Article 2 - Responsibility for Court Facilities

California Government Code — §§ 70311-70313

Sections (3)

Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 130, Sec. 133. Effective January 1, 2008.

(a)Commencing July 1, 1997, and each year thereafter, no county or city and county is responsible to provide funding for “court operations,” as defined in Section 77003 and Rule 10.810 of the California Rules of Court, as it read on January 1, 2007.

(b)Except as provided in Section 70312, commencing as of July 1, 1996, and each year thereafter, each county or city and county shall be responsible for providing necessary and suitable facilities for judicial and court support positions created prior to July 1, 1996. In determining whether facilities are necessary and suitable, the reasonable needs of the court and the fiscal condition of the county or city and county shall be taken into consideration.

(c)If a county or city and county fails to provide necessary and suitable facilities as described in subdivision (b), the court shall give notice of a specific deficiency. If the county or city and county then fails to provide necessary and suitable facilities pursuant to this section, the court may direct the appropriate officers of the county or city and county to provide the necessary and suitable facilities. The expenses incurred, certified by the judges to be correct, are a charge against the county or city and county treasury and shall be paid out of the general fund.

(d)Prior to the construction of new court facilities or the alteration, remodeling, or relocation of existing court facilities, a county or city and county shall solicit the review and comment of the judges of the court affected regarding the adequacy and standard of design, and that review and comment shall not be disregarded without reasonable grounds.

(e)Any reference in the statutes enacted prior to January 1, 2003, that refers to Section 68073 shall be deemed to refer to this section.

§ 70312

Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 410, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2006.

If responsibility for court facilities is transferred from the county to the Judicial Council pursuant to this chapter, the county is relieved of any responsibility under Section 70311 for providing those facilities. The county is also relieved of any responsibility for deferred or ongoing maintenance for the facility transferred, except for the county facilities payment required by Section 70353. Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, or by the agreement between the Judicial Council and the county under this chapter, the Judicial Council shall have ongoing responsibility for providing trial court facilities. If responsibility for all court facilities within a county has been transferred pursuant to this chapter, that county shall have no responsibility for providing court facilities. This section does not relieve a county of its obligation under Article 5 (commencing with Section 70351) or its obligations under any agreement entered into pursuant to this chapter.

§ 70313

Added by Stats. 2002, Ch. 1082, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 2003.

This chapter may not be construed as authorizing a county, a city and county, a court, the Judicial Council, or the state to supply to the official reporters of the courts stenography, stenotype, or other shorthand machines, or as authorizing the supply to the official reporters of the courts, for use in the preparation of transcripts, of typewriters, transcribing equipment, supplies, or other personal property. The enactment of this provision is a statement of existing law under former subdivision (f) of Section 68073 and is not a modification of the prior law.