court that includes specified operational and budgetary metrics for the prior fiscal year, including, among others, backlogs and staff vacancies. (4) Existing law requires the Judicial Council to report all approved allocations and reimbursements to trial courts in each fiscal year, as specified, on or before September 30 following the close of each fiscal year. This bill would instead require the report to be submitted on or before February 1 each year. (5) Existing law authorizes the Judicial Council to sell specific courthouses at fair market value and upon the terms and conditions the Judicial Council deems in the best interests of the state. This bill would authorize the Judicial Council to sell additional specified courthouses. (6) Existing law requires the Judicial Council to collect and maintain statistics, and to publish them at least on a yearly basis, about the compliance of the superior court of each county and each branch court with the standards of timely disposition, as specified. Existing law requires, on or before November 1, 2007, the Judicial Council to adopt, and report to the Legislature annually thereafter, judicial administration standards and measures that promote the fair and efficient administration of justice, as specified. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to present an annual report to the Legislature on the use of the State Trial Court Improvement and Modernization Fund, with appropriate recommendations. This bill would delete these requirements for the Judicial Council and make a conforming change. (7) This bill would appropriate $4,690,000 from the General Fund to the State Court Facilities Construction Fund to provide a one-time backfill. (8) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill. This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact statutory changes relating to the Budget Act of 2025. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO YES Fiscal Committee: NO YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 241 of the Code of Civil Procedure is repealed. 241. (a) The Judicial Council shall sponsor a pilot program for two fiscal years to study whether increases in juror compensation and mileage reimbursement rates increase juror diversity and participation. The Judicial Council shall select at least six trial courts, in counties with regional and geographic diversity, including the County of Alameda, to participate in the pilot program. (b) As part of the pilot program, the participating pilot courts shall collect demographic information, as reported by jurors. (c) No later than September 1, 2026, the Judicial Council shall provide a report to the Legislature pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code describing the findings of the pilot program and providing information for promoting juror diversity. (d) The Judicial Council may enlist the services of a consultant to conduct the study. (e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2027, and as of that date is repealed. SEC. 2. Section 68502.6 of the Government Code is amended to read: 68502.6. (a) If the cash balance of the Trial Court Trust Fund is insufficient to support trial court operations during the fiscal year, the Administrative Office of the Courts Judicial Council may transfer funds from any fund identified in subdivision (c) as a loan to the Trial Court Trust Fund. The total amount of outstanding loans shall not exceed one hundred fifty million dollars ($150,000,000) at any time during the fiscal year. The Administrative Office of the Courts Judicial Council shall not authorize a loan pursuant to this section to provide cash resources to any court that has not first provided a balanced budget approved by the Judicial Council. (b) The Administrative Office of the Courts Judicial Council may transfer funds from the Trial Court Trust Fund for the repayment of the loan described in subdivision (a). Interest shall not be charged or paid on any loan authorized pursuant to this section and all loans shall be repaid within two years from the date on which the loan originated. The authority to transfer funds provided by this section shall not interfere with the objectives for which the funds identified in subdivision (c) were created. This section shall not be construed to provide additional expenditure authority to the Trial Court Trust Fund. (c) Moneys in the following funds shall be available for transfer to the Trial Court Trust Fund as a loan for cash flow purposes: (1) The State Court Facilities Construction Fund. (2) The Judicial Branch Workers’ Compensation Fund. (d) For each loan If a loan is executed pursuant to this section, the Administrative Office of the Courts Judicial Council shall, no later than August 30 of each year, report the following information to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the Department of Finance: (1) The date of the loan. (2) The amount loaned to each court. (3) The funding source of the loan. (4) The repayment date or proposed repayment date of the loan. SEC. 3. Section 68515 is added to the Government Code, to read: 68515. (a) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5, the Judicial Council shall annually, on or before February 1, provide a report to the Legislature on the operations of each trial court that includes various operational and budgetary metrics for the prior fiscal year, including, but not limited to, all of the following: (1) Time to disposition, by case type. (2) Case clearance rates, by case type. (3) Backlogs, by case type. (4) Court hours of operations, including public counter hours. (5) Staff vacancy rates by classification. (6) Fund balance detail from the prior fiscal year. (7) Calculated funding level of each court and the percent of funding actually provided to each court. (8) Funding level of each trial court, as measured by the Judicial Council-approved workload formula. (b) The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795. SEC. 4. Section 68604 of the Government Code is repealed. 68604. The Judicial Council shall collect and maintain statistics, and shall publish them at least on a yearly basis, regarding the compliance of the superior court of each county and of each branch court with the standards of timely disposition adopted pursuant to Section 68603. In collecting and publishing these statistics, the Judicial Council shall measure the time required for the resolution of civil cases from the filing of the first document invoking court jurisdiction, and for the resolution of criminal cases from the date of arrest, including a separate measurement in felony cases from the first appearance in superior court. The Judicial Council shall report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature in a biennial Report on the State of California’s Civil and Criminal Justice Systems. The Judicial Council shall conduct a two-year study on the stipulated continuance authorized by subdivision (c) of Section 68616. SEC. 5. Section 70397.1 is added to the Government Code, to read: 70397.1. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the Judicial Council may sell the property, in a fair market value transaction and upon the terms and conditions and subject to the reservations the Judicial Council deems in the best interests of the state, if all of the following requirements are satisfied: (1) The sale complies with Section 70391, as applicable. (2) The Judicial Council consults with the county in which the property is located concerning the sale of the property. (3) The Judicial Council offers the county in which the property is located the right to purchase the property in a fair market value transaction before otherwise offering the property for sale. (b) Notwithstanding any other law, the net proceeds from the sale of the property shall be deposited into the General Fund. (c) For purposes of this section, “property” means each of the following: (1) The Plumas/Sierra Regional Courthouse located at 600 South Gulling Street, City of Portola, County of Plumas, Assessor Parcel Number 126-050-046. (2) The Modesto Main Courthouse located at 800 11th Street, and the Hall of Records, located at 1100 I Street, City of Modesto, County of Stanislaus, collectively a portion of Assessor Parcel Number 105-025-001. (3) The Ceres Superior Court located at 2744 Second Street, City of Ceres, County of Stanislaus, Assessor Parcel Number 127-016-014. (d) The disposition of the property authorized in this section does not constitute a sale or other disposition of surplus state property within the meaning of Section 9 of Article III of the California Constitution and is not subject to subdivision (g) of Section 11011. SEC. 6. Section 77001.5 of the Government Code is repealed. 77001.5. On or before November 1, 2007, the Judicial Council shall adopt, and shall report to the Legislature annually thereafter upon, judicial administration standards and measures that promote the fair and efficient administration of justice, including, but not limited to, the following subjects: (1) Providing equal access to courts and respectful treatment for all court participants. (2) Case processing, including the efficient use of judicial resources. (3) General court administration. SEC. 7. Section 77202 of the Government Code is amended to read: 77202. (a) The Legislature shall make an annual appropriation to the Judicial Council for the general operations of the trial courts based on the request of the Judicial Council. The Judicial Council’s trial court budget request, which shall be submitted to the Governor and the Legislature, shall meet the needs of all trial courts in a manner that ensures a predictable fiscal environment for labor negotiations in accordance with the Trial Court Employment Protection and Governance Act (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 71600) of Title 8), that promotes equal access to the courts statewide, and that promotes court financial accountability. The annual budget request shall include the following components: (1) Commencing with the 2006–07 fiscal year, annual General Fund appropriations to support the trial courts shall be comprised of both of the following: (A) The current fiscal year General Fund appropriations, which include all of the following: (i) General Fund moneys appropriated for transfer or direct local assistance in support of the trial courts. (ii) Transfers to the State Trial Court Improvement and Modernization Fund. (iii) Local assistance grants made by the Judicial Council, including the Equal Access Fund. (iv) The full year cost of budget change proposals approved through the 2006–07 fiscal year or subsequently approved in accordance with paragraph (2), but excluding lease-revenue payments and funding for costs specifically and expressly reimbursed through other state or federal funding sources, excluding the cost of one-time or expiring programs. (B) A cost-of-living and growth adjustment computed by multiplying the year-to-year percentage change in the state appropriation limit as described in Section 3 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution by the sum of all of the following: (i) The current year General Fund appropriations for the trial courts, as defined in subparagraph (A). (ii) The amount of county obligations established pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 77201.1 in effect as of June 30, 2005, six hundred ninety-eight million sixty-eight thousand dollars ($698,068,000). (iii) The level of funding required to be transferred from the State Trial Court Improvement and Modernization Fund to the Trial Court Trust Fund pursuant to subdivision (k) (i) of Section 77209, thirteen million three hundred ninety-seven thousand dollars ($13,397,000). (iv) Funding deposited into the Court Facilities Trust Fund associated with each facility that was transferred to the state not less than two fiscal years earlier than the fiscal year for which the cost-of-living and growth adjustment is being calculated. (v) The court filing fees and surcharges projected to be deposited into the Trial Court Trust Fund in the 2005–06 fiscal year, adjusted to reflect the full-year implementation of the uniform civil fee structure implemented on January 1, 2006, three hundred sixty-nine million six hundred seventy-two thousand dollars ($369,672,000). (2) In addition to the moneys to be applied pursuant to subdivision (b), the Judicial Council may identify and request additional funding for the trial courts for costs resulting from the implementation of statutory changes that result in either an increased level of service or a new activity that directly affects the programmatic or operational needs of the courts. (b) The Judicial Council shall allocate the funding from the Trial Court Trust Fund to the trial courts in a manner that best ensures the ability of t [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]