Amended  IN  Senate  August 15, 2024
Amended  IN  Senate  June 10, 2024
Amended  IN  Assembly  May 16, 2024
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 08, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 3282

Introduced by Committee on Judiciary (Assembly Members Kalra (Chair), Dixon (Vice Chair), Bauer-Kahan, Bryan, Connolly, Haney, Maienschein, McKinnor, Pacheco, and Reyes)

February 29, 2024

An act to amend Section 14938 of, to add Sections 14938, 70397.5, and 70641 to Section 70397.1 to, and to add and repeal Section 68150.1 of, the Government Code, relating to courts, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 3282, as amended, Committee on Judiciary. Courts.
(1) Existing law establishes the Golden State Financial Marketplace Program or GS $Mart Program (program). Existing law authorizes the Department of General Services to structure, administer, and maintain the program, the state’s centralized financing program available for state agencies to finance certain goods and services, as described. Existing law makes state agencies, defined to include every state office, officer, department, division, bureau, board, and commission and the California State University and the Regents of the University of California, eligible to apply to the program in order to enter into agreements for financing those specified assets, including, but not limited to, energy efficiency measures, energy savings contracts, or technology goods or services, without further competitive bidding. Existing law also authorizes state agencies to refinance any eligible asset through the program for various purposes.
This bill would extend these provisions to also include a superior court, court of appeal, the Supreme Court, and the Judicial Council of California California, and the State Bar of California within the definition of state agency.
(2) Existing law requires the Judicial Council to adopt rules to establish standards and guidelines for the creation, maintenance, reproduction, and preservation of court records, to ensure the accuracy and preserve the integrity of the records, and ensure that the public can access and reproduce the records. Existing law requires standards and guidelines for the electronic creation, maintenance, and preservation of court records to ensure that the public can access and reproduce records with at least the same amount of convenience as paper records previously provided.
This bill would require, commencing October 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, the Judicial Council to update the Assembly and Senate Judiciary Committees regarding remote accessibility of electronic court records by the public. The bill would repeal this requirement on January 1, 2029.

(2)

(3) 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.

The bill would require, on or before April 1, 2027, the Judicial Council to identify and report to the Legislature and relevant policy committees any fees related to civil matters, including, but not limited to, fees to access trial court filings and records, authorized by the Judicial Council or a superior court but not specifically enumerated or authorized by statute. The bill would require the report to identify justification for all fees identified and justification for the fees being set at a specific amount. The bill would prohibit, commencing January 1, 2030, a superior court from charging a civil fee, regardless of whether the fee is identified in the report, that is not authorized by statute.

The bill would authorize the net proceeds from the sale of the specified courthouses to be utilized by the Judicial Council to offset any costs associated with the report described above.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 14938 of the Government Code is amended to read:

14938.
 As used in this chapter, “state agency” or “state agencies” means every state office, officer, department, division, bureau, board, commission, superior court, court of appeal, the Supreme Court, the Judicial Council of California, the State Bar of California, and the California State University and the Regents of the University of California.

SEC. 2.

 Section 68150.1 is added to the Government Code, to read:

68150.1.
 (a) Commencing October 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, the Judicial Council shall update the Assembly and Senate Judiciary Committees regarding remote accessibility of electronic court records by the public.
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2029, and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 2.Section 70397.5 is added to the Government Code, to read:

SEC. 3.

 Section 70397.1 is added to the Government Code, to read:

70397.5.70397.1.
 (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 may be utilized by the Judicial Council to offset any costs associated with the report required by Section 70641, and all remaining proceeds shall be deposited into the State Court Facilities Construction Fund, established by Section 70371.

(c)

(b) 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)

(c) 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. 3.Section 70641 is added to the Government Code, to read:
70641.

(a)(1)On or before April 1, 2027, the Judicial Council shall identify and report to the Legislature and relevant policy committees any fees related to civil matters, including, but not limited to, fees to access trial court filings and records, authorized by the Judicial Council or an individual superior court but not specifically enumerated in statute or otherwise authorized by this chapter or any other statute. The report shall include the justification for all fees identified and the justification for the fees being set at a specific amount.

(2)The report submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(b)Commencing January 1, 2030, a superior court shall not charge a civil fee, regardless of whether the fee is identified in the report submitted pursuant to subdivision (a), that is not authorized by this chapter or by any other statute.

(c)Notwithstanding any other law, the Judicial Council may use proceeds from the sale of property authorized by Section 70397.5 to offset any costs associated with the report required by subdivision (a).

SEC. 4.

 This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
To enable the Judicial Council to upgrade the energy efficiency of existing court property and to enable the sale of the property to occur as soon as possible, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.