Judicial Branch

California’s judicial authority is vested by the State Constitution in a tripartite court system composed of the Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeal, and the trial courts. The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) provides support to the Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeal, the trial courts, and the Judicial Council. Judicial discipline is administered by the Commission on Judicial Performance. At the local level, the trial courts consist of the unified superior courts, the superior courts, and the municipal courts.

For 2001-02, the Governor’s Budget proposes approximately $2.63 billion for the Judicial Branch, in combined General Fund, special funds, federal funds, and reimbursements: $351.2 million ($297.9 million General Fund) in state operations and local assistance for the Judiciary; $3.98 million in General Fund for the Commission on Judicial Performance; $2.17 billion ($1.16 billion General Fund) for the trial courts; and $102.7 million ($77.5 million General Fund) for judges’ retirement costs (see Figure JB-1).

Judiciary—The 2001-02 Judicial Budget (Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal, AOC, and the Habeas Corpus Resource Center) totals $351.2 million, $285.7 million in state operations and $65.5 million in local assistance. This program includes for 2001-02 an increase of $20.9 million General Fund over the revised 2000-01 Budget, including the following:

• $118,000 to provide for a pay differential for presiding justices and judges in the State Judiciary and the trial courts.
• $2.6 million to fund workload and equipment needs of the Supreme Court.
• $1.5 million to address workload in the Courts of Appeal and related program needs associated with appellate adjudication, administrative support and function, and special program needs.
• $2.2 million to fund staffing and resources within the Judicial Council to help the trial courts implement the requirements of the Trial Court Employee Governance and Protection Act pursuant to Chapter 1010, Statutes of 2000.
• $675,000 in additional resources for the Court-Appointed Special Advocate Program administered by the Judicial Council, to support additional advocates who help guide and represent juvenile wards of the court through the trial court system.
• $832,000 to fund a pilot project of five different delivery models of self-help centers in the courts, assisting low income litigants in the adjudication of their cases.
• $381,000 to permanently fund an equipment replacement plan for the Judicial Council.
• $1.9 million to fund a permanent audit program within the Judicial Council to provide fiscal examination and verification of trial court fiscal records and operations.
• $5 million to augment the Judicial Council’s local assistance program to continue in 2001-02 the Equal Access Fund, which was first enacted in 1999-00. The Judiciary currently distributes $10 million annually from the Equal Access Fund through the State Bar to non-profit legal assistance organizations throughout the State to provide legal assistance in civil matters to low-income parties in need of legal representation. The Budget increases funding by 50 percent to provide legal representation for parties who are unable to afford their own counsel in civil matters.
• $2.8 million for the Judicial Council to address workload issues and assistance to the trial courts. These additional resources will include staffing for the Council’s priority programs for the Judiciary and the trial courts, equipment funding, and assistance to further centralize consultation for the trial courts within the Administrative Office of the Courts.
• $700,000 to provide additional support staff and infrastructure resources for the Habeas Corpus Resource Center. The Center was created in 1997-98 to provide direct habeas representation in capital cases and thereby assist in reducing the number of unrepresented capital case defendants.

Trial Court Funding—The Trial Court Funding budget totals include an increase of $60.1 million General Fund for a total of $1.16 billion General Fund for 2001-02. The Trial Court Funding budget also includes approximately $1 billion in non-General Fund moneys, bringing the entire Trial Court Funding total in the Budget to $2.17 billion. This Budget includes the following augmentations:

• $22.5 million to support additional staffing, service level cost increases, and equipment for trial court security and perimeter protection of court facilities.
• $3 million to provide additional staffing in family and children court services and streamline the family court system.
• $3.9 million to address increased costs associated with court-appointed counsel for juvenile dependents, and $3.6 million to provide representation of juveniles pursuant to federal requirements.
• $3.5 million to fund trial court expenses to begin implementation of the Trial Court Employee Governance and Protection Act pursuant to Chapter 1010, Statutes of 2000.
• $3.7 million to address workload for court interpreters who assist non-English speaking defendants in trial court proceedings.
• $8.1 million to fund the increased costs of services provided to the trial courts by their respective counties, including accounting, fiscal administration, personnel administration, procurement and contracting, technology support, mail and shipping, and janitorial services.
• $3 million to provide additional administrative staff in the trial courts.
• $4.2 million to fully fund Jury Reform related to the One-day/One-trial Jury Service.
• $4.6 million to provide for infrastructure improvements to trial court facilities pursuant to Rule of Court 810.

Task Forces—Chapter 850, Statutes of 1997, established two task forces to review employee and facility issues related to the courts.

The Task Force on Trial Court Facilities was established to study and make recommendations related to the funding of trial and appellate court facility maintenance, improvement, and expansion. Other than minor indoor remodeling and maintenance, court facility costs are currently the responsibility of the counties in which the facilities are located. The first interim report was published on October 1, 1999. The report laid out the preliminary guidelines recommended for use in future court facility planning. The facilities task force is expected to submit a second interim report on January 1, 2001, and its final report of recommendations on July 1, 2001.

The Task Force on Trial Court Employees was charged with examining trial court employee issues and provided its final recommendations to the Administration and to the Legislature concerning the future personnel structure of trial court employees. Those recommendations were incorporated into legislation and enacted under Chapter 1010, Statutes of 2000. That legislation established a new trial court employee personnel system and requires, among other things, transfer of governance of court personnel to the trial courts, and trial court involvement in labor relations, personnel management, court personnel retirement, payment of specific employment medical benefits, and maintenance of court personnel files. As indicated above, the Budget includes $2.2 million in the Judiciary and $3.5 million in Trial Court Funding to begin implementation of this legislation and its various requirements on the trial courts statewide.