Judicial Council/AOC Issue Report on Closures

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Now that the budget has finally passed and legislation giving the courts the authority to close has also passed, California courts that have not already implemented closures are now moving at full speed to close the third Wednesday of the month beginning September.

The Judicial Council and the AOC released a joint report explaining the genesis of the closure solution to the cuts in trial court funding. The report also listed conditions and requirements for the court closures.

The grant of authority to the council to close the courts is permissive rather than mandatory, i.e., the council may or may not choose to close the courts one day a month. If the council designates a court closure day, the closures are subject to the following conditions and requirements:

• The court closure day designated by the council must be treated as a holiday for purposes of performing any act requiring the transaction of judicial business, including, but not limited to, holding court hearings or computing the time to file court documents.
• If a court receives papers for filing on the closure day, the time of filing will be the next court day on which the court is open for the transaction of judicial business.
• The superior courts must meet and confer with recognized employee organizations under the Trial Court Employment Protection and Governance Act.
• A judicial officer must be available at each court for the signing of any necessary documents on an emergency basis on the closure day as is now the case on Saturdays, Sundays, judicial holidays, and any other time a court is closed. concerning the impact of the court closures.
• Court security shall not be required on the court closure day and compensation payable to the sheriff must be negotiated (where there is a court security memorandum of understanding (MOU) in place) and reduced to reflect the reduced amount of security on the closure day.
• The impact of the court closure on the availability of courtrooms and court services must, to the extent practicable, be spread proportionally in a manner that reflects the caseload of the court.

In addition to the court closures the report also lists some of the other “Alternative actions considered” including:

• Close courts one day per month for fewer than the remaining 10 months this fiscal year.
• Do not close courts at all.
• Do not close courts but direct superior courts to provide reduced services.

You can read the entire report by clicking here.

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