Professional Documents
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Judicial Branch
Judicial Branch
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vc7eC2BWu1PG
JUDICIAL BRANCH
JUDICIAL BRANCH
T
he Judicial Branch consists of the Supreme Court, courts of appeal, trial courts, and
the Judicial Council. The trial courts are funded with a combination of General
Fund, county maintenance-of-effort requirements, fines, fees, and other charges. Other
levels of the Judicial Branch receive most of their funding from the General Fund. The
May Revision includes total funding of $4.6 billion ($2.7 billion General Fund and $1.9
billion other funds) in 2021-22 for the Judicial Branch, of which $1.2 billion General Fund
is provided to support trial court operations. The Judicial Council is responsible for
managing the resources of the Judicial Branch.
These changes have delayed normal court operations and resulted in a backlog of
criminal and civil cases. The Administration is committed to providing the Judicial
Branch the necessary resources to address this backlog and provide timely access to
justice. Earlier this year the Governor and the Legislature agreed to restore $176.9 million
for the trial courts and $23.1 million for the state-level judiciary. These restorations will
allow courts to re-open temporarily closed courtrooms and process case backlogs
which have accumulated during the pandemic. In addition, the Governor’s Budget
included significant adjustments to address other cost pressures, freeing up resources
for trial courts to focus on addressing the case backlog. Specifically, the Governor’s
Budget included $72.2 million ongoing General Fund for trial courts to address
inflationary cost increases and $53.5 million ongoing General Fund for maintenance,
utility, and lease costs for trial court and Courts of Appeal facilities.
The May Revision provides two additional proposals to further address the case
backlog. First, it includes $30 million one-time General Fund to support the Early
Disposition Readiness Conference Program. In the fall, the Chief Justice initiated this
program to expedite adjudications by making temporary assigned judges available to
complete readiness conferences to resolve low-level misdemeanors or felony cases
before going to trial, providing victims and offenders a more timely resolution. While the
Chief Justice provides temporary judges to courts that opt-in to this voluntary program,
not all courts have resources available to provide staff to support these judges. As such,
many courts have been reluctant to opt-in to the program. The proposed funding
would remove this financial impediment and thereby support the early resolution of
certain criminal cases. Second, the May Revision proposes language in the budget that
would allow the Judicial Council to request additional funding, up to $60 million, in the
event that the above augmentations are insufficient to address the case backlog. This
funding, which would be subject to approval by the Department of Finance upon
review of data demonstrating a persistent case backlog, could be used to procure
resources such as additional staff or space to process cases.
In recognition of the financial hardship this has placed on low-income individuals, the
Legislature and the Administration have worked to implement various changes to
existing law and the budget. The 2018 Budget Act included $3.4 million General Fund
for the Judicial Council to implement an eight-court pilot program allowing indigent
JUDICIAL BRANCH
and low-income individuals to apply online to have their fines and fees from traffic
infractions reduced in accordance with their ability to pay. Chapter 92, Statutes of 2020
(AB 1869), eliminated the ability of state and local agencies to impose certain
administrative fees for criminal offenses beginning July 2021. Furthermore, the
Governor’s Budget also included $12.3 million General Fund in 2021-22, increasing to
$58.4 million beginning in 2024-25 and ongoing to expand the online ability to pay pilot
program statewide for both traffic and non-traffic infractions. This approach will provide
targeted relief for low-income individuals for whom such penalties present a major
financial hardship.
Both the immediate impacts of detention and the much longer lasting record of
conviction can be significant. To address these issues, the Administration is committed
to efficiently minimizing pretrial detention while maintaining public safety. These
essential measures will reduce racial and socio-economic disparities in the criminal
justice system and reduce unnecessary incarceration.
The May Revision includes $140 million General Fund in 2021-22 and $70 million ongoing
to expand a pretrial pilot program funded with one-time resources in the 2019 Budget
Act. Specifically, this funding will provide all 58 courts and county supervision agencies
with the resources necessary to support judicial officers in making pretrial release
decisions that impose the least restrictive conditions while maintaining public safety and
assisting individuals in returning to court, and implementing appropriate monitoring
practices and the provision of services for released individuals.
The Judicial Council will distribute the funds and provide judicial education and
technical assistance to the courts on practices and programs related to pretrial
decision-making. The Judicial Council will also evaluate the pretrial programs and
practices and provide regular reports to the Legislature.
By establishing a statewide structure, this proposal will promote equity across counties
and prevent disparate “justice by geography.”